Shichen gave up on the idea of "taking care of" Darkness for now. Time was running short—he'd been away long enough that Megumin and the others would start getting suspicious. He left Darkness to bathe on her own and headed back to his room.
At the door, he was surprised to see Frieren and Megumin sitting together on the bed, chatting like old friends. The topic, though, was… questionable.
"Frieren, what's Shichen been up to lately?"
"Nothing much—just flirting around and sweet-talking women."
"What? He's been doing that behind our backs?!"
"I don't think Shichen's that kind of guy…"
"Girl, you're too naive. Don't let him fool you."
"I—I'm not that naive…"
"Ugh. Frieren, I think we could be great friends. Let's kick Yunyun out."
"Why?"
"Because you're not one of us."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Figure it out yourself!"
"Hey, could you two stop picking on Yunyun?" Shichen walked into the room.
"Shichen!" Yunyun's face lit up the instant she saw him.
Frieren, meanwhile, tensed up. From experience, his timing meant he'd probably heard every word. Her butt was in danger.
Megumin didn't notice Frieren's expression and went straight for the jugular. "Shichen, Frieren says you've been chasing girls this whole time. Is that true?"
"Frieren told you that?" Shichen looked over at her.
"No, it wasn't me," Frieren denied on the spot, shaking her head hard.
"Huh? Frieren, why the sudden switch?" Megumin stared in disbelief. They'd just promised to be friends—how did she defect so fast?
"You really don't know about Shichen's… little quirk?" Frieren whispered.
"What 'quirk'?"
"He'll spank you. And it hurts."
"Hurts? Not really." The last time Megumin got a swat, Shichen hadn't used much force; it was more embarrassing than painful.
"Really?" Frieren looked at her like she couldn't believe it. "You've never had the full experience?"
"No… does he hit you that hard?"
"Hard enough I didn't dare sleep on my back."
"That intense?"
"You two do know I can hear you, right?" Shichen's expression darkened as he glared at them.
"Y-you're not going to spank me, are you?" Megumin asked, suddenly nervous.
"That depends on how you behave."
"Then I'll behave. Promise."
"I hope you stick to that." Shichen nodded, then turned to Frieren.
"W-what are you doing?" Frieren shrank back toward the headboard.
"Talking trash about me while I'm gone, huh?" He gave a cool smile and stepped up to the bed.
"No, no—I was just running my mouth. Slandering you, even. You'd never be that kind of person."
"That's not what you sounded like a minute ago. Where'd all that backbone go?" Shichen reached out, caught her by the ankle, and tugged her toward him.
"No! Please!" Frieren started to plead and squirm, turning over and crawling away.
Even Megumin was a little spooked by how rattled she looked. Yunyun stared, mouth open. Was this really the same Shichen she'd known? Had he changed that much in two months?
"Begging won't help. Be good and take two, or you'll just make it worse." Shichen pressed Frieren down at the edge of the bed with a hand at her lower back to keep her still, raising his other hand.
"N-no!" Frieren yelped.
"Heh. If you knew it'd come to this, why start in the first place?"
"I'm really begging you—at least not in front of Megumin and Yunyun," Frieren said, voice wobbling on the verge of tears.
"Why not?" Shichen paused.
"B-because… getting spanked in front of other people is embarrassing."
"And you still thought it was fine to smear me?"
"I was wrong, okay? I won't do it again. Could you please not do this in front of them? I'm begging you…"
"What's there to be embarrassed about?"
"I only just met them. I don't want to lose face like this."
"…Fine. I'll let you off—for now." Shichen let go of her ankle. He'd never planned to do it in front of the others anyway; he just wanted to scare her a little. If he didn't, she'd end up saying the same things to girls in other worlds. That wouldn't do.
"Whew… thank goodness." Frieren collapsed flat on the bed and let out a long breath of relief.
"Is it really that scary?" Megumin couldn't help asking.
"Wait till you feel that burn," Frieren muttered.
"Um… Shichen, you won't do that to me, right?" Megumin ventured.
"Heh—guess," he said with a small smile.
"Enough messing around. Aqua and the others are up. Get dressed—we're heading to the guild."
"The guild? We finally get to take on a quest?" Megumin perked up.
"Hm?" Shichen frowned. "What do you mean, 'finally'?"
"You didn't know? After you left, we hardly took any quests. Everyone just did their own thing."
"What happened?" Shichen looked to Yunyun.
"After you left, we took one job," Yunyun said, a little embarrassed. "It got messy, and… we kind of stopped teaming up after that."
"How messy?"
"Kazuma almost got blown up by Megumin's Explosion."
Shichen shot Megumin a look.
"H-how is that my fault?" Megumin blushed. "Kazuma ran straight into the mob. I already had Explosion primed."
"So Kazuma doesn't want to party with you anymore?"
"Worse than that—we hardly see him at all."
"Whatever. Not a big deal. No one died—and even if someone did, we'd manage."
"Huh? Why?"
"I told you Aqua's a goddess. She can resurrect Kazuma."
"If you hadn't said that, I would've forgotten Aqua's the water goddess… So we don't need to worry about dying?"
"You still should. Dying is scary."
"True…"
"Shichen, what do you mean by 'water goddess'?" Frieren asked suddenly.
"I forgot to tell you—this world actually has real gods."
"No way. I want to meet one!"
"Then let's go."
They headed down to the big first-floor lounge. Aqua and Darkness weren't there yet, so they waited—and Shichen figured he'd use the time to ask about the past two months.
Kazuma had basically cut loose; he'd only come home three times in two months, probably hopelessly addicted to the succubus service shop.
As Shichen expected, Megumin was still firing off one Explosion a day—Axel Town had basically made it a local attraction by now. Yunyun was the most diligent; she and Darkness often took jobs to cover household expenses. No wonder Aqua complained they were "bullying" her by not buying booze—under these circumstances, having the budget for an occasional drink was already pretty good.
Shichen hadn't expected everyone to get this lazy without him around. Still, it wasn't a crisis. This world wasn't on the verge of destruction by the Demon King. If they didn't have to live on edge, then they could live however felt comfortable. As long as they were happy, that was enough.
Before long, Darkness came downstairs first. She'd already suited up in her armor, blonde hair tied back. She still looked noticeably damp, and her cheeks were flushed.
"Darkness, why are you training so early again?" Megumin sighed.
"I… cough, cough." Darkness cleared her throat—something was still off there—then answered, "I'm the party's shield. I've got to make my body as tough as stone."
"Careful, or you'll never find a man."
"What?" Darkness couldn't help glancing at Shichen.
"Mm?" Megumin noticed the look. Darkness hastily looked away. "I-it's fine. If it keeps everyone from getting hurt—if it lets this body endure more—then a little sacrifice is worth it."
"I think you just want to take damage," Megumin muttered.
"Heh…" Yunyun gave an awkward little laugh.
"What do you mean? Is this woman a masochist?" Frieren asked, curious.
"Yeah…" Megumin nodded, resigned.
"An actual one, in the flesh…" Frieren eyed Darkness with interest.
"And you are…?" Darkness had noticed the unfamiliar face.
"Oh—this is Frieren," Shichen said. "She's been my companion while I was away."
"I see. Nice to meet you. I'm Darkness." Darkness stepped up and offered a hand.
"Nice to meet you." Frieren shook it, then looked back at Shichen. "So—where's that goddess you mentioned?"