KonoSuba: A Tale of this Beautiful World Vol6

by Dknightodin

The sixth volume of the series.

3. Chapter 2: The Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 2: The Calm Before the Storm

Part 1

"Please!"

"I already said I can't do something like that! If you're gonna not buy anything, I suggest you get to rollin', miss."

"Oi."

"Kazuma, Kazuma!" Aqua said, almost on the verge of tears. "Tell him I can only get one! He won't listen!"

"Well, if you understand that, why are there five other bottles sitting on that counter?"

Aqua whipped around as if the quantity was a surprise to her as well, then she looked back at me with a proud smile. "That's because I came up with a brilliant idea."

"Uhuh."

"See, Kazuma-san told me that I could get one bottle, but as soon as I started looking through the store I found a bunch of different drinks that sounded interesting."

"So."

"So, I realized that I couldn't just choose one."

"Oi, didn't we just have this conversation?!"

"I know, I know. So, that's when my stroke of genius hit me. If I can't have all of them, why not just combine them all into one drink? Also, I like this bottle; it has a funny shape."

"ARE YOU AN IDIOT?!"

"Wah!"

"Mister," the clerk interrupted, "are you responsible for her?"

"Ah, yeah," I said, chuckling nervously. "Sorry, but we'll just take one; whichever you think is best."

"No wait!" Aqua said, hugging the bottles. "Can't we just go with my idea?! What's wrong with it?!"

"Are you honestly asking that?!"

"Actually," the clerk said, "I'll be willing to combine them into one drink as long as you pay for all the bottles. I mean, it'll taste terrible, but my job is to sell the customers what they want…as long as they can pay for it."

"Please, Kazuma-san!" Aqua pleaded, still holding onto the bottles.

"Argh…fine—but I don't wanna hear anything about any drinks you want for the rest of the time we're here, alright?"

Aqua nodded happily.

-A few minutes later…

"How did it go?" Darkness asked as we exited the shop.

Aqua raised her prize, and then she coddled it as if it were a newborn child.

"Nothing new with Megumin?" I asked.

"She's still asleep, as you can see."

"Well, I guess there's nothing we can do about that for now."

"Meow." Chomusuke popped up from under Megumin's hat.

"Hey, girl. What, are we being too loud?" Chomusuke meowed lazily, and then hopped over to me. "Whoa! Geez, you're getting heavy, aren't ya?" I chuckled, scratching the underside of her chin. "Guess, I shouldn't say that, huh?"

"How is it that you treat that cursed little imp better than you treat any of us—especially me, a goddess?"

I frowned. "Probably 'cause she doesn't cause me any problems unlike the rest of you—especially the self-proclaimed goddess."

"Self-proclaimed?! How about I cast divine punishment on you and show you how much of a goddess I am. Humph! Kazuma-san is quite lucky that I'm in a fairly good mood since acquiring this."

"Acquiring? Is your memory that far gone already? I recall someone paid a premium for that."

"Which is why I'll forgive you this time."

"Whatever. We should probably find Nyle and the others."

"Hold it!" Looking in the direction of the command, we could see a dwarf running towards us, completely out of breath. "Hold on," he said, finally coming to a stop in front of us, doubling over to catch his breath.

"Hey, it's you."

"What, 'you'? It's Seamus, laddy."

"Right. Why are you here, again?"

"For this," he replied, withdrawing an envelope from inside his shirt.

"A letter? Ugh. It's pretty…covered in…sweat."

"Aye, it is. Wouldn't 'ave been if I didn't needa run all der way over. That ol' relic had me chasin' after yeh. Jus' glad I int have ta follow ye over te der next burrow."

"Erm…thanks…I guess."

"Ol' right, I'll be seeing ye, lad. Lassies," he said with a short nod. Then he walked off.

"An envelope? From who?" Aqua queried.

"Wait," Darkness said. "Could that be from who I think it is?" I looked at the envelope in my hand, and then quickly opened it to retrieve the letter within. "It is, isn't it?!"

I gave myself some distance from the two and smiled and then quickly skimmed over the letter—and indeed, it was from none other than one Princess Iris. Before the other two could get close, I placed the letter back in the envelope and into my pocket.

"What did it say?" Darkness said as she approached me.

"It said that you should mind your business."

"It is my business. It's of utmost importance—as a vassal of Her Highness—to know exactly what's going on between her and a questionable individual—friend or not."

"Wow. Anyway, seems like a bit of hypocrisy coming from you. Why is it Iris' 'closest' retainers are the ones she should be most careful of?"

"Iris has nothing to fear from me."

"Probably, but if White-suit is the way she is, I'm not so sure you might not turn out that way too. Besides, you've been picking up more traits along the way; I wouldn't be surprised if you somehow ended up the way she is sooner or later."

"How dare you, Kazuma, I would never!"

"And neither would I!"

Both of us glared at each other, however, Darkness was the first to let out a sigh. "Fine. I won't bother you about sending Princess Iris letters—but at least let me read them before you do."

"Hell no. Why do I have to do that?"

"I want to make sure you aren't sending her inappropriate things. I still remember how much she changed within the few weeks you were with her at the castle. No, I'm sure you're a real threat to her when it comes to setting standards and establishing proper etiquette."

"And I'm sure you're the gold standard, right, pervert? Anyway, I'm not gonna stand around and hear you lecture me about proper etiquette, Lalatina Ojou-sama."

"Lala—?! D-Don't call me that, please!"

"Lalatina," Aqua suddenly said.

"Aqua?!"

"What? It's cute."

"Come on, you two, let's find the others before they start worrying."

-Meanwhile…

"Hello?" I said, looking around. The grassy fields around me, the star-pocked explosions in the sky, the seemingly endless desert just beyond, it was all familiar to me, and yet…. "No use. It feels like I've been wandering endlessly."

I was back here, in the deepest reaches of my mind once again. The reason, however, I had no idea—in fact, I didn't even remember how I got here, or rather, when I got here.

"Back again, I see." The voice came from the one and only person who inhabited the section of my mind, the person I had my current self to thank.

"Master. I thought you were gone for good."

She smiled. "Gone, huh? Are you ready to cast me off completely?"

"N-No! That's not what I'm saying! I—"

"Relax, Megumin, I understand; I was simply joking with you." She shook her head and smiled once again. "Despite your growth, you're still the same girl at heart."

"Still the same? I wonder," I said, looking out towards the desert. "Master," I began, looking back at her, "where were you? I've been walking around for so long; why have you decided to show up now?"

Wolbach took a seat beside me. "I've been here the entire time, it's just now you've decided to look for me. You're a lot more stubborn than you might think, Megumin."

"Stubborn? Umu." I nodded. "Perhaps I am. That aside, why am I here? I can't seem to remember how or why."

"You definitely have an idea as to why you're here. If you didn't, there'd be no point in asking me."

"Ah…right, you're just a figment of my imagination."

Wolbach sighed. "No need to make it sound so sad."

"It can't be helped, can it? Master…I wish you were actually around still. Sometimes I—"

"Shush. I pushed you to do it; I wouldn't have had it any other way, so stop. I went out the best way possible—by one worthy enough to carry my legacy."

"...Right." Both of us sat in silence, staring up at the sky as time seemed to run away. Finally, I broke said silence. "Master, am I…dead?" I looked at her, awaiting her answer.

She looked back at me. "We certainly wouldn't be talking here if that was the case."

I let out a sigh of relief, even though, inherently, Master's replies were of things that I subconsciously already knew the answers to.

She pointed towards the distant—and only—structure in the desert. "There. If you have need for answers, you'll find them there. Or, at the very least, that place would be your best bet."

"Furiosa." Suddenly, the thought came to me. "Master, you never told me she was your sister—you never even said you had one."

Wolbach continued looking out towards the desert, silent all the while. Eventually, she answered. "Maybe I never knew I did," she said, seemingly unsure of her answer. "Or maybe…I forgot. Or, more likely," she said, turning to look at me, "I was always trying to reunite with her." Wolbach smiled. "Who knew I would finally do so with your help. Funny how fate works. …Fate."

I felt some unease as she said that word, and the moment I did, a sudden gust of wind blew in from the desert.

"*cough* *cough* What was that? Master?" Clearing the sand from my head and face, I looked over to my side to find that I was once again alone: Master was gone. I looked out towards the desert once more. "Guess it's time for me to start moving again, right, Master?"

With a heavy sigh, I got up and began my trek toward the structure—and more importantly, Furiosa.

-Elsewhere…

"Kazuma," Nyle said as we approached the group.

"Nyle-san. We're all done over here."

"Good, good. Daichi's inside the shop with the others. I think they should be out in just a little bit." He looked over at Megumin and then raised a brow. "The Missus is still asleep? Didn't take her for such a deep sleeper."

"Ah, well, you know," I said quickly, "the trip is kind of a new thing for her, so…"

"New?"

"Yeah, you know, we've never really traveled beyond Belzerg's borders before so—actually, we've been to Elroad—but besides Elroad, we haven't really traveled far from Belzerg."

"I see."

"Not to mention, the cold here is pretty crazy; I'm sure her sleeping like this is just a side effect of those things—nothing to worry about, Nyle-san."

"I see, I see. Well, if you say she's fine, I've no reason to believe otherwise."

The door to the shop opened, and Daichi and his group exited.

"All done, Ny— Oh, Kazuma-san, you're back."

"Yup."

"Nyle-san, are we ready to continue?" Daichi asked.

"Sure." He glanced over at me. "Kazuma, you sure you don't want to rest for Mrs. Megumin's sake? I'll remind you that we won't really be able to get any proper rest while we're in the tunnels. Well, I say 'we' but I mostly mean you all; Hurnus and I will be fine."

"Ah, I don't think you need to worry about her; Megumin is used to sleeping in uncomfortable places."

"Eh?"

"I mean, our adventures kinda forced that on us, so…!"

"Ah, right. Well, if everyone is ready, we'll send the carriages back and proceed on foot."

"Wait, we're already that close to the tunnels?"

"Of course. Grixus Pass; it's large enough for carriages to go through, however, we're taking the branch tunnel from it. That tunnel is much narrower. Some parts of it will prove difficult for you all to continue through, but I believe you'll be able to squeeze through."

"We've been through Grixus Pass several times before," Daichi remarked. "Before"—he looked down, gloom filling his eyes—"Before…"

"We've been through it," Inara interjected, "but I don't think we've ever taken any branches off the main pass."

"I wouldn't expect you to," Nyle replied. "It's sort of an old service tunnel—and unfortunately, the only tunnel one can take from here since the pass is mostly out of commission. Anyhow, let us get on our way; the longer we stand around, the more chances there are for the situation in the tunnels to change."

All of us nodded and then proceeded to the entrance of the outpost and towards the pass.

As we walked, I noticed Darkness kept on readjusting Megumin on her back.

"Hey, Darkness."

"Hm?"

"I can carry her for a bit if it's getting to be a bit much."

"No, no, it's fine, Kazuma. Megumin is fairly light, but my arms are starting to get stiff from keeping them locked in this position for so long."

"Well, that's why I'm offering to take her off your hands."

"No, you misunderstand, Kazuma, though the feeling is slightly uncomfortable, whenever I try to stretch out my arms to combat it, a sharp pain races across them." She shuddered. "It's not wholly unpleasant."

"You're being wholly unpleasant, you weirdo. Now give her up and get some actual rest for your arms. I'll gladly have you carry her later."

Darkness sighed, but obediently handed Megumin over to me.

"Oi, when are you gonna wake up?" I whispered to the mage now lying against my back. "Hopefully soon," I thought. For I didn't know how much longer I could've kept the others from getting suspicious…if they weren't already."

-Elsewhere…

I looked up at the imposing structure before me. Previously, it was little more than a ruin with sections of rocky wall jutting out from the ground, but now it appeared as something of a temple. Aside from the structure itself, the walls were still the same, covered in crystalline rock and the ground, the structure's foundation, was still scorched black with veins of living flame running through them.

"It seems like you've made yourself quite at home here, huh, Furiosa?" I said to myself.

It was definitely a temple fitting for one with the title of Goddess of Wrath and Destruction.

I made my way to the entrance, a pair of large wooden doors that were covered in embers and dyed black with ash.

"This won't burn me, right?" I said, carefully pressing my hand against its surface. I recoiled preemptively, but no such sensation occurred.

Sighing with relief, I pushed open the doors.

Though the outside of the building was a standing structure, the inside looked like what lay here before. It was a mess. Ruins. Shattered crystals and rock lay strewn about the place, the decorative statues that lined the corridors marred with cracks and scorch marks that mirrored the grounds outside.

I continued past the entrance and came upon a hallway; at its end was another doorway. The doors on this doorway, however, were pointless, failing in their purpose; one was barely hanging on by its hinges and the other lay flat on the floor.

Just beyond the doorway, lay a familiar scene: a place with rocky crags jutting out of the ground and a familiar figure sitting upon the tallest of the formations.

"Furiosa," I said, calling out to her as I entered.

From atop of her rocky throne, she looked down at me. "Why hast thou come here? Why hast thou invaded this one's place?"

"Invaded?"

"Yes. Such an affront is worthy enough to incur this one's wrath. Thou strut into mine home with no heed to this one's authority." Furiosa furrowed her brow deeply. "Kneel…vessel. Thou art in the presence of a god."

As much as her arrogance grated against my pride, she wasn't wrong. I should kneel. I could kneel. But, this was my body, my mind—god or not, she will comply with my wishes, my will.

"If I offended you, Furiosa, I'm sorry…but I will not bow or kneel to just anyone."

"Just anyone, thou says?" She stood up, and then the glow within the cracks of all the things intensified. "Perhaps this one has been too lenient. Shall I demonstrate here and now who bears the authority in this relationship? Vessel…or god?"

I knit my brow in disapproval and clenched my staff tightly. I was ready to fight despite knowing I barely won last time; I didn't want a repeat of it, or worse, to suffer defeat.

"I didn't come here looking for a fight. And god or not, I have right here the means to take you down. If you still seek to test my power against yours, know that I won't hold back this time."

"Still as insolent as the last time thou came here—if not, worse." Furiosa stared at me, me at her, then she sat back down. "Thou has apologized for thy impudence…for this purpose, I shall grant thee pardon for thy trespass. Now speak, vessel, what is it that thou wants?"

"Actually…I'd like to know why I'm here."

Furiosa raised a brow. "Thou would like to know why hast thou come here? What sort of senselessness is this? How would this one know of thy foolish whims?"

"That's the thing, I don't recall wanting to come here. I don't even know why I'm here this time. I was hoping you would know."

Furiosa silently stared at me for a few seconds before she seemed to, just as quietly, sigh. "This," she began, "is the deepest recesses of thy consciousness. Thou would only be here by choice if thou put forth adequate effort. More often than not, thy reason for appearing here would be involuntary. Ths one poses thou has appeared here for the aforementioned explanation. Simply, thou has not chosen to appear here, rather, thy circumstances demanded it. Thou art in deep sleep, forcing thy consciousness to awaken in this place."

"Deep sleep? Wait, am I just dreaming, then?"

Furiosa scoffed. "Thou art at the precipice of wakefulness and not. That is to say, thou art not simply dreaming."

"Then what's happening to me? I can't seem to wake up."

Furiosa laid back against the spire of the crag she sat upon, her head laying against her hand in evident boredom. "Does thou call thyself the genius of a supposed clan of mortals? How is it then that thou art seemingly of such boorish aptitude in matters of rumination? I shall spell it out for thee. Vessel. It is because thou art a vessel."

I raised my brow in confusion. "I…don't understand. Are you saying I can't wake up because I'm a vessel or are you just trying to make me angry?"

"This one welcomes thy rage. If thou sees fit to, do so."

"Just, can you please, answer the question?"

Furiosa sighed heavily. "Thou body art weak; barely fit enough to bear such a mighty host. The price for such bestowal enacts a toll upon thy mortal flesh. In short, thy body must rest in order for it to not succumb to this one's power."

"So…this is because of you?"

"No, this is because of thee. It is because thou art mortal—and a frail one at that."

"I-I'm still growing!"

"Yes, and perhaps one of the reasons why thou art still alive. As much knavery as thou art capable of, this one must admit, thou art quite bemusing. Certainly, most mortals would've already withered away to nothingness, but not thee."

"Of course! I'm a Crimson Demon—and the best one there is! She who holds power over the typical users of magic! I am Megumin, the Master of Explosion! The most powerful magic known to man! All that said, does this mean I won't be able to return until I've rested long enough?"

Furiosa shrugged. "Perhaps. Or perhaps thou will never awaken again. At which point, I will seize thy body."

"Hey, didn't you already make a promise with me to not do that?! I didn't know gods were ones to go back on their promises."

"That promise was to one who was able to continue mine sister's legacy, not to one whose lost all thy faculties. In any case, thy fate is not known to this one; as such, I can not answer thy question."

"I see." I bowed my head courteously. "Thank you."

"Ho? What's this? Reverence?"

"Thanks," I replied. "I'm thankful for your answers, and so I should at least give you that courtesy."

Furiosa smirked. "So the vessel has some semblance of manners. This one is pleased. As such, thou may leave," she said, waving me off.

"Thanks again," I said, bowing my head once more before turning to leave.

"Thou art welcome, vessel. As long as thee shows proper appreciation, that is."

Having heard all the answers I was going to hear, I left.

As I stood outside the temple, I looked back over the desert and towards the green pastures in the distance.

I sighed. "Now to head back. Let's just hope by the time I do, I'll finally be able to see the other's faces again."

With another, heavier, sigh, I began my walk back across the desert.

-At Grixus Pass…

As we approached the tunnel, the sound of construction could be heard, but even before seeing any glimpse of it, a dwarf barred our way.

"Hold it," he said. "What are you lot doin'? Don't ya know this way here is closed?"

"We do," Nyle replied. "We're just looking to use the service tunnels."

"Ohhhh is dat right? Just lookin' to use the service tunnels? You lot? Civilians? And not servicing personnel?"

"Actually, it's under orders of the Overseer himself."

"The Overseer?! As in Gravel Grimstone?!" He crossed his arms after the moment of surprise. "And how am I supposed te believe ya? Yev got a grant?"

"I wasn't aware we were requiring our own people to have grants to leave."

"We aren't. But we're takin' precautions on who uses the tunnels. If yev have right to 'em then there should be no issue wit ya producin' the required paperwork, is there?"

"No, no, I see—and, and"—Nyle cleared his throat—"I would certainly show you such paperwork, if the whole thing wasn't supposed to be a secret."

"A secret?" The dwarf raised his brow in cynicism. "Taking a pretty public route for such a secret."

"Well, the plan didn't take into account someone stopping us before we even entered the tunnels."

"Well then, it's a good thing I'm here then, innit? Listen, if yev got no evidence fer needin' te use the tunnels, then I suggest ye get on your merry way."

"Hold on there, brother." The dwarf from Daichi's group stepped to the front. "We really need to make it to Dargon, and this here is the only way, so if you'd please, let us through."

"And who are ya?"

"The name is Hurnus. Hurnus Clobberock."

"Hurnus Clobberock? Never heard of ya."

"I'll admit, I haven't anything of note under me belt, but give me a few more years and that's bound to change."

"Well then, come back in a few more years, Hurnus Clobberock. Maybe the pass'll be fixed by then as well."

Nyle sighed heavily, causing all of us to look at him. He began undoing the laces on one of his boots.

"Aye, what are ya—?" The dwarf stopped speaking once he caught a glimpse of Nyle's foot. He stepped back some. "Dargon's jewels…yev got the rot."

"It's inert."

"Inert?" He took a closer look. "Aye, it is. And that shape there is no coincidence, is it? Yer a scout, aren't ya?"

"Are you satisfied?" Nyle asked as he began putting on his sock and boot.

The dwarf crossed his arms once more, and then he sighed—just as heavily as Nyle had. "Aye. That's good enough. Yer either a scout…or one crazy bastard. I dun know any duweri crazy enuff ta give 'imself the rot just to make it into some tunnels. Either way, no one can blame me for lettin' ya on through. Word of caution, though; the service tunnels are even more dangerous than they usually are. I'd keep my wits about me if I were you. Don't be surprised if you lot come across a few bones…or bodies."

With that grim advice, the dwarf stepped aside and allowed us to pass.

"Looks like you'll probably have something to do," I said, looking at Aqua.

"Leave it to me; if I find any unfortunates in these tunnels, I'll make sure I give them good Rites of Passing. They weren't able to join the Axis Church in life, but maybe they can curry favor with me in the great beyond."

Part 2

"Watch it, the ceiling is quite low here for you fellows," Nyle said.

We've been traveling through the tunnels for a few minutes now. At first, the tunnels were narrow—but fairly simple to get through, now, it was becoming cramped and quite uncomfortable, with the path that Nyle was referring to being half the height and a quarter of the width of any that came before. Where we could get by simply pushing past some of the narrower parts before, this one would, at the very least, require us to crouch—or in Darkness' case, crawl, to get through.

"Hold on, Nyle-san," Daichi said. He looked back at us. "Do any of you guys need a Potion of Night Sight?"

"No, I'm fine," I replied. "I can see in the dark, somewhat. This girl is fine too," I said, pointing to Aqua. "Darkness?" I asked, turning to her. "Can you see alright?"

"I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Daichi remarked. "We have plenty of spares; just handing one out wouldn't be an issue in the slightest."

"No, no, I'm quite fine, thank you."

"Alright. I guess we're good to go. Nyle-san?"

Nyle nodded. "I'll go first. Try to stay close."

As Nyle and Daichi's group went through the gap, I walked up to it and then stopped. I looked over my shoulder, noticing the mage who was still fast asleep.

"Dammit. What the hell am I supposed to do about Megumin?"

"Kazuma, what's wrong?" Darkness queried.

"Huh? Oh, um, it's Megumin."

"Megumin?" Aqua remarked. "What about her?"

"How the heck are we supposed to get her to go through? She's asleep."

Darkness and Aqua exchanged glances of realization.

"Kazuma, is everything alright?" Nyle asked, his voice echoing back to us through the gap.

"Yeah, we're ok. We've just run into a snag. We'll be over in a bit."

"Alright. The tunnel opens up a little bit once you come through."

"Got it."

"What are we gonna do?" Aqua asked.

"Hmm." I placed Megumin down on the ground. Once I did, Chomusuke shot out from under her hood.

"Reow!"

"Sorry, girl." I turned my attention to Megumin. "Oi, you wanna wake up?" No response. "Maybe I should try slapping her."

"Ah, suddenly I'm feeling very sleepy as well," Darkness remarked, laying down beside Megumin.

"..." I stared at her in silence as she, no doubt, waited, expectantly, for me to slap her.

"I got an idea!" Aqua said out-of-the-blue. "Why don't I just fill the hole with water and then we can slide Megumin on through?"

Forget Megumin and Darkness, right now I wanted to slap this idiot—and I would've, if her stupid idea didn't actually spark one of my own.

"Actually, I've got a better idea." I dug into my pack and withdrew some rope. "Bind!"

"Ah, no fair, why does Megumin get all the treatment?!" Darkness whined.

"Tch. Would you shut up?!" I tied an extra length of rope to the one that was now wrapped around Megumin's body. "There."

"What's that for?" Aqua asked. "Don't tell me you plan on doing something dubious to her while Darkness and I are right here."

"I'm not doing anything wrong! We'll go through the crawlspace and then, once we're on the other side, we'll pull Megumin through. I'll go last to make sure she doesn't get stuck or caught on any snags."

"Oh, not a bad idea," Darkness replied. "Very well, I'll go first."

"Here, take the rope," I said, handing it to her.

Once Darkness went through, Aqua followed.

"Reow?"

"Go on, girl. I'll be through in a bit."

Chomusuke darted into the gap.

"Hey, you guys on the other side yet?!" I asked, yelling through the opening.

"Yup. You're good to send Megumin on through."

I placed Megumin in front of the crawlspace. "Alright, go ahead and pull. Slowly!"

As Megumin's body began to slide into the hole, I readied myself to follow in after it.

I quickly hit a snag with Chunchunmaru; its altered size made it more difficult to move through such confined spaces without proper adjusting, but after tucking it in closer to my body, it gave me no trouble.

As I crawled through the tunnel, I realized that my night vision was of far more limited use in such tight quarters. I conjured a small fireball which allowed me to properly see in the darkness.

Under normal circumstances, this angle would've given me a great view of Megumin's underside; unfortunately, her winter attire didn't really allow for it. Plus, the dark shade of her bodysuit and the naturally-dim surroundings did a great job of masking any attempts to make out contours or details I could've normally gleaned. Sadly, it was a missed opportunity.

"That went better than I thought," Darkness said as I crawled out from the opening.

"Yeah, not bad," Aqua remarked.

Darkness sighed heavily as she looked at the rope in her hand; it didn't take much to figure out why.

"Um," Inara said, looking at us, "is Megumin-san alright? I've never seen someone sleep so deeply."

"Yeah, she's fine," I quickly replied. "The girl has an uncanny ability to sleep anywhere."

"I understand sleeping in uncomfortable places but…she was being dragged," Kevin, the Priest of Daichi's group remarked.

"Don't worry," I said, waving his worries off, "Megumin is used to it."

I don't know what I expected, but the others stared at me in complete disbelief. "Used…to it?"

"Ah, it's a bit complicated to explain, but Megumin tends to end up face-first in the dirt a lot of the time; being dragged around a bit isn't really gonna bother her."

Given the group's expression of horror and disbelief, I'd say that my explanation did nothing to clear up any misunderstandings.

"At least this time it's a bit harder for you to harass her," the Goddess of Unnecessary Comments said.

"Harass?" Inara said, looking even more astonished after such a remark.

"Oi, that's enough, you're making me look bad!" I yelled at Aqua. I quickly shifted my attention to the now deeply shocked people in front of me. "D-Don't mind her. Half the stuff that comes out of her mouth is nonsense. She tends to spend a lot of time reading a bunch of books involving drama. Quite a shame she can't tell truth from fiction."

"Ah…is that it?" Kevin sighed in relief.

Luckily, this time my explanation seemed to have landed as the group's expression showed varying levels of ease.

"Perhaps we should wait a little bit?" the priest went on. "This part seems to open up into a larger pathway. Maybe Megumin-san will wake up in the meantime?"

Waiting here for Megumin to wake up was a bad idea, given none of us knew when that was gonna happen, but rejecting the suggestion would probably make things worse.

"Ah, sure. We can take a few," I replied.

"Wonderful."

"If that's the case," Nyle began, "I'll go on and scout a bit ahead."

"I'll come with you," Hurnus announced. "Better two dwarves than one or none."

"Should I also come with you guys?" Daichi queried.

"No. It's better if you stay here," Nyle replied. "Better to minimize the chances of someone getting lost or accidents happening. I'll make sure we return quickly."

"Alright."

Once the dwarves left, the rest of us sat in silence—that was until Kevin the Priest spoke. "So, how long have you all been in a party together?"

The abruptness of the question left me sort of speechless, but it seemed I wasn't the only one, since Aqua and Darkness hadn't replied either.

"Um, what's it been? Nearly two years?" I said, recovering from said speechlessness. I looked to the others for confirmation.

"I believe so," Darkness affirmed. "I didn't meet you guys until some time later, but I heard rumors about the group around the end of autumn. Megumin joined you two earlier."

"*sigh* Such carefree days," Aqua said. "I sort of wish we could go back to those times."

Those were indeed simpler times, but I don't know if I really would've liked to go back to them. For one, Aqua and I were sleeping in the stables trying to make ends meet, two being directly tied with reason one, was the fact that we had little to no money. The third and biggest reason I didn't wanna go back to those times was for the simple fact that I had no knowledge of a certain shop. I don't think it's a stretch to say that learning about that shop and hiring their services has been a tether for me to keep my sanity when dealing with these girls.

"Nearly two years, huh?" Kevin said. "How that feels like just yesterday."

"How about you guys?" I replied. "How long have you all been in a party?"

"I was the first to join the party along with Hurnus. I believe it was almost three years ago. Inara-san joined a little after."

"I didn't like the idea of being the only female in the party," she said, speaking up, and then immediately mumbling, "turns out I had little to worry about on that front."

"Back then, Haruto was still around," Daichi said, his voice low and solemn. He clenched a fist and gave a sour grin. "I thought we were unbeatable…how foolish I was."

"Sorry about your brother," I said. "I uh…have a little brother too."

"You do?" Both Darkness and Daichi said in unison.

"Yeah, but well…ahem…he's back home. So…you know, very far away."

"I see. Perhaps you might yet see him again, Kazuma," Daichi continued. "I, unfortunately, will never see Haruto again. I'd be lucky to see his corpse at this point."

I wanted to ask if that was the point of him coming with us, but even I knew asking such a thing was too insensitive.

"So, Kazuma-san," Kevin said, interrupting the heavy atmosphere, "how does it feel to be the only male in a party?"

Ah, the age-old question.

"Honestly, it's overrated," I replied.

Kevin burst out laughing. "I suppose it's similar to what you feel, huh, Inara-san?"

Inara looked away. "Humph. Turns out you guys aren't too bad to hang around."

The priest smiled and then cast a glance towards me. "Kazuma-san, you might want to undo that Bind on Megumin-san."

"Ah, right."

"Hey, Mr. Priest," Aqua suddenly said.

"Yes?"

"I'm curious, what god do you worship? Is it that girl, Eris?"

"'That girl'? My, my, Aqua-san, aren't you being a bit disrespectful? Surely, as a miracle user, you can see the importance of showing some respect to our patrons. But, to answer your question, yes, I serve the Maiden of Luck and Fortune, our goddess, Eris-sama. Which do you serve, if I may ask?"

Seeing where this conversation was gonna lead to, I quickly intervened. "She's an Axis Cultist."

"Axis…oh." Kevin forced a smile. "Ah, well"—he cleared his throat—"a-as long as the gods receive proper respect I see no issue with those you serve. After all, we're here to provide others with relief; I don't believe that's any different in the Axis Order, is it?"

"Well said, Mr. Priest."

"Please, call me Kevin."

Out of nowhere, there was a low but unmistakable sound: an explosion. It sounded very far away, but a few seconds later, the roof of the tunnel shook. Loose dirt and debris sprinkled down upon us.

"What was that?" Daichi said, getting to his feet.

"An explosion?" Inara remarked.

"Nearby?" Kevin said, also rising to his feet.

"No," Daichi replied. "The effects would be a lot worse if it was."

"We should probably move," Inara suggested.

"No, we can't. Nyle-san said we've got to stay here until he returns."

"But what if—"

"That's enough, Inara! We stay. We can't go risking ourselves. We don't even know where to go."

While Daichi and his members were talking amongst each other, I, who spent so much time listening to the sound of explosions, figured that this one was quite far away and, as such, wouldn't pose much of a threat to us or the tunnel we were currently in. In fact, I was so confident in my skills to determine such things that I said it out loud.

"Inara-san, I think we'll be fine here; no need to worry."

"Really? How can you say that so confidently?"

I smirked. "I guess you can say I'm something of an expert when it comes to figuring out the intensity and qualities of explosions. You can trust me."

Inara stared at me with a brow raised in perplexity. "I…ok…sure."

"See?" Daichi went on. "There's nothing to worry about, so let's just—"

CRRRRACK! BOOM!

My vision went black.

A few seconds later, a bright light engulfed my sight. Was I dead? Did I die?

"Is everyone alright?" It was the priest's voice.

As my vision cleared, I could see Darkness hovering over me. Seconds later, a few coughs rang out.

"Inara," I could hear Daichi call out.

"I'm fine," she replied, coughing a few more times.

"Kazuma, are you ok?" Darkness asked.

"Yeah, I think," I said, slowly checking myself. "What about Aqua and Megumin?" I asked, looking to my side.

"Megumin is still asleep it seems, and Aqua is by the priest."

"What happened? Did the chamber collapse?"

She nodded. "Seems so. Fortunately, Kevin-san was able to erect a barrier before the rocks completely came down on us."

I was usually pretty cautious about setting flags, but I couldn't really blame anyone but myself for this one.

"Kazuma! Daichi!" Nyle's voice echoed in from nearby.

"Nyle-san?! We're fine!" Daichi shouted back. "A little cramped, but I think we're all ok. Is there any way you can get us out of here?"

"Yes. Just hang on. Hurnus and I will break you out in a few. It seems like something big happened somewhere nearby. Whatever it was, it looks like it's causing havoc down here."

"Sit tight, Daichi," the other dwarf said. "We're gonna have you outta there in no time, ya hear?"

"I hear you, Hurnus."

"Um, I don't want to rush you, my friends," Kevin said, "however, I don't know how long I can maintain this barrier."

As he said so, the light of the barrier dimmed causing the rocks overhead to shift precariously closer to crushing us.

"Ahhh, hurry!" Aqua yelled. "I'm much too young and loved to be entombed!"

This girl…

As seconds turned to minutes, we began to hear the sound of the dwarves working away at the rocks that blocked us in. At the same time, Kevin's barrier began to wane, at points flickering, causing some rocks to fall through into the chamber.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up," he said, giving us a half-hearted smile. "Oh, Eris-sama, may you bless us with a drop of your luck and allow us to come out of this unscathed."

"Surely, that girl won't allow her senior to be done-in like this!" Aqua said nervously.

Suddenly, we heard Hurnus speak. "Hold on, we're almost there! These blasted rocks!"

"I don't think the barrier is gonna hold," Kevin said through clenched teeth.

Indeed, the barrier flickered even more, causing more rocks and dust to fall in.

"Kevin, you've got to hold on! We're trying to make our way through this rock. Unfortunately, it's just too big for us to move."

"I…I'm…trying."

"Hold on," I interjected, "did you say it's too big to move?"

"Kazuma, is that you?" Nyle replied.

"Yeah. Can the rock be moved?"

"Yes, well maybe; it's much too big for us, however."

"Darkness," I said, shifting my attention to her, "do you think you can do it?"

"Um…I don't know. Perhaps."

"Don't you do things like this in your training or whatever? Come on, Darkness, you're our only hope."

She stared at me and then at the rock barring our exit. Without saying another word, she moved over to it. "Nyle-san, Hurnus-san, please move out of the way; I'm going to try and push the rock out."

There was a sound of hurried footsteps followed by Hurnus yelling, "You're good to go!"

Darkness pressed herself against the rocky wall and began to push. As she did, Kevin's barrier dimmed even more, and now, rocks began to fall in regularly; the barrier was only preventing the complete collapse of the chamber, but even that was probably for only a few seconds longer.

"Help her!" Daichi said, scrambling to Darkness' side.

As he pushed, Inara and I ran over and added our efforts to the push.

"What are you sitting there cowering, you idiot?!" I yelled at Aqua. "Get over here and help!"

"Why do I have to help?! Aren't there enough people already?!"

"Unless you wanna become a rock sandwich, you'll get your ass up here and help us!"

Aqua whined, but nonetheless, she got up and ran over to help.

Finally, after our concerted effort, the rock began to budge.

"There it is!" Daichi said. "Just a little more!"

"Push!" I yelled.

With one final and forceful shove, the rock tumbled over and out of the way. In the same breath, the lot of us tumbled out of the chamber, all of us except the priest. As we did, his barrier finally gave in and the tunnel collapsed. Megumin was still in there! But before I could even say or do anything, someone else was already yelling.

"Kevin!" Daichi yelled. "No!" He scrambled to his feet and through the dust created by the collapse. "Kevin?!"

"A little help…please."

"Kevin!"

As the cloud of dust settled, we could see Darkness holding up the ceiling of the tunnel, doing the impossible, struggling the same way she had when she saved me from being crushed so long ago.

"Come on, I got you," Daichi said, trying to pull him from the tunnel.

"Ah, wait! My leg. I think…I think it's stuck."

"Shit. Alright…alright, just wait. I'll try to get it free."

"No, there's no time. Get Megumin-san out."

"What? No, I can—"

"There's no way she could hold this for so long. Just…get her out."

"Like hell! I'm not letting another party member die! I'll get you out!"

As Daichi began clearing the debris around the priest, I ran over.

"I'll grab Megumin. You just focus on getting him free."

"Alright."

CRRRCK! The massive ceiling Darkness was holding up, shifted, and then she too, shifted, falling to a knee.

"Arrrrgh! That's enough! Stop it!" Kevin yelled. "Just get the girl out, Daichi!"

"I refuse! I REFUSE TO LEAVE SOMEONE ELSE BEHIND, DAMMIT! I won't do it! And if you keep telling me to, I'll…I'll beat the shit out of you!"

Kevin stared at Daichi in shock, then he scoffed happily. "I see. Fine then. Just cut it off."

"Cut it…? What?"

"Cut it off! Just…cut it off, Daichi. Cut off my foot." He swallowed deeply. "I can heal the wound."

"But…how are you gonna get around?"

Kevin chuckled, albeit, nervously. "I still have another foot, you know."

"Dammit." Daichi moved in and hesitantly withdrew a dagger.

Just as he was about to cut into the leg, I spoke. "Wait! Wait, hold on!"

"There's no time, Kazuma-san, we need to—"

"Hold on! Hurnus-san, Nyle-san, isn't there a way for you guys to shrink things?"

"Shrink?" Hurnus said.

"Yeah, you know, like the way our bodies and stuff shrunk when we were in the carts?"

"Ah, well, that's… That was on the carts. I don't know if—"

"N-No, I can do it," Nyle interjected. "I know how. I use it sometimes to miniaturize some of my tools for scouting. That being said, I haven't really ever used it on a person, but it should be the same…in principle."

"Argh." Darkness grunted as the ceiling above her shifted once more.

"Powered!" Aqua cast a strength-buffing spell on Darkness.

"If you're gonna do something, then please, now's the time!" Kevin said.

Nyle rushed into the crumbling tunnel.

"Get Megumin-san first," he commanded.

"Kevin—"

"Shut up, Daichi! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I selfishly allowed myself to be saved before another. Save. Her. First."

"Tch. Fine." He nodded at Nyle.

Digging into a small pouch he had on his hip, Nyle withdrew a few things: some dust, something that looked metallic, and what appeared to be some sort of flower. He took one of the many rocks lying on the floor and mashed the flower and dust together. After, he sprinkled the metallic substance on top and then muttered some words.

An electric spark shot out from the substance and then the newly formed powder began emitting a bluish-green glow.

"It's not a lot, but hopefully it'll do."

Nyle sprinkled some over Megumin's body.

A few seconds later, she shrunk down to the size of a figurine. Her frame now tiny, the binding rope fell away effortlessly.

"Amazing," Daichi said.

"Give her here," I said, holding my hand out.

Nyle picked her up and passed her over to me. "Now then." He shifted his attention over to the priest.

After taking a moment to look over the priest's condition, he remarked, "Oh yeah, your foot is stuck in there nicely. Well then, here it goes. Daichi, get ready to pull. Do it a moment too late and his foot will be crushed."

"Got it. I'm ready."

Nyle sprinkled the powder on Kevin's leg, and just like Megumin, it shrunk down to a tenth of its normal size with Daichi pulling on the leg the instant it did.

"Alright, everyone out! Hurry!"

Daichi, Nyle, and Kevin all scrambled out of the tunnel, leaving Darkness the only one inside.

"What now?" Hurnus queried. "Can she even get out?"

"Darkness, do you think you can make it out?" I asked.

An attempt was made, but it appeared that she was firmly stuck in place; the pressure and weight of the ceiling made it all but impossible for Darkness to escape without it coming down on her.

"Dammit, what do we do?" Inara said.

I racked my brain for a solution. Luckily, something came to me. "I think I got it."

"You might wanna hurry," Hurnus replied. "Your Crusader doesn't look like she can hold much more of that punishment."

It was as he said; despite Darkness' grin—strain-laden as it was—her situation was looking incredibly grim. With each passing second, the ceiling she was holding up was exacting its toll on her—and even Darkness has her limits.

"Here," I said, handing Megumin and my pack over to Aqua. "Hold on to them."

"Wait, what are you planning to do?"

"Just shut up and start buffing everyone's strength—me included."

"What?"

"Just hurry."

"Powered. Is Kazuma-san gonna tell me what he's planning to do?!"

"You'll see. Find something to brace yourself against."

"What?!"

I dashed into the tunnel and grabbed the leftover rope I used to bind Megumin. Once I did, I began tying it around Darkness' waist.

"Hah! Is-Is Kazuma planning to use Bind on me as well?!" she asked excitedly. "I don't know if it's an appropriate time, but I don't mind if you use me to practice your techniques on."

"Would you shut up? I'm gonna get you outta here."

"How? I can't move."

"Don't worry, just leave that to us. All you have to do is focus on keeping that thing from crushing you, you hear?"

"A-Alright."

I dashed back out, and then I handed everyone some length of the rope. "On the count of three, all of us pull as hard as we can. One…two…THREE!"

We pulled as hard we could and heard the rope snap. A second later, our chamber filled with dust as the collapse of the tunnel echoed through its length.

Most of us were coughing, but through it, I called out to her. "Darkness!"

I ran over, only to trip on something hard and immovable. There, on the floor, was our Crusader, sprawled out with a satisfied look on her face.

Part 3

I laid down and exhaled in relief. "Looks like everyone made it out." Then, I just as quickly, sat back up. "Chomusuke. Where's Chomusuke?"

"Cho-who?" Nyle replied.

"Chomusuke. She's a cat. She's black and—"

"Meow." The creature in question popped its head out from my bag.

"You." I sighed in relief yet again. "How'd you even get in there? Whatever." I looked at Aqua. "Megumin?"

She showed the miniature mage laying on the palm of her hand in response.

"Nyle-san," the priest said, getting everyone's attention. "Any idea how long this effect is supposed to last?"

"Ah, well…normally, the amount I used would be good for a few minutes…but on a person…well, your guess is as good as mine. I'm just glad it worked out."

"So you're saying you have no idea how long Kevin's leg is gonna stay like this?" Daichi remarked.

"Unfortunately, no."

"It's fine, Daichi," Kevin replied. "I'm happy I still have a leg. After all, I was prepared to lose it. If all I have to do is wait for the effects of this spell to wear off I'm more than fine with that."

"What about Megumin-san?" Inara questioned.

"I'm fine with Megumin being this small," Aqua said with a smile. "She's cute and looks like a tiny fairy."

"I'm alright with it too," I replied.

Her being that small made it far easier to carry her…and there was something about her being that size that resonated with me. Perhaps it was because it reminded me of the figurines Aqua made.

"I see. Well, if the concerned party is fine with it, I suppose there's nothing more to be said," Inara replied. "Should we head out? I'm sort of tired of caves and tunnels. I can't wait for a change of scenery."

"Be careful what you wish for," Nyle remarked. "Once we're through here, we'd likely need to breach the surface. Hurnus and I looked on ahead and it seems like the tunnel system is in far worse condition than I expected. If the auxiliary tunnels are blocked off as well, then we'll actually have to leave the underground. And let me remind you, the surface isn't exactly the safest place at the moment…and dare I say, it never has."

Our group continued on, circumventing buried tunnels until we came upon a fork in the path.

Nyle stood in front of it and then sighed deeply. "How I'd like to be able to scout these before we've committed to one."

This came off the back of having to make several return trips, only noticing a path was blocked once we went down it for some time.

"At least we've had choices," Daichi replied. "Would be terrible if all our paths were barred."

And there it was, another flag. I would've expected Daichi to know better since such things were common knowledge for gamers…then again, I made that mistake not too long ago, despite that fact.

"Well, even if that's the case, we're lucky we've made it to this junction. The tunnel on the left is where we need to go, but even if that path is blocked, the path on the right can be used. Problem is, the right tunnel is simply auxiliary storage for tools and whatnot. It ends not too far from here."

"And where is 'here', exactly?" I asked.

"Should be near Irondrake. These service tunnels will get us all the way to Graff's Hollow, past Maglin if we could travel their entire length. From The Hollow we'd only need to travel a bit more north to find our next tunnel system."

"And if they don't?" Daichi retorted.

"Then we'll have to surface, like I said before; we'll have to make the trip north of The Hollow above ground." Nyle sighed once more. "If only there was a way of seeing what lies at the end of this path."

"What, you can't see?" I asked.

"We dwarves can see in the dark much better than you humans, but not even we can see that far into the darkness."

Just then, I got a brilliant idea. "Hey, if all you need to do is see then I think I might have a solution."

"Oh?"

I opened my pack, and doing my best to avoid the napping cat inside, took out a small flask of oil and an equally small bundle of twine. Tying the twine to the end of an arrow, I poured a bit of oil at its end, and then fired it down the tunnel.

The arrow flew for some distance, surprisingly much farther than I expected, and then, it appeared as a small glint. That small glint became larger, and larger, and then it became apparent what was happening.

"Move!" Nyle yelled. "Into the other tunnel! Quickly!"

The sound of the explosion reached us first, followed by the pungent smell of rotten eggs. The column of flames was not far behind when we darted into the other passageway. Although the majority of the flames continued down the length of the tunnel, back from where we came from, some of it spilled into the system we ran into, the resulting ferocity and heat forcing us deeper into the tunnel in a desperate scramble to find shelter.

The sound of coughing and crumbling rock and the stinking odor of sulfur filled the air when the chaos finally died down.

"Gods. Is everyone alright?" Hurnus asked.

"What happened?" Darkness said, coughing afterward.

"A gas pocket," Nyle replied. "Must've broken into the system."

"Not surprising," Hurnus remarked. "Place has probably been neglected."

"Given the destruction the conflict has caused, neglect of some service tunnels is probably the least of the troubles the kingdom is facing. In any case, it seems like our choice has been made; we'll have to surface at Irondrake."

"AH! WAHHHHH!"

All of us turned to see Aqua bawling her eyes out.

"What's wrong, Aqua-san?" the priest asked with seemingly genuine concern.

"My *hic* My bubblyyyyy!"

On the ground in front of her was the broken remains of a large bottle, its contents mixed amongst the glass shards and dirt. Although I normally wouldn't care about such a thing, I paid a good sum for the alcohol that was now gracing the floor of the tunnel.

"Hey," I said, getting her attention, "can't you just suck it out of the ground? You should have a container you can put it in, no?"

Suddenly, she stood up and glared at me. "This is all your fault!"

"What?"

"If Kazuma-san didn't shoot a stupid arrow into that tunnel none of this would've happened!"

Everyone looked at me.

"Oi, oi, oi, come on, you can't blame me for that! How the hell was I supposed to know there was a gas pocket over there?!"

"Kazuma is right," Nyle said. "There's no way he could've known a gas pocket opened up that far into the tunnel. Along with your sight, you humans have a pretty poor sense of smell. That being said, I should've caught wind of it. I'll bear the burden of the blame."

"As unfortunate as it is, at least we're all ok, right?" Kevin said. "I mean, no one is really hurt. If you are, please let me know; I'll heal you."

"Aside from a few singed ends, I think we're all ok, Kevin," Daichi replied.

"I'm not!" Aqua cried, trying her best to scoop up whatever she could of the alcohol.

"Oi, enough. We can just get something else next time," I remarked. "Better question is, where's Megumin? You didn't end up crushing her, did you?"

"Of course not!"

"She's alright, Kazuma," Darkness interjected. "I got her."

"You got her? Where?"

Darkness moved some of her hair she routed to the front of her chest. Nestled within it was Megumin, still sleeping.

"Hold on," the priest, Kevin, said, "my leg has returned to its normal size…so how come she hasn't?"

I hadn't noticed, but the priest's leg and foot did return to normal; I suppose it made sense since it would've been difficult to escape the explosion with the irregular size. So then, why was Megumin still tiny?

"Hmm, I'm not sure," Nyle replied after rubbing his chin for a bit. "Perhaps I sprinkled a bit too much Shrink Powder? Maybe it's just a side effect? I wish I could tell you, however, I did say it was the first time I used it on a living being."

"Does that mean she's gonna stay like this forever?" I questioned.

"I have no clue. That said, being a smaller size has its benefits as well."

"It's not like I have an issue with others being shorter than me, but it would pose a problem if she was to stay this size."

"Well, if it's any consolation, I don't believe she'd stay that size forever. Shrink Powder's effects are temporary—and that's a fact. Despite the lack of data on the effects on living beings, I can say with confidence that Ms. Megumin will be back to her normal size at some point…or at least…not as small."

"Oi."

"Have confidence, Kazuma; I haven't let you down yet, have I?"

"...I guess."

"In any case, we should move. If the tunnels were dangerous to travel through before, they'd be doubly so after that explosion."

In agreement, we continued, down the only path—and soon, outside.

"This must be it," Nyle said as we approached the end of the tunnel.

A gentle array of silver light shafts pierced the dark tunnel, signaling that this was indeed connected to the surface.

Once we climbed over a set of ledges, we came to the mouth of the tunnel and as we stepped outside, we were dazzled by the otherwise picturesque scenery of a large moon in the sky, reflecting its brilliant light upon a white-cloaked ground and fog-fraught atmosphere.

The biting cold rolled in with the fog, and I soon found myself shivering despite the cold enchantments my winter gear had.

"Cold?" Nyle said with a bit of a grin. "Nay. I say savor what warmth there is here. It's gonna get a lot colder."

"Y-You're kidding…right?"

He smiled. "I won't go blowing dust in your eyes, the cold is rough, but I'd be lying to you if I said this is as bitter as it gets. Truth be told, the cold season hasn't even begun. Weather like this is no joy, but it isn't something us dwarves usually complain about…not that I'd expect humans to be as hardy."

I figured the weather was gonna be cold, but for it to get even colder than it was was something I couldn't really believe; I was no stranger to it, I mean, Japan had some frigid winters, but what he was describing was something I couldn't really even imagine. Looking over the others, it seemed as if I was the only one who was truly bothered by it.

"Time to get going. Keep moving, it'll help stave off the cold."

I trailed behind as we trudged through the snow. As I did, Daichi slowed to my pace. "Hey, Kazuma…I'm sorry."

"Huh? What about?"

"About your companion. Back there I placed my party member's life over the life of your own. If Kevin hadn't said anything I probably wouldn't have given it much thought. So, sorry."

I really didn't think about it before, but that realization sparked some anger in me. Normally, I would say something like 'it's alright', but it wasn't, it wasn't at all. Nonetheless, I couldn't blame him; I would place the others over what were essentially the lives of some strangers…as bad as that sounded. It was only because of this that I didn't say anything in response.

Seemingly done with what he was planning to say, Daichi sped back up, leaving me to follow at the tail end of our column.

Suddenly, Nyle stopped and crouched down, signaling us to do the same. As I approached their positions, I overheard the voice of someone not too far from our location.

"Didya find anything over there?"

"Not a thing," another said.

"Don't know why His Majesty, the Demon King's got us attacking some old abandoned fort. Thought we already took this place ages ago."

"It was to test that new weapon, didn't ya hear? Even if you didn't, you saw what it did to the wall."

"A genuine bonafide explosion that was; took down the damn thing in one hit."

"The power of the greatest magicks in the palm of the layman's hands."

"Don't ya think that's a bad idea?"

"Hmm, sure sounds like it. Then again, we're no generals or the Demon King himself. Can't argue with the results of their ambitions."

"True. It's been going damn well for us. Can't say the same for the dwarves."

The two men laughed.

"Hey!" Another voice called out from farther out. "What are you two doing there? Get your asses into the walls, we've found some stragglers!"

"Stragglers?"

"After all this time?" The two men said amongst each other.

'Well…best to root 'em out where we can. Those little bastards like to run into their holes and disappear any chance they get."

"Like roaches, the lot of them. Let's go."

"Umu."

"Those pricks," Hurnus said after we were sure the men had left.

"Seems like they were testing some sort of weapon here," Daichi said.

"And it looks like there are some dwarves here," Nyle added.

"Should we go rescue them, Nyle-san?" Inara queried.

He shook his head. "No. That's not our problem. Harsh as it is, we need to take this opportunity and continue north. Trying a rescue attempt with a group this large will just end up putting them in greater danger, not to mention, us."

"Are you really going to abandon your kinsmen?" Darkness asked.

Nyle sighed deeply. "I know how you feel…but trust me, we don't want to get involved. I know it sounds callous, but…it's their fault that they got caught. Chances are those dwarves were part of a scouting party. It's risky being out here…and they know what they signed up for."

All of us traded stares of discomfort, but none of us could deny what the dwarf was saying made sense…as cold as that reality was.

"This way," Nyle said, and we followed. "This should lead towards the moat. We can use it to hide from anybody still out in the fields. Just be sure to hug the walls."

"Not literally, you idiot!" I whispered harshly at the only person dumb enough to do it.

"What? Why are you screaming at me? I'm only doing what he said to do!" Aqua retorted.

"He means to stick close to it."

"Oh. Then why didn't he just say that?"

"Just shut up and stick close to me, alright?"

"I get it, ok? No need for Kazuma-san to be so mean."

As we moved through the field and towards the moat, I looked over my shoulder and noticed that Aqua was lagging behind quite some distance.

"Hey!" I said, whispering loudly yet again; however, she seemed to not hear me. "Hey!" I said a bit louder. Still, she seemed to pay me no mind. "Oi!" I said, finally marching over to her. "What the hell are you doing? Didn't I say to stay close to me?"

"Ah, sorry. Look, I found this rock; isn't it pretty?" she asked, holding it up for me to see.

"You idiot, now's not the time to be looking for rocks. Look, the others are far ahead of us, come on!" I grabbed her arm and pulled her along.

Eventually, we rejoined the group, but because of Aqua's wild tendencies, I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure she didn't wander off or do something stupid. I looked back just in time to stop myself from walking over a ridge.

"Hey, Aqua, watch out, there's a—"

"WHAAAAAAA!"

Before I could grab her, Aqua did exactly what I avoided, and tumbled down the ridge.

"Shit! Aqua! Dammit!"

"Kazuma-san? What happened?" Daichi said, running over with everyone else.

"Aqua, she fell. Dammit! That idiot."

We peered over the ridge to see Aqua completely submerged, head-first, in a pile of snow, a person standing just a few meters from her.

"Is that a—?"

Our suspicions were confirmed once the person spoke. "Hey, who the hell are you?! Are you a—?" They suddenly stopped yelling as they drew nearer to her. The man looked around and then, hesitantly, poked Aqua's butt.

Her legs began flailing widely in response.

"Is he…?" Hurnus began.

"Bastard," I cursed, hopping over the ridge.

"Wait, Kazuma!" I heard Darkness call after me.

As I slid down the embankment, the man looked up and saw me. "Hey!" He quickly pulled the thing he had slung over his shoulder. The instant he did, I felt a sense of dread I didn't think I would ever feel in this world. I only had a fraction of a second to react. I tried to draw my bow, but doing it while slowing my descent was all but impossible. By the time I reached the bottom, the man had his weapon drawn…and I…I knew I was staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Who are you?!" he yelled. "Where did you come from?"

I froze. I didn't know what to do. I was at a clear disadvantage.

"Answer me!" he shouted, moving closer to me, gun still drawn. FWSSH! "AH!"

A small bolt lodged itself in his arm, causing him to lower the gun involuntarily.

In that split second, I, somehow, was able to regain my senses. "FLASH!" I yelled.

The second surprise attack did the trick, and now the man had dropped the gun entirely. I rushed forward and lunged at him.

I was met with an elbow to the side of my face. The blow rattled me, but the adrenaline pumping through me allowed me to shake its influence and redouble my efforts to subdue him. I pushed past his grasp as he failed to grab my outstretched hand. He threw a punch with his other arm; it connected, hitting the side of my jaw; however, the strike was weak, likely caused by the injury in his arm and the desperation in which he loosed it.

I activated Drain Touch and seconds later the man ceased struggling, going limp soon after.

My heart beat was all I could hear and feel as I rolled off the man's body.

"PWAH!" Aqua popped herself out of the snow.

"Kazuma! Aqua! Are you guys, alright?" Darkness asked as she and other others arrived seconds later.

"Is he…?" Kevin tentatively asked as he stared at the man lying limp in the snow.

"No," I said, still trying to catch my breath. "He's just knocked out."

"It's probably best if we got rid of him," Nyle suddenly said. We all looked at him the same we did when he told us to abandon the dwarves. "No need to stare at me like that," he replied. "I'm only saying this from experience. If we have any intention of sticking around here for any prolonged period of time, then we'd best find some way to silence him. Next time we run into them, we might not be so lucky…and keeping someone who already saw us around is a good way for us to wind up in that sort of mess."

"I get you," I said, stumbling to my feet. "Still, I don't want to kill anyone."

Nyle stared back at me with a sympathetic expression. "Neither do I, but we have to do what we have to do to stay alive. Still, I'll default to your choice. It seems like the majority is against the idea of taking lives. Truth be told, I'd like to avoid it as well…but, you must understand, if we're left with no choice, it's them or us. Now hurry, we've got to get out of here before others show up."

"Hold on," Kevin said.

"What is it? We can't stay—"

"I know, but we can't just leave him out here; he'll freeze to death if we do."

"Are you joking with me? You do realize this man is likely with the Demon King's army, right?"

"True or not, he's still a man; it's my duty to care for others, I can't just look the other way knowing he might die due to my negligence."

"Are you planning on patching him up?" Nyle asked, his voice full of astonishment.

"No, I don't need to go that far, but preventing him from suffering from exposure is the least I can do."

"Are you serious? Argh. Quickly then."

"Look, we can drag him over there," Daichi said, pointing at a nearby bridge.

"Hold it," Nyle retorted. "Bad idea. We might run into a troll. Perfect time and place to do so. With how long this area has been neglected, I wouldn't be surprised if a troll made the underside of that bridge its home. Then again, it would be a good way to solve our problem." Once again, we stared at him in horror. "Oh, would you quit it?! I'm only kidding…mostly."

"How about over there?" Hurnus said, pointing at a small alcove not too far from us.

"Looks good," Kevin replied.

"It's going to have to be," Nyle remarked. "I'm sure his friends will probably be around pretty soon."

We quickly settled the man into the hollow, afterwhich, we made our way down into the nearby moat.

As we carefully made our way across the ice, we began to hear a sound I recognized.

"Is that—?" Kevin began to ask.

"Gunfire," Daichi answered.

"Gunfire?" Nyle queried in perplexity.

"The new weapons that the Demon King's army is using."

"Fire magic? I don't think I've ever seen any fire magic that does what that thing does…or whatever has been reported as doing."

Daichi glanced over at me, his eyes saying what he didn't out loud.

"It sounds like whatever type they're using it isn't very fast," I remarked. "And the one the guy pointed at me looked like it was one of those old ones they used way back in the days."

"Have you two seen these things before?" Nyle asked.

"Not really," Daich replied. "I've only seen something like it in books, but my experience with it comes from…well…" Daichi fell silent.

"Ah…that moment?"

He looked away, nodding silently in confirmation.

"Book?" Kevin said, rubbing his chin. "I don't think I've ever read anything about something like what those things do. To even think that there's something that mimics such a horrendous tool is…terrifying."

"To be honest, I never thought I'd see it here," Daichi replied. "To think that something like that actually existed here."

"Here?" Nyle said. "Come to think of it, dark hair and eyes, and that language you speak. You and Kazuma are from the same place, aren't you? Are there things like that where you're from?"

Once again, Daichi and I traded stares, however, this time I was the one to speak.

"There are…but it was pretty rare in our homeland, to see 'em."

"So, you two—no, your people must have experience in dealing with those things, don't they?"

Daichi shook his head. "Truth be told, Nyle-san, our place didn't really have to deal with those weapons. It is, if you can believe it, quite peaceful in our hometown."

Nyle looked at me and Daichi with a confused look on his face. "Peaceful? Sounds nice. Sure would like to live in such a place," he remarked playfully, his comments sprinkled with envy.

"It has its own problems," I replied.

"I suppose it has to…if the lot of you migrated over here. Wonder what sort of problems would cause a group of people to leave peace behind, though."

"Things that are beyond one's control," Daichi remarked.

"Doesn't help that the one in charge of it made a huge mess of it too," I said, casting a quick glance at the clueless goddess beside me.

"I see. Well, I suppose it isn't as fortuitous as I initially thought. Still, any form of peace is preferable over what we have now," Nyle said.

As we rounded the corner heading towards the front of the fort, Nyle stopped.

"What…happened here?" he said, staring at the scene before us.

Scorched ground and a spherical cut out marking the boundary of the destruction. This could only be one thing.

"Explosion?" I thought; however, there was something more visceral…dirty about this devastation.

"Was this what we heard earlier?" Inara queried.

"This looks much too large for a typical magic spell," Kevin said.

"Could it be Detonate?" Hurnus in reply.

"Kazuma, doesn't this look like Explosion?" Darkness suddenly remarked.

"Kinda…but…there's something about it that's different."

I spent way too much time watching a certain Crimson Demon mage cast Explosion to know what I was looking at wasn't it. Although it shared many of the characteristics, this…"explosion" wasn't caused by a spell…or magic; something told me that this devastation was caused by something that was made…man-made. That line of thinking caused me to sweat. Surely, there wasn't any way bombs could exist in this world too…right?

"They took the entire wall out," Hurnus said, staring at it in complete shock.

"Surely, this couldn't have been done with a single spell," Nyle said, his tone stern, but tinged with nervousness.

"The Explosion spell would fit the bill, though," Daichi remarked.

"I don't think Explosion caused this," I said. "I've seen Explosion enough to know that this wasn't caused by it."

"Then what?" Inara queried.

"Perhaps," Nyle began, "something…new."

"Could the Demon King Army be working on new creations? Beyond what we've seen so far?"

"They are," Kevin replied. "They must be. Remember what those two men were discussing when we came out of the tunnels?"

"This has to be what they were talking about, then," Daichi said.

"The most powerful of magicks in the palm of one's hands," Inara murmured, repeating what the men said back then.

"Dargon help us," Hurnus said. "If the Demon King's Army has things capable of bringing down walls in a single instance… Gods."

"Then there's no time to lose," Nyle said. "We've got to get to Dargon as quickly as possible and let the Kings know."

Part 4

As we hurried along the moat, Nyle stopped once more and motioned for us to stay hidden. A few seconds later, several men ran over the bridge that granted passage across the moat and into the fortress. They stopped just short of stepping out of view. Unfortunately, this also meant that they could see us if we made any sudden movements. I silently gestured for everyone to place a hand on me and then cast Lurk; doing this would've increased our chances of going unnoticed, provided none of the men looked directly at us.

One of the men started speaking. "I want you and you to spread out and search for any stragglers. Take three others with you, each. Thomas, I want you to take half of the remaining men and secure a perimeter outside the fort wall. The rest of you will fall in on me; we're pushing in. The dwarves are currently preoccupied with the vanguard, so they won't be expecting us to show up on the flanks—especially since the wall was breached. Keep low and move fast. On me, men! Let's go!"

Judging by the speech and orders he just gave, it must've been the enemy commander.

Several men ran past us. If any of them turned just a bit to their left, we would've been in deep trouble.

"Achoo!"

⸻!⸻

I felt a cold sweat wash over my body, the others staring at the blue-haired idiot who sneezed.

"Huh? What was—?"

"FLASH!" I yelled, blinding the group in front of us.

The jig was up.

If I had a few seconds, I could've used Light of Refraction, but there was no time, this was the best I could do.

"Go!" Nyle shouted, breaking into a sprint.

All of us did our best to run, but on an ice-covered surface, it was all but impossible; the ensuing scramble resulted in many of us stumbling or falling.

One by one, shots rang out behind us; the sounds of rounds whizzing past us, smashing into the ice, or burying itself into the wall of the moat.

Inara stopped and turned towards the soldiers. "HYAHH!" The ice beneath us cracked as it formed into a wall, shielding us from the volley of fire aimed at us. "Go! Quick!" she yelled, joining our retreat once more.

As the distance between us grew, the soldiers gave chase, stopping to take a few aimed shots.

"AH!"

I turned around to see Darkness stumble.

"Oi, Darkness!"

"Keep going!" she yelled, breaking into a full sprint once more.

Almost on instinct, I moved, a round making impact where I just stood; Auto-Dodge triggered.

Suddenly, up ahead, I saw Nyle jump and then disappear beneath the ground. Then one by one, the others.

"Kazuma-san, there's a stream up ahead!" Aqua yelled, shrieking as another round whizzed past us.

As we approached where the others disappeared, I could see the drop. It wasn't very far, but it was clear there was a stream of running water at the bottom. I grabbed Darkness and Aqua and launched us over the edge.

"Hold on!" I shouted as we fell.

Seconds later, we hit the water with a hefty splash.

The current was stronger than I expected, and it quickly carried us along. Had it not been for the enchantments on my clothing, I would've probably passed out from the cold. Even so, I felt like I was taking an ice bath, and I'm sure the feeling wasn't too far from reality.

As I wondered where to get off, another wall of ice rose in front of us. Inevitably, we crashed into it, but because of it, we were able to surface.

"Kazuma-san! Aqua-san!" Kevin said, reaching his hand out to us.

Daichi's group fished us out of the river.

"Are you alright?" the priest asked as I crawled onto land.

"*cough* *cough* I think. Darkness!" I said, remembering that she was hit. Turning to look for her, I saw that she was protecting her chest, specifically where she tied her hair and hid Megumin in. "Darkness, you ok?"

She winced and then smirked. "My back hurts a bit…but…"

I checked, noticing a small indent in her armor; the round must've bounced off.

"Looks like you're fine. How about Megumin, she ok?"

"I think so, but it might be a good idea to get dry."

"Umu."

"You all," Nyle said, doubled over, catching his breath, "we need to keep moving."

"We need to find some place to dry ourselves off," I replied.

"I know…but it can't be here."

"Nyle-san's right," Daichi said. "Those guys will be looking for us."

"If you can keep yourself together for a few more minutes, I know a place near here we can use for shelter. Not great for a prolonged stay, but it should do for a bit of a rest."

"Alright," I replied. "Lead the way."

-A few minutes later…

Under the looming shadow of the fortress, we carefully moved across the snow-swept fields towards Nyle's hideout.

"N-Nyle-san, are we almost there?" the priest asked as he desperately rubbed his arms.

All of us were shivering, some sniffling, others trying to stifle sneezes.

"I think…" Nyle said, looking around, "it might…be…here?" He rubbed away some snow from a nearby mound. "Aha! It is! Haha. I can't believe this thing is still here. Come on, inside, everyone." He crawled into the hole first, and the rest of us followed him in. "Don't forget to place the lid over the entrance," he said as the final person entered.

A spark ignited a fire pit in the center of the hovel and we could feel an immediate wave of warmth flood the area.

All of us collectively sighed in relief, while some huddled closely to the fire.

"Haven't used this place in a while," Nyle said as he looked around, a faint smile on his face. "I'm actually quite surprised it's still stocked; would've thought the other cells would've used it."

"There a lot of places like this?" I asked, joining the others by the fire.

"Yes, there are quite a few. They're scattered all over the kingdom. We scouts use them to survey areas of interest as well as temporary shelters. This one is less suited to the latter and more like a rest stop between objectives."

"It's a helluva lot better than outside, that's for sure," Daichi remarked.

"That I can agree with. We can stay here for a little while, but we really shouldn't dally. We're still awfully close to Irondrake to be truly safe. If we didn't get caught, I wouldn't mind using this place to let you all catch up on rest, but since that's not the case."

I slapped Aqua upside the head.

"OW! What was that for you hikkiNEET?!"

"For sneezing earlier! What the hell did you think was gonna happen after you did?!"

"I couldn't help it, it was cold!"

"All of us were cold! Couldn't you hold it in till after the soldiers left?"

"I tried, but it just came out!"

"Kazuma-san, it's fine, isn't it?" the priest, Kevin, said. "We all managed to get away without any injuries. Thank Eris-sama."

"Megumin-san is still small," Inara suddenly said as she watched Darkness carefully gather warmth for her. "Shouldn't the effects of the powder have worn off by now?"

"Erm…it should have," Nyle replied, scratching his head in confusion. "I can only surmise that this is due to some unknown interaction. I can't imagine Mrs. Megumin will remain that size for much longer. Even if she does, I'm almost certain that it's not permanent."

I sighed. "Well, if you're certain it isn't permanent."

"As sure as anyone can be in such a situation. In any case, I believe if you want to get a little bit of rest, now would be the time. I don't believe there will be much, if any, available time once we begin moving again."

We looked around. There wasn't much space to be able to completely lay down and sleep. If we wanted to, we'd likely have to do it sitting.

Perhaps noticing this, Nyle cleared his throat. "It'll be a bit cramped, but I'm sure you'll find a way to make it work. After all, these places weren't made with humans in mind."

-Sometime later…

Most everyone else was asleep. I dozed off a little earlier, so I was currently awake, lying with my back against the wall and a small feline companion laying on my chest. Her master, a tiny Archmage, was currently resting on the palm of my hands. I took her off Darkness because I was worried of her being crushed by some involuntary movement.

"Oiiii," I said, holding her up to my face, but there was no response. If it wasn't for the slight movement of her chest, I would've thought the worst. "Man, I'm afraid of crushing you, you're so small. You really are like a doll in this form, you know."

Still, no response, not that I expected any at this point.

Suddenly, there was a glow coming from her. Was Megumin about to return to normal?

I quickly sat up, causing Chomusuke to roll off my chest. Despite her angry meows, I kept focus on Megumin. Her clothes began to grow…but something was odd.

"Eh?"

She didn't grow with them.

As the clothes grew to regular size, I quickly lost Megumin with them.

"H-Hey. What the—?" After fumbling through the normal-sized clothing and sarashi, I managed to find a now completely naked Megumin within.

Despite her tiny size, I could feel a slight rise in temperature…as well as elsewhere.

I shook my head furiously. "No, Kazuma, now's not the time."

The effect had worn off…at least on her clothing, but Megumin was still a tenth her size. Unfortunately for her, it would mean she'd be bearing the blistering cold, stark naked.

"What are you doing?" Aqua suddenly said.

"W-W-Wha?! W-Why are you awake?"

"What are you doing to Megumin?!"

"Shhhh!" I covered her mouth. "I'm not doing anything. Her clothes suddenly outgrew her. Look," I replied, showing the evidence.

"And she's still that size?"

I nodded.

"What are we gonna do, then? She can't go around like that!"

"I know…but I'm not really sure. It's not like I have a set of tiny clothes she could wear."

Aqua looked down in contemplation, a look of worry accompanying it. "Oh! I got it! Why don't we just get Nyle-san to use the powder on her clothing? That way it'll become tiny again."

"And what happens if she grows?"

"Ah… I guess I didn't think of that. Still, we can't let her be like that—especially not around you."

"Oi."

Aqua looked at the clothing lying on the ground. "Oh. How about we use some of this?" she said, showing me the sarashi.

"What, are you planning on wrapping her up like those Egyptian mummies?"

"No, of course not! We can cut a little of it. Hmm, if Kazuma-san has a pair of scissors and a needle, I can probably make something with this."

"My sewing kit is over by the fire; let me go get it. Here," I said, handing Megumin over to her.

After diving into the stream, many of our items were wet or frozen; as such, we laid out many of them to dry out by the fire.

Once I grabbed my sewing kit and returned, I gave it to Aqua who immediately went to work creating the smallest set of clothing I've ever seen. Not only did it look functional, it also looked kinda nice.

"There," she said, holding it up with a satisfied grin. "That should do."

"I don't know how you did that without taking measurements, but I guess something is better than nothing in this case."

"Trust me, I have an eye for these things."

"Sure."

One by one, she started putting the clothing on Megumin (who she placed on the pile of normal clothing). After a few minutes, she was done.

"There. All done." Aqua smiled. "I'm quite happy with it. I think Megumin will be too once she sees them."

"Yeah, now we just have to wait for her to wake up."

Then, without warning, the tiny Megumin grew to her normal size…ripping the newly-created clothing to shreds in the process.

"Ugh…where…where am I?" Megumin awoke. "Kazuma? Aqua? Is there something wrong? Why are you…?" Megumin looked down at herself. "WHY AM I NAKED?! KAZUMA?!" she yelled, covering herself in embarrassment.

Her shouting instantly woke everyone up, throwing the entire hovel into a panic.

"What's going on?!" "Are we under attack?!" "Where?!" What?!" "Huh?"

"Megumin-san?!" Inara said, shocked by the naked mage. "Why are you naked?!"

"I don't know!" Megumin retorted. "Kazuma!"

"Oi, hold on, this isn't my fault! Let me explain! Oh, and by the way, your clothes are under you."

"Why didn't you say that first?!"

-A few minutes later…

"So I shrank. I see. Does that mean I was naked the entire time?" Megumin said, furrowing her brow at me.

"Of course not. Your clothes shrunk with you, but apparently they returned to normal before you did. Then Aqua made some clothes for your smaller form and…well…you know the rest."

"*sigh* I'm sorry if I caused you all any trouble," she said, bowing her head to the others.

"No, no, you weren't any trouble for us," Kevin replied. "We weren't the ones taking care of you this whole time, after all; it was your companions."

Megumin glanced over at us, and then she bowed her head once more. "Thank you."

I smiled faintly. "You know, Darkness took a bullet for you."

"A bullet?"

"It's the projectile fired from the things those soldiers I told you about were using."

"Juu? Gun?"

I nodded.

"Are you hurt, Darkness?" Megumin asked, looking at her worriedly.

"Not at all," Darkness replied. "I was shocked by it, at first, but it seems like nothing happened."

"Well, I wouldn't say nothing happened," I remarked. "It left a dent on the back of your armor. Still, the fact that it left a dent should be enough to tell you how strong that stuff is compared to something like an arrow."

"So, what now?" Megumin said.

"Since it seems everyone's gotten enough rest," Nyle began, "I say we continue on."

"Especially Mrs. Megumin," Kevin said with a chuckle. "I think it's safe to say your sleeping habits aren't normal, but don't worry, we won't pry."

"Erm…" Megumin looked away pitifully.

"Ah, sorry I…lied about it," I said.

"I'm sure you have your reasons," Daichi replied.

"We should start getting ready to move," Hurnus said.

"I'll scout the exit," Nyle said. "We won't be leaving the same way we got in."

"Grab your things," Daichi commanded his group.

I nodded at the others, signaling to do the same.

"Kazuma," Megumin said as we were grabbing our things.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I should probably tell you the reason why I was asleep for so long."

"Does it have to do with Furiosa?"

"Yeah."

"I figured. What's up? Is she trying to take over or something?"

"No, nothing like that. She told me that it's a side effect of her occupying my body. She said that since my body isn't…"

"...isn't? What?"

Megumin knit her brow. "Adequate," she grumbled, averting her gaze. "Furiosa said that my body will have to rest from time to time to accommodate for her occupying it."

"That seems…inconvenient." I sighed.

Were all gods so inconsiderate?

"I suppose it makes sense," Megumin continued, "given that she's a god."

"Or so she says."

"I don't believe she's lying. Especially about being Wolbach's sister."

"Well…I still think you should show some caution…as averse as you are to that concept."

"I'm not averse to caution," Megumin retorted, frowning. "I just happen to believe caution isn't really an appropriate response for a Crimson Demon to have. It's far less cool to approach a situation with a foregone conclusion than to approach it with the possibility of having to give it your all."

"And this is why you'll never be a good leader."

Megumin glared at me. "I happen to be a good leader—just ask Yunyun. Besides, I'm not saying I'd lead my followers to such situations, just that I myself hold those beliefs, personally."

"Right, right. Anyway, thanks for telling me. The more we can understand what's going on with you, the better we can get a hold on how to treat it."

"The exit looks fine," Nyle said, returning from his excursion. "I took a brief look around the stop point and didn't see any soldiers around, either."

"So either they gave up looking for us or they're not looking in the right place," Daichi replied. "In any case, it looks like this is the best situation for us."

"Fortuitous indeed. As such, I don't want this chance to pass us by. Is everyone ready to move out?"

All of us exchanged glances and then we nodded.

"Excellent," Nyle said with a grin. "Follow me."

We crawled deeper into the hovel until we reached a darkened area. Nyle pushed aside a few rocks, revealing another crawlspace.

"This one might be a little tighter than the others so take it one at a time," he informed.

There were a few hiccups, namely Darkness and Aqua, but with a bit of manhandling they managed to get through.

The moon was still out when we made it outside but the fogginess that was present earlier was no longer around.

"Some of you stick out like a sore thumb in this landscape, so stay low."

While I wasn't wearing clothing that could easily give me away, it was also not very beneficial; my winter gear had many different colors, most dark. The only ones whose Nyle's remarks could've really referred to were Daichi, Inara, and Darkness, who were all wearing black or some shade of it. Hurnus also wore dark colors, but he also had patches of gray and white on his clothing. His small stature also helped with blending in.

As we broke away from the shadow of the fortress, we could hear the sounds of gunfire in the distance. It seems like the dwarves were still putting up a tough resistance. It sort of made me feel bad that we couldn't do something to help them, but at the same time, I was relieved that someone else made the choice not to…as scummy as it sounded.

"Nyle-san." Daichi called out to the dwarf.

"Yes?"

"What's our next destination? You said it was a mine?"

"No. Maglin. Then Graff's Hollow after that."

"Is Maglin a city?" Darkness queried.

"Well…it used to be. Not sure how much of a city it is these days, however."

"Ah, Maglin," Hurnus said in a sentimental tone. "Used to buy some good spirits back when I was running some quests around there."

"I don't quite remember Maglin," Daichi remarked. "Was it before you joined?"

"Yeah, but we did a few quests around there too, don't you remember? The quest with the troll, the one with the lady who said she lost her puppy—"

"Only to find out it was a Silverfang Wolf. Right, I remember."

"There was also that one quest we took to clear out those ruins east of Maglin."

"The one that was said to be haunted by ghosts."

"And it was actually just someone running a distillery deep inside."

Daichi and Hurnus laughed.

"Those were some good times."

"Yeah…Haruto was the one who took all those quests, now that I remember."

All of us fell silent, then Hurnus coughed loudly.

"Yeah. Um…sorry."

"Not your fault, Hurnus. Anyway, so Maglin is where we're headed next, Nyle-san?"

"That's correct. If we keep this pace, we should be there in a few days."

"A few days?" Aqua whined. "Isn't there a way we could get there faster?"

"Not unless you'd like an entire detachment of the Demon King's Army to show up. The farther north we go, the greater the chances there are we run into them. Truth be told, I wasn't expecting such a large force so far south. Frankly, it gives me a bad feeling about the situation up north."

"Are we going to be traveling nonstop?" Inara asked.

"I could probably go for more than a few days without rest, but you guys. I know how frail humans can be, so worry not, we'll stop for a rest every day or so."

"I'm half elf, you know."

"And I don't think all humans fall under that category," Megumin added with a frown.

"Darkness here could probably outdo you," I said, throwing my two cents into the conversation.

"And I'm a goddess, so that definitely doesn't apply to me," the resident idiot said.

"Goddess?" Kevin said.

"In her dreams," I replied. "She's even dressed up as a supposed one."

"What is Kazuma-san talking about?! Maybe I should turn you into a piece of jerky to demonstrate my powers. I'm totally capable of that now that I've gotten them back, you know."

"Shut. up," I said, covering her mouth.

We continued our trek long through the night and into dawn. As the moon disappeared from the sky and the light of morning replaced it, we found our pace slowing dramatically.

"I suppose you all would like to rest?" Nyle said.

Though some of us were too stubborn to agree, our languid movement betrayed any hints of having endless stamina.

"Lucky for you, I had already figured that you all might need rest sooner than was conveyed. We're actually near another surveying hovel; a nice one by our standards, as well."

"Thank goodness," Kevin said with a heavy sigh.

I couldn't feel my legs, but I didn't know if that was due to fatigue or the cold.

After what seemed like half an hour of trudging through heavy snow, we arrived at what, at first glance, appeared to be a simple arrangement of rocks. The moment Nyle muttered something (which I could only assume were magic words) the illusion was dispelled. Like the time we entered the chamber where Gravel Grimstone resided, the stones had rearranged themselves into a foundation bearing a hatch as an entrance.

Nyle led the way, as he did several times now.

"Urgh. It's not like I expected. Still, it looks like everything is fairly well stocked."

"Looks like someone forgot to clean this place up before they left," Inara remarked, referring to the trash lying about the place.

"Maybe they were in a hurry," Daichi said as he looked around.

"No," Nyle replied, "some people just aren't as…civilized. Tidiness is lost on even some of our own members." He smacked two rocks against each other, causing a flame to spit out across the air and into the large fire pit in the center of the room. "It still wasn't made with humans in mind, but it was made to quite lavish specifications for us dwarves. Make yourselves at home. Oh, and the trash goes over in that corner over there. I'd be forever grateful if you could all just…grab a few pieces and toss them inside? Please?"

"It's the least we can do for all that you're risking for us," Daichi replied.

As Daichi and his group went to picking up the trash laying around, I turned to the others.

"Let's do our part too and then get some rest."

"Do we have to?" Aqua whined. "The others seem to be doing a great job of it as is."

"Oi, stop making me look bad. Just pick up a few and do your part, alright?"

"Alright. *sigh* Hmm, I wonder if the dwarves have some wine stashed away in here," she said, walking off.

Does that girl think of nothing but alcohol?

Part 5

"Aren't you gonna rest?" I asked Megumin as I laid down.

"I think I got enough," she replied with a weak smile. "Besides, I don't feel tired."

"Ah. Is that how it's gonna be, then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Not tired, then really tired, then back and forth, over and over?"

"I'm…not sure. Hopefully not."

"Well, if you're not going to sleep, what are you gonna do?"

Megumin looked around. Everyone else seemed to be sleeping or getting ready to. "I don't know," she said, looking back at me sadly.

I patted the space beside me.

"What? Does Kazuma want me to sleep beside him?"

"Why not? It feels like it's been a while."

"Has it though?"

It's only been a day, but there was no need to tell her that. "Ah, what, you don't feel like sleeping together anymore?"

She took a glance over her shoulder, looking at everyone else, then, she timidly laid down. "What is Kazuma actually up to? I hope he has no illusion of doing things with so many people around," Megumin said, whispering the last bit.

"Really? Even I have limits, you know. I actually was wondering if you can actually teach me more about magic." Megumin stared at me in surprise. "What? You think all I'm capable of thinking about is lewd stuff?"

Megumin smiled. "I know what Kazuma thinks about. I'm sure this time was no different. No, I'm just surprised that learning magic was your first thought."

I looked away. She knew me too well.

"Very well," she continued, "does Kazuma finally want me to teach him Explosion?"

"I already said I don't; that hasn't changed."

Her enthusiastic smile faded, being replaced by a frown. "What then?"

"More magic theory."

She raised her brow. "More magic theory? Don't you find it boring? Wouldn't you rather be bathing in the afterglow of letting a good Explosion off? I assure you, once Kazuma experiences it you'll want to do it everyday."

"Phrasing. And no, I'd rather be learning something I could put to good use. I'll leave casting Explosion to you."

Megumin looked saddened by my response. "*sigh* Alright. But if Kazuma changes his mind, don't hesitate to ask."

"Not a single move." A voice, unknown, came from behind us. "Who are ya and how'd ye find this place?"

I slowly turned my head, and immediately felt something sharp press against the back of my neck.

"Not a bright one, are ya?" the voice said. "Are ye gonna give me an answer, or are me and my boys gonna hafta slaughter ya?"

"Ka-Kazuma. Satou."

"Kazuma? Alright, Kazuma, who do ya work for? The Demon King?"

"N-No!" I quickly said, my voice raising in fear.

I felt the sharp point press into me once again. "Keep yer voice low. Now, I'm gonna ask ya again, who is it—"

"Everyone wake up, we're under attack!" Megumin yelled.

"Shit, you—!"

"FLASH!" I yelled, scrambling away with Megumin right after.

"Argh! You! Get 'em!"

"Hold it!" Nyle yelled, jumping between our group and the intruder's.

"Who the—? Wait a rocksplittin' minute. Is that you, Nyle?"

"Baergarn Snowflint. I should've known it was you and your group. No one makes a finer mess than you."

Nyle motioned for us to relax.

The voice stepped out of the shadows. A dwarf with a long gray and white beard. Four others stepped out with him, all of them holding mini crossbows…and all of them aimed at us.

"Who are they, Nyle?"

"The objective."

"Objective? Where to?"

"The capital. That's all I can say."

The dwarf gestured at the other in his group, and then they all lowered their weapons. "Well, I'll be. Didn't think Sly Nyle was still doing missions."

"You know the oath. I don't understand why you'd think I suddenly stopped."

"Oh, ya know why, but since ye have guests I won't say."

"Good. Best keep that mouth of yours shut. I'm also to assume that you and yours were responsible for the abysmal state this hide was in."

The dwarf responded with a smirk. "We were gonna tidy it up 'fer we left. Scout's honor."

Nyle sighed. "Well, sorry for taking up some of the space."

"Ah, it's alright. Me and the boys didn't actually plan on staying. We were coming back te resupply, is all."

"Oh? Mission nearby?"

"That's right. I take it ye know."

"No. I haven't heard anything."

The dwarf let out a hearty laugh. "See? And ya say ye haven't been away. Irondrake. Ya came from that direction, so ye know what I'm referrin' te."

"How do you know we came from there?" Daichi interjected.

"Just a guess, but it's a Scout's guess, so better than your average. Anyway, we're headin' over there."

"Are you," Nyle said. "Then the ones who managed to occupy it were one of ours?"

"Runnin' with ol' Grimstone and ye still don't know what's goin' on in yer own pit? Makes me wonder what the old man has ye all doin'. Anyway, this place is cramped with so many humans in it, so we'll be grabbin' what we need and leavin'."

"Baergarn," Nyle said.

"Aye?"

"How is it? Dargon."

The dwarf's grin disappeared, to be exchanged with one more stereotypically suitable for his kind: sternness. "It's holdin'...but the lines are shiftin'. Blightin' bastards and their damn…gods-fersaken magic tools!" He grumbled, taking a deep breath afterward. "They're in Dargon, but still far from the capital."

"I…see," Nyle replied, looking just as let down by the news.

The dwarves grabbed some items and then began making their way back towards the entrance.

"And Nyle," Baergarn said, stopping just before the entrance, "the bastard's leaders have started to show up. I don't know if yev gotten the reports, but…they're making moves…like they're searchin' for somethin'...or someone." He glanced at the rest of us. "Watch yerself out there…and I hope fer all our sakes they make a difference."

Soon after, the dwarves disappeared beyond the hatch.

Nyle stood in silence for a few minutes, the rest of us staring and trying to take in what just happened.

"Um," he said, suddenly speaking once more. "You… You should all get some rest."

"What about you, Nyle-san?" Kevin asked.

"I…have to think. Don't worry, I'll get some rest as well."

Saying that, Nyle disappeared into the back area of the hideout.

-Some hours later; early afternoon…

"Here you go, Kazuma," Darkness said, passing me a plate of food.

"Ah, thanks. You can put it there for a sec. Almost done knocking the kink out of your armor."

"You're still at it. I appreciate the effort."

"Don't worry about it. I'd feel bad if something happened to you because your armor wasn't maintained."

"Wouldn't it fall to the owner to maintain their gear?"

"It would. Unfortunately, you're not good for much but taking hits. Which means I have to be the one to fix it." Darkness whimpered with embarrassment. "By the way, where are the other two?"

"Ah, Aqua's having drinks with some of Daichi-san's companions, and last I saw Megumin, she was speaking with Inara-san."

"Ah."

As long as they stayed out of trouble, I didn't mind what they did.

"Say, Kazuma."

"Hm, what is it?"

"Didn't we agree to have you train yourself under me?"

"Huh? We did? Can't say I remember."

"We-, We did."

"Ah. Don't really think I wanna do the training you do."

"It-It won't be anything advanced. I'll tune it to something I'm sure you can do."

"Nah, it's fine, Darkness; there's no need to—"

Suddenly, her face was directly in front of mine, blocking my view and preventing me from carrying out the repair.

"I don't think it's too much to ask that you take better care of yourself," Darkness said, brow knit and cheeks almost puffed to a pout. "To that effect, if Kazuma doesn't want to take the initiative to do so, I…I-I wouldn't mind doing so for him."

"Really, Darkness, I don't think it's necessary. I mean, the amount of—"

"Does it really matter?!" she retorted, painfully squeezing on my legs in the process.

"Argh! Alright, you dumbass, just let go!"

She squeezed harder than the last in retaliation to my remark, and then she let go. "I understand you're busy with the repairs at the moment, so I hope we can start sometime in the not too distant future," she said, standing up with a smile.

"Sure," I said, glaring at her as I tried to rub away the pain in my legs. I expected her to leave afterward, but she just continued to stand there. "Oi."

"Hm?"

"What 'hm'?! Why are you just standing there?"

"Oh. Sorry, I just wanted to see you finish repairing my armor."

I stared at her for a few seconds, a frown clear on my face. "Pfff. Fine." I grabbed the plate of food beside me. "Sit down, then. It feels weird just having you watch while standing there."

Between eating and doing the repairs, I finally finished after what felt like the better part of an hour. I held up my finished work in inspection.

"Ugh. It still looks bumpy," I said, still unsatisfied with the result. "*sigh* Unfortunately, this is all I can do with the tools I have on hand."

"That's fine," Darkness said, gently taking it away from me. "I think I prefer it that way."

"What? Why? Don't tell me you think it looks cool or something. What, are you going through a chunni phase too?"

Seemingly ignoring my remark, Darkness answered with her gaze, gentle, but also transfixed on the armor. "Don't you think that blemishes on armor are kind of like scars? I think it's sort of interesting," Darkness replied, passing her fingers over the repair work. "The way it looks before a repair, after weathering so much abuse…and then after being repaired…after being healed. There's something remarkably human about it all."

"Erm…sure?"

She reached over into her bag and brought out things I've seen before: polish, rags, and a small blanket. Like clockwork, she placed the armor upon the blanket, poured some polish on a rag, and began working it into the surface.

It wasn't like Darkness normally looked sad or anything, but when she was polishing her armor, the smile she wore seemed completely genuine.

Oddly enough, I was now the person silently staring while someone else was working away at something. I had to admit, there was something weirdly calming about watching someone else working earnestly.

After watching for some time, I got up.

"Kazuma?"

"Ah, I'm gonna go. Should go see that those two aren't causing the others any trouble."

"Oh. Alright. Want me to come with you?"

"No, it's fine. Anyway, I think you missed a spot."

"Really?" she said, holding the armor up to inspect it.

"Anyway, I'll leave you to it."

As I walked away, I could still see Darkness trying to find the spot I was talking about. In truth, the armor was damn-near impeccably polished, so either it was gonna receive another coat or Darkness was gonna take another hour looking for the nonexistent blemish; in either case, I was free to leave without much question.

I made my way to others and when I had found them, the members of Daichi's group all cast me a mixed bag of stares; the only exception was Inara, who wasn't present. Aqua, on the other hand, was too busy imbibing some drink and laughing to notice I had shown up. There was no doubt in my mind that this idiot goddess said something damning about me.

"Oh, Kazuma-san, nice to have you join us," the priest said with a sort of forced smile. "Aqua-san, here, was just telling us about your early days of adventures."

The idiot in question was clearly too hammered to even notice I was standing there, let alone know what was going on around her.

I quickly interrupted. "Just to let you know, I wouldn't take what she says at face value—especially when she drinks."

Daichi cleared his throat. "I'm sure most of it is just jokes," he said in an almost desperate tone.

"Ballsy of you, I'd say," Hurnus remarked.

Then Daichi leaned over and whispered to me in Japanese. "They are just jokes…right?" What the hell was this girl telling them about me?! "Oi, Kazuma-san, you can tell me the truth; I promise to keep it between us."

I pulled away with a frown. "First of all, I don't know what the hell she's claiming I did, but whatever it is, I promise you it's a lie."

"Of course," Daichi said with a chuckle. "I mean, one man leading an entire town to victory against an ancient weapon of mass destruction?"

"And also leading a fortress of veteran adventurers against an evil deity who the Demon King employed," Kevin added.

"Not to mention, taking down a hydra with a ragtag group of low-leveled adventurers and civvies," Hurnus continued.

"Honestly, I think we were dumb to even humor something like that," Daichi said with another chuckle.

The other two joined him in the laughter.

"...she…she said that?" I stammered.

"Well, yeah. I mean, we were all sharing some stories. Well…Hurnus and Kevin, mostly—but yeah, Aqua-san really did…" Daichi went silent, his expression changing to deep contemplation. "Aqua…" He stared at the girl who was giggling like an idiot. "No…surely she can't… Kazuma-san," he said, looking at me sternly, "I know this is gonna sound ridiculous, but…is Aqua-san…is she…actually a goddess?"

"No," I said without missing a beat. "You kidding me? How the hell could a girl like her be a goddess?"

Daichi looked back at the supposed goddess who was now hanging off the shoulder of his party's priest. He chuckled. "No, I guess you're right. I just recall someone by that name. I'm not sure who they are or what they look like but—"

"Well, buddy, I can assure you, she's not the one."

"Hah, right. Sorry, I was starting to think that back when she said those things about being a goddess. Even before, whenever I looked at her I seemed to get this weird feeling that I've seen her before."

"Haha." I placed a hand on his shoulder. "You sure you don't need to see a priest or something?"

Daichi sighed. "Maybe I do. Ever since my brother's… Ever since Haruto left, it's been really difficult to keep my mind together—not that I'm going crazy or anything, but…everything just feels so heavy. It feels so…real."

For a moment, I sort of empathize with him. "Everything isn't like you expected it to be, huh?"

He nodded. "Is it the same for you?"

I gave it some thought, and then I answered. "Definitely."

"Heh. I guess I'm not the only one, then."

"Hey, Daichi," the dwarf said, "what are you muttering about over there?"

"Ah, sorry, Hurnus," he said, smiling faintly. "You know what, why don't you pass me the bottle?"

"Oh?" the priest remarked. "Are you going to drink?"

"Why not? I'm amongst friends…and…I feel a little bit better."

The dwarf grinned and then passed one of the bottles he was holding on to.

"Care for some, Kazuma-san?" Kevin asked.

"...ah, what the hell…sure."

I couldn't remember what happened, but when I woke up, Megumin was standing in front of me, nudging me with her foot.

"Heyyy—oh. You woke up, finally."

"Ugh. What? What's going on?"

"That's what I'd like to know. Judging by the bottles on the floor, I think you guys must've had one too many drinks."

"What?" I said, rubbing my face groggily.

"*sigh* What ever happened to learning some more magic theory?"

I struggled to get myself off the floor; only when Megumin helped me was I able to get myself to a sitting position. "Fuuuh. I feel terrible," I said, pressing a palm to my forehead. "How long has it been? Where's the dwarf?"

"I think a few hours…and I'm not sure; I haven't seen him around. Thought you would've."

I looked around and saw that the others were laying on the floor in the same state I was just a minute ago.

"Weren't you with Inara-san?"

"I was. She decided to get some rest; it turns out she was really tired from the trip."

"Weird. I sort of expected us to leave after a few hours of rest, but it feels like the better part of a day has already passed."

"Is Kazuma planning to go back to sleep?"

"Honestly, kinda feel like it…but, it's probably not gonna make this headache any better."

"I suppose it's something Kazuma has to deal with."

"Ugh." I rubbed my head in pain. "Can you go see if there's a cup around I can use?"

"*sigh* Alright. Be right back."

"Oh, you're awake." I heard Darkness' voice behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder. "Where've you been?"

"Training," she said, sitting down beside me. "I came looking for you, but when I found you, you were passed out with everyone else."

"Yeah…didn't know how it happened."

"I see. And Megumin?"

"You just missed her; she went to find me a cup."

"A cup of what?"

"Nothing, just a cup. Gonna pour some water in it. Thinking I should just pour it straight into my mouth…but I think I might miss."

"I never found that spot you were talking about, by the way."

I looked away. "Maybe I was just seeing things."

"You have such a strong smell of alcohol."

"Ah, sorry."

"K-Kind of…makes my mind race," she said, struggling to suppress a grin.

"You thinking about becoming an alcoholic on top of all the other character traits you have? You might make the rest of us redundant if you keep this up."

"I-I'm not! I don't even like alcohol like that. It just makes me think if there's a point where you'd start to use your hands if you were fueled by some drunk-driven rage."

"Oi."

"If-If you ever were, please don't hit Megumin; I'd be willing to take the brunt of your anger in her place."

Despite the noble-sounding intentions, I knew the comment was more of a wish than a suggestion. "You can keep on dreaming. And it's not like I would hit Megumin for no reason, anyway."

"What's this about hitting me?" she said, brow knit.

"Ah, you're back." I reached for the cup in her hand, but she quickly withdrew it. "Ahem."

"*sigh* I was making a remark about Darkness' dumb dream."

"Dream?" she said, looking curiously at Darkness.

"N-Nothing," Darkness stammered. "I was just telling Kazuma that I'd protect you no matter what."

"Oh. Thank you, Darkness."

"By the way, Megumin, aren't you going to rest? I don't believe you have the entire time we've been here."

"I'm not tired…but thanks for asking."

"Really? I must've been mistaken, then. I thought I saw you looking quite exhausted when we arrived."

"Ah, I should probably clarify; I was tired. Now, I'm not."

"So, you can get tired," I said.

"Mhm," Megumin replied. "But it seems like I recover quite quickly."

"So, does that mean you'll recover from using Explosion quickly, too?" Darkness queried.

"I have noticed that recovering from casting Explosion has been a lot quicker; sometimes I still even have enough strength to stay on my feet."

"Wake up!" The sound of Nyle's voice surprised us. "Wake up!" he yelled again, rushing to get everyone awake.

"Nyle-san, what—"

"You're awake?! Quickly, help me get everyone else up!"

"What's going on?" Megumin asked.

"No time to explain, just quickly, we need to leave!"

Heeding the words of the clearly distressed dwarf, we began waking everyone from their drunken slumber.

"I'll go wake Inara-san," Megumin said, running off.

"Ugh…what's going on?" Daichi murmured. "Nyle-san?"

"Wake up. Quickly. Get your things. We need to go."

"What?"

"We need to go. We need to go!"

Hearing the urgency in Nyle's voice, Daichi shook off the lingering effects from the merriment we all shared and got to his feet. He quickly joined us in rousing the others.

"I don't understand, Nyle-san, what's going on?" Daichi asked as he grabbed his belongings.

"I'll tell you along the way…if we make it out."

"What?"

"Is it that serious?" I asked.

"Do you really believe I would be waking you all like this if it wasn't?!" he retorted. "There's no time. Damn it all! Think, Nyle, think," he said, turning in place.

"Nyle-san," I said, noticing something.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Your clothes."

The dwarf looked down, noticing the spreading red blotch along his side. "Gods. No."

"Don't worry, Nyle-san, we can heal you. Oi, Aqua!" I said, rushing over to her.

"No. This is bad."

"I mean, it looks bad," Daichi said, "but once we hea—"

"No. Forget healing. We need to leave. Now!"

"Calm down, Nyle-san, we'll—"

"No, you fools! You don't understand, I…I led them right to us."

That revelation froze us to our cores. We didn't know who or what 'them' was, but if it had the dwarf as panicked as he was, it couldn't have been good.

"Is it…a general?" Daichi asked hesitantly.

"I…ah." The dwarf fell to his knees.

"Kevin!" Daichi yelled.

"Don't worry!" I said as I arrived with Aqua. "Oi, focus up!" I yelled, shaking the goddess who was groggily stumbling beside me. "Nyle-san needs healing!"

"Huh—wha?"

"Healing!" I said, shaking her head.

"WHHAAAAA! WHYYY?!" What do you think you're—"

"HEALING! He's bleeding, you dumbass!" I said, pointing to the dwarf.

"What's going on?" the priest said as he arrived. "Nyle-san, your clothes!"

"Sacred Highness Heal!"

"Wha," Nyle said, looking around in disbelief. He got up and checked beneath his clothing. "What amazing healing magic. I feel better than before." Suddenly, his astonished expression changed back to distress. "We need to get going. My blood. The blood will lead them here."

"You still haven't told us," Daichi said. "Who is 'them'?"

Then we heard it.

RATATA! RATATA! RATATATATA!

"It's too late," the dwarf said, his voice full of fear. "They're here."