Welcome back pups, not much to say for this intro except I hope you enjoy and I hope I can finally get some quality sleep
GOW - KONOSUBA
Darkness wasn't sure what to think. Aqua was in tears, Megumin was muttering to herself, and the new girls looked like they wanted to stab each other. Not to mention on occasion Sumi glanced at Aqua with distrust and disdain in her eyes. This whole situation was unpleasant and not in the way the crusader enjoyed.
But she was a noble, and unofficially the second In charge of her party. Whatever was happening she would fix this, she had to.
Kazuma always fixed things for them, like when Darkness was supposed to be wed to a devilish brute that did not suit her interests, Kazuma bought her back in a moment she would always remember.
The moment she fell for him.
But now that he was In trouble it would be her helping him, that was a crusader's duty after all.
She gave the tour of Axel with a heavy heart to disinterested ears. Megumin spent half of the time guiding Aqua, who was still in tears, while Darkness gave the tour half-heartedly. After what felt like an eternity Darkness took the group of girls to a nice seafood place, though not on par with the crabs her father bought the party on their early nights together in the manor. That was to be a treat enjoyed when this was resolved and she already vowed to order it with her own eris. though this would be a delicious treat that Kazuma might find comforting. The crusader also made sure to stop and get rice from a vendor she heard Kazuma gush about, he always seemed to enjoy his rice so maybe this would cheer him up.
With the fish and rice, all that was left was for the group to pick up some wine. A simple task though slightly embarrassing as the moment a crying Aqua entered the woman working the counter recognized them, wordlessly handing them a bottle before returning to the other jobs. Darkness had to stop her and explain that this was going on her bill and not the tab Kazuma set up, and that they would need more than just this for the party.
Blushing at the interaction, Darkness led them all to their manor as the sun began dipping on the horizon.
'Surely now Kazuma has calmed down, right?' Resolving that the answer would come soon enough as they went through the gates, pushing the door only for it to barely budge.
"Darkness, why are you taking so long, open the door so we can resolve this mess," Megumin ordered.
"It won't open." Darkness said. Everyone present froze.
Every mind present went to the worst option possible.
Aqua redoubled her crying while Megumin's eyes turned blood red, a familiarly overdramatized chant being muttered out. Sumi's hand shot into her bag while Darkness and Kana slammed against the door, the combined strength of the girls sent the doors and the barricades flying through the entry hall. The crusader could barely breathe as she turned, faintly she noticed a golden light dying out from where Kana stood as the girl's eyes flashed blue.
Questions for later, for now. She acted.
"Follow me" being her only call as she began running down the hall, the sounds of footsteps behind her let her know everyone was coming, even Aqua was bawling and running down the hall.
"Are you back? Help me! Someone help!" A voice called, it was feminine and coming from the rooms, Kana wasted no time outpacing Darkness, when she did the blonde crusader could see a blue light seemed to glow around her legs. More questions for later, for now it let her run a little ahead of the crusader. She may have fully outpaced her but the lack of familiarity of the house slowed the girl down. When they arrived Kazuma's door was open and Chris could be seen struggling on the door, tears tracing down her cheeks.
"What happened?" Darkness asked, herself crouching down to help her long-time friend while fighting the jealousy she felt at her friend's situation, Kana meanwhile rushed around the room looking for any sign of the man who was supposed to live here and the others were approaching the door.
"After what happened at the guild I got worried for Kazuma, I came by to figure out what was going on and see how I could help him. But, but he ran away." Chris explained, herself crying fresh while his normal party members stilled.
Kazuma ran away?
He was alone?
"I tried to stop him from going off alone, I tried but when he saw me coming closer he hit me with a bind and left. I don't know how big a head start he has or even where he went." Chris said she was becoming hysterical, granted the crusader was on the verge of that herself, how could Kazuma be so foolish?
"We need to go after him!" Megumin decreed.
"Kazuma! Don't leave me Kazuma, I'm sorry." Aqua cried.
"He left something," Kana announced. Everyone turned to the piece of paper remaining on his bed as Sumi plucked it out of Kana's hands, ignoring the growl of fury she began reading.
"To my former party members,
You've probably already figured out I'm not home, I don't plan on returning for a while. I'm not dumb enough to tell you where I've gone. I don't want to see any of you right now, and I don't know if I ever will again. Each and every one of you has caused me no end of trouble over our time together, over time as I got to know you all I've begun to care about you girls and enjoy our time together and thought you cared about me as at the very least a friend. But now I've seen that you're all still the same no good troublemakers Who forced their way into my party, Darkness the perv who without fail abandons all sense of shame and claims of shielding her friends to get off at the mere idea of something bad happening to her, Megumin the girl who cares more for chunni stories and what sounds cool than the pain of someone she claimed to care a great deal about, and Aqua, the self-proclaimed goddess of debt and betrayal who I thought was my best friend, I fed you, I paid your tabs, I helped keep your worthless ass safe and happy the whole time you lied to me about everything.
I wish I could say that I never cared about any of you trouble makers but that would be the biggest lie I'd ever told, instead I let you girls into my life and my house, and when I came to seek comfort and retreat my own room, the same type of sanctuary I'd known since I've been betrayed and mocked years ago, now felt too painful to hide in.
Because you've ruined my happy place I need to find a new one, this is goodbye. I don't know if I'll ever return to Axel but I expect you all to be moved out of my house before I return.
Goodbye,
Satou Kazuma."
Everyone in the room was shaking, Darkness was no exception. Did they really hurt him that badly? Sure her interests got a rise out of him but was she really that bad?
"We need to find him." Darkness said. Sumi turned to look at the crusader, her head cocking.
"It appears that Kazuma is rather unwilling to discuss or interact with all of you, why would you go against his wishes? Especially as my knight deemed his party being such a problem." Sumi inquired, Darkness didn't know what her history with her party leader was, though her interest in him was hardly veiled in the slightest but Darkness knew what had to be said anyway.
"We may give him trouble, but he's still our friend and our party leader," Megumin began.
"Kazuma is always there to help us when we need it, he always comes up with something to save the day." Aqua continued.
"Now he needs us, if he's out on his own in a poor state of mind it could be hazardous to his health in the event of a monster attack." Darkness joined in, yes even if they gave Kazuma trouble they were on the same page.
They would save Kazuma. Not because it was Aqua's duty as an archpriest, or Megumin's as an arch wizard, not even because it was her own duty as a Knight and a noblewoman. They would save him because it was their duty as friends, and that's why…
"We will go after him, to keep him safe as he has done for us and to make sure our friend is alright!" the three girls of Kazuma's party said together. Sumi nodded slowly.
"Alright, I suppose you three know my knight best so where should we start?" she asked.
"If you're thinking about writing me off I will kill you bitch." Kana interjected, ignored as well while Darkness and her main party members started thinking.
"Knowing Kazuma and his connections, maybe he went to the Crimson Demon village? His money and abilities would be beneficial there, not to mention he doesn't have too bad a reputation there." Megumin offered.
"He could go almost anywhere with his fortune, he could spend quite a nice time in Arcanletia," Aqua thought aloud.
"I don't think so, last time we went there he wanted to leave as soon as possible... Maybe the trick isn't where he went but who he went to?" Darkness interjected.
"You think he would abandon us for someone else?" Aqua asked, tears streaming down her face again.
"Maybe. if he did, I know the most likely candidates." Darkness said.
"You're right! If Kazuma left because he was annoyed with us, maybe he went after people whom he wanted to be around. But who?" Megumin asked.
"Simple, what other group has Kazuma partnered with?" Darkness asked.
GOW - KONOSUBA!
RUNAWAY NEET COME HOME!
Intermission: Perverted NEET theater
Leaving Axel was a simple matter, Kazuma simply went to the bank, withdrew a decent sum, and left with a newly bought carriage and ample supplies. Sure his departure was rushed and his plan could use a little tweaking but who cares?
He was free from the people that angered him, he was alone like a NEET should be. So what if he didn't hear the loud snoring of one of his party members, or get half-baked exposition from an over-excited trouble maker. This was how he should've been since he first showed up in this troublesome world, footloose and flying free as a cool adventurer able to handle anything that comes his way!
Truly this was the life robbed of him by those girls and now was the start of his badass development arc, where he'd grow as a warrior and adventure in every aspect until he became game breakingly OP able to fell mid-tier monsters with the most basic of effort,
Though maybe going faster would help, he still didn't want to fight any monsters just yet.
GOW - KONOSUBA
Sumi was not a fan of Kazuma's party, sure she only just became acquainted with them however they clearly didn't treat him like the benevolent hero that he was. Though they did appear to show genuine remorse at this letter and their reasoning for attempting to retreive him seemed genuine. Though the primary reason she's accompanying them is that she's new to this world. She doesn't have the finances or experience to track her knight down so these miscreants would have to be trusted until he was found, then she would dispense any punishment he deemed on their ungrateful selves.
"Alright, we should have everything," Chris said she was the only person present that she believed might have enough worth to breathe the same air as her knight, and even then only from a distance.
"Alright, the travel time shouldn't be bad and if I remember the schedule right we should arrive before they leave." Darkness said.
"You really think Kazuma went to them?" The she-Devil who deceived Sumi's knight asked with a pout.
"If Kazuma left Axel and is looking for companions they would be my first guess too, aside from Dust's party but we already confirmed they didn't team up with him," Megumin chimed in.
"Kazuma hasn't tried to swap into our party for a while, if he left with anyone from Axel we would've been the most likely since he's only really worked with us before," Rin confirmed. which begged a question.
"Fuck are you four doing here?" Kana asked. vocalizing the thoughts from Sumi's mind, albeit much more crude.
"Seeing you off, of course. We may not be Kazuma's party but he did keep us alive so we owe the guy," Keith said.
"We'll keep our eyes out here, if he returns we'll make sure he stays around," Taylor vowed.
"And we'll keep Luna from finding out he's missing too, you guys just focus on finding my bud and bringing him home." Dust said, surprisingly seriously considering his outburst at the guildhall the day prior.
"We'll return as soon as we can, thanks for your help." Darkness said.
Chris jumped into the driver's seat of the carriage, having demanded to accompany them due to her inability to keep Kazuma from running off in the first place. Soon the other five girls settled in, Darkness claimed the passenger seat while the others sat in uncomfortable silence inside the carriage. Their journey was beginning and while she didn't care for any of her companions her eyes were firmly set on the prize.
Making sure her knight was okay.
GOW - KONOSUBA
Well they know Kazuma is missing but where could he be heading too? Who could he be heading too? I guess you'll have to stick around to find out as always if you enjoyed give me a fave/kudos if you want to keep reading a bookmark/follow would be nice and if you want to comment I love reading those, as mentioned I have a discord which I love seeing people in to talk about this story or any of my other ones or just talking in general, with the added benefit today of being able to read Sumi's point of view for today. See you all next time or in the server: 5B4kC2qSG3