Megumin managed to clear her throat of the food that had been vacuumed into it after I answered Aqua's question regarding where I had been overnight.
"Y-you went out… and had s-s-sex?!" she exclaimed with flushed checks.
Black panties are definitely too mature for you little Megumin.
"Yes. That is what I just said," I answered, face deadpan.
"B-but why?" Aqua this time. She had red cheeks too.
Huh? Why are you embarrassed about sex, you stupid goddess? You warned me against heaven because I wouldn't be able to have sex.
"What do you mean, why?" I replied incredulous, "It's sex! Why do you think I did it? It feels good, you moron!"
Her eyes widened, and she looked away with embarrassment, Megumin doing similarly.
I looked from one to the other and said, "Any other stupid questions?"
They ignored me, instead going back to their respective meals.
God. I'm too tired for this shit.
I looked up to try and order some food, but my attention was drawn to a blonde woman approaching us.
I groaned inwardly. I swear to god if I have to deal with her 'Masochist' bullshit right now…
She opened her mouth to greet us, but was interrupted.
A loud broadcast, likely heard all around the town, called with Luna's voice.
"Emergency quest! Emergency quest! All adventurers in town, please gather at the Adventurers' guild! I repeat, emergency quest! Emergency quest! All adventurers in town, please gather at the Adventurers' guild!"
"Emergency quest? What's going on?" I asked the girls, who had perked up to listen to the broadcast.
"It's probably cabbage harvesting time," Darkness answered, "It's the season for them, after all,"
Huh?
"Cabbages? Like, the vegetable? Like… Cabbages?" I asked.
What is she talking about? Why the hell would there be an emergency quest for fucking cabbages?
God, this is reminding me of that '50fuckingboiledcabbages' password meme.
Darkness and Megumin both nodded, so I turned to Aqua, still confused.
I look of realisation passed over her face. She leaned in and whispered "The cabbages of this world are sentient, and they don't wanna get eaten, so they all run away when they get ripe. It's up to us adventurers to catch them!"
Weird.
"I apologize for gathering everyone on such short notice! I think everyone should know the emergency is because of the cabbages! It is time to harvest cabbages for this year! The quality of the cabbages is great this year, each one is worth 10,000 Eris!"
I let out a low whistle at that.
That's some good money to be made, and quickly.
"We have already evacuated the residents. So please harvest more cabbages and turn them in here! Please take care of your own safety and don't get hurt from the cabbages counter attack! Also, because of the large amount of people and bounty, the reward would be given out at a later date!"
Cheers erupted from all the adventures within the Guild.
We all quickly marched to the West Gate, and formed up outside the wall.
I could see them. Across the flat, grassy plain thousands of rapidly moving green dots were visible. They were like a cloud, and they were approaching fast.
Some of the more hot-blooded adventurers let free battle-cries, charging forward to intercept the flying vegetables.
What the hell have I gotten myself into?
I took a bite from my meal.
Fried cabbage, collected by we adventurers just this morning.
It was surprisingly good. Especially considering how simple it was. Fried cabbage with salt and pepper. That's literally it.
But it was really good. Just how?
With the 'Cabbage Hunt' quest complete, the entire town had begun serving cabbage based meals.
The quest, for me personally, was a big success.
It was easy, and netted a big profit.
Early on, I had realised that the best way to catch them with the least damage, would be to pierce straight through them with a sharp pole, so I 'borrowed' a guy's rapier, and started hunting.
My luck, Martial Artist skill, and thief skills made the whole thing a breeze.
Hide, pierce through them or steal them out of the air, collect and repeat.
I also managed to pilfer a good amount from other adventurers when they weren't paying attention, which was often, based on the nature of the quest.
Overall, I ended up with a total of 126 cabbages. Even worst case scenario, I was looking at 500k minimum, though I'd have to wait and see.
"You're so skilled, Darkness!" an adventurer exclaimed, "As expected of a Crusader! The cabbages couldn't break through your iron wall defence no matter what they tried!"
"No, I didn't do much," No, she really didn't, "I am just really tough. I am clumsy and slow, so I can't really hit my target, my only strong point was shielding others… Megumin has impressive offense. You took out the horde of monsters that was chasing the cabbages right into town with just one explosion attack. All the other adventurers were shocked," Also true.
Megumin let out a smug laugh quietly before speaking.
"None could stand up to the power of my explosive magic… but Kazuma was the most active one. He picked me up after I exhausted my mana and carried me back,"
Yep. She got over-eager and ended up using her 'Explosion' spell immediately, ignoring her newly acquired spell. I was then tasked with hauling the idiot out of harm's way.
"… Yeah, when I was surrounded by cabbages and monsters, Kazuma showed up and captured all the cabbages attacking me, thank you for rescuing me," Darkness added.
And not just Megumin.
I am beset, on all sides, by absolute fucking idiots.
At least Aqua helped to some degree, going around healing and supplying drinking water. Though that didn't benefit me, so that was worthless too.
Not like I could have her following me around with buffs though, considering my illegal activities, so not much choice until I can properly induct her into my own sense of moral reasoning.
Said goddess, who had finished her own meal of cabbage, placed her plate on the table and turned to me.
"Kazuma… With my authority, I grant you the title 'Elegant Cabbage Thief'," She proclaimed.
"Call me that and I'll slap you," I answered with neither delay, nor expression.
She ignored me.
"Well then," Darkness spoke up, "I am Darkness; a crusader. Theoretically, my weapon is a 2-handed sword, but don't count on it too much. I am clumsy with my hands and tend to miss," Right. Only tend to, "But I am good at being a tank, so please take care of me,"
Oh god, it seemed she was actually joining the party.
Fuck, why have you done this to me, Past Self?
"Hmmph! Our party is becoming great. I am an Arch Priest, Megumin is an Arch Wizard, and we have the defensive specialist vanguard, Crusader Darkness. Three out of four members having top tier jobs is super rare, Kazuma! Do you know how lucky you are? You have to be grateful okay?"
I could help a snort.
Be grateful. Yeah fuckin' right.
A healer that barely heals, a glass cannon with only two spells, and a melee fighter that literally couldn't hit anything. Not to mention they were also idiotic beyond belief, extremely hot-headed, and suffering from a crippling degree of masochism, respectively.
The chance of me being grateful is closer to zero than the chance of me donating to a charity for selfless reasons.
Side note; I don't believe in the existence of selflessness.
Honestly, having Darkness on the party would be valuable, even if she couldn't hit anything. It would even be good if it weren't for-
"Ugh… Ah, the feeling of being ravaged by cabbage and monsters is unbearable… I am the only orthodox vanguard in this party, so don't hold back, use me as a bait or shield. If it is necessary, you can even cut me off as a sacrifice… Hmmm! Just, just imagining that made me tremble in excitement…!"
Yeah. That.
Holy fuck is she revolting.
And yeah, I know; objectively, masochists are good, because they're easy to manipulate and extort, but I just find them absolutely fucking disgusting, and I've got no clue why.
"Well then, Kazuma," She continued, "I will probably- No, I will definitely be a bother to you, so don't hold back and lecture me viciously. Please take care of me from now on,"
I couldn't help but sigh.
I looked at my adventurer card, showing a large number '7' beside the level indicator.
The fight with the cabbages seems to have increased my level twice more.
Well, actually, it might be from eating.
Luna said you gained experience from killing monsters, or by eating them.
So yeah, probably eating, considering I didn't do much of the killing personally.
With the four points I had acquired from my level ups, I learnt two more skills. I found a mage and a swordsman who were willing to teach me basic spells and swordplay.
'One-handed Sword' and 'Basic Spells' were both actually free, being skills normally learnt simply by acquiring the select jobs, so instead I sunk the points into upgrading them.
I ended up using both points on the spells, increasing both cost efficiency, and output, leaving two of the new points remaining.
I felt the versatility provided by the four basic elemental spells was more important than increasing my proficiency with a sword, when I could easily achieve that through practice.
Not to self: When the funds from the cabbage hunt come in, get tutoring for swordsmanship and magic. I'll see how much I can improve through conventional means before spending more of my points.
I had gone just to a popular picnic area within the town's wall to experiment with my magic.
I had the four basic elements; Water, Wind, Fire and Earth. Each of spells generating a small amount of their corresponding element. They were all named 'Create' then the element.
The quantities they produced were not large enough for a direct use as offense, but I had thought of a couple of indirect uses.
'Earth' could quickly give me a handful of small-grained dirt, similar in size to nice beach sand, then with 'Wind' to blast the dust into my opponents eyes, blinding them. 'Fire' in one hand (thankfully not burning me) and 'Wind' in the other gave me a nice little flamethrower, though it was difficult to cast from both hands at once.
It also seemed I could manipulate what exactly came out with the spells. To a degree at least. I could make the 'Water' be fresh or saltwater, the 'Earth' could be plain dirt, sand or a different shade, I could make my 'Fire' blue, like it was a gas flame, and I could mix up the chemical composition of my 'Wind'.
I could make my 'Wind' have a much higher concentration of oxygen with little difficulty. Toss that on a flame, and it burns a whole lot better.
With my discoveries, my 'Flamethrower' (which I had decided to name for convenience sake) became a whole lot hotter, and could travel a whole lot further.
Progress was good.
Next step is to see if I can cast without chanting.
Note to self: Get a basic ice spell to. Good way to reduce stability.
"'Create Fire,'" I said, calling up a new flame, but focusing of the sensations.
It was odd. I could feel something traveling from my core, through my arm and out of my hand. Something I never knew was there until I first cast.
Magic.
The Magic (or Mana, yeah, mana is better), always felt the same as it approached my hand, and always took the same route. When it reach my hand, however, that's where it began to take form. It sort of… bent… and by the time it reached my skin and broke through, it had formed into the element I wanted to cast.
But that's something to worry about when I get there.
First step: get mana to my hand.
I cut off the spell, but kept track of the flow of my mana.
First I tried willing it to move, to pour forth to my hand, but that resulted in nothing.
Okay, different approach. I'll try moving it like it's a muscle.
Do you know how hard it is to flex a muscle you didn't know you had? Here's a tip: it's real fuckin' hard.
I tried again, flexing all the muscles in my chest, tensing everything.
There! I felt it move then!
Again, I tensed, as hard as I could this time, and it tensed as well.
I could feel it. The muscle that was pushing my mana. I felt it.
I kept a hold of it, but slowly relaxed everything else, getting a grasp of exactly what I was doing.
Once I felt I had a feeling for it, I let go, waiting a moment, then trying again.
It took a couple of tries, but I managed to push my mana without tensing my whole body. But that's all I managed; Pushing. It didn't go anywhere, it just felt like I was building pressure.
I cast my 'Create Flame' again to see if it would provide any insight. I dropped it after a moment, finding nothing, but revising the path it took.
Oh, that's an idea.
I cast again, but pushed my mana.
The flame surged. Doubling in size and tripling in heat.
I quickly tried it with the other elements, getting the same result, a dramatic increase in output.
Awesome.
Okay, back to the task at hand. I could push it, but it had nowhere to go.
I brought my memory of the path and feeling to the forefront of my mind.
I tried to pull, pull it down through my arm, and it followed.
Fuck yeah!
I did it again, managing to bring it to my hand, and with one final push, through the skin.
Nothing happened. It just kinda bled away, doing nothing.
Right, I've gotta shape it before it goes anywhere.
I cut off my mana supply, and once more recast 'Fire'.
A new flame erupted, and I focused on my hand.
The mana, as it reached my hand, felt pure, but when it left it was excited, heated, burning.
Simply put, it felt like it was fire. Like I was making fire from myself.
Was it as easy as that? Just willing it to be fire?
I decided to try it. I stopped the spell, then pushed my mana, willing it down to my hand but stopped it at my hand. I focused on it, willing it to change, to become fire. To burn, to combust, to ignite.
I pushed, and ignite it did.
Flame sprung from my hand, brighter and hotter than ever before. I panicked and cut off the mana supply, and the flame vanished as quickly as it appeared.
I sat there, dumbfounded, before I let out an anxious laugh. A laugh that quickly increased in volume, changing tone from cautious to joyous.
"Fuck YES! I am the fucking BEST!" I screamed to the sky, high on adrenaline and elation.
I jumped to my feet and tried again. My mana flowed easier, I could already feel, ready to answer my call. It bent to flames almost immediately, springing from my palm in a metre long torrent of fire, bright and burning, scorching the grass below it.
I pushed harder, and it answered, pushing further, hotter and brighter.
I stopped and laughed again, "Woo!" I screamed in joy.
God I am the fucking best, holy shit.
I took a moment to calm down, and then started on the other elements.
The first cast was always the hardest, but once I had a feel of how I needed to change the mana, it came a whole lot easier.
'Water' became dramatically stronger, going from a depressing little flow to a gushing, pressurised torrent. 'Earth' didn't change much unfortunately, just made dirt quicker, nothing fancy. 'Wind' though? Now that was something.
When I gave 'Wind' a stronger push, a gale sprung from my hand, knocking me off my feet and onto my ass.
I blinked, dazed from my new position on the floor, then grinned.
I stood again and firmly planted my arms by my sides, locking my muscles to hold them there.
I slowly started pushing my mana. Wind pushed out of my hands, this time incredibly weakly. Weaker than a quiet breath. I slowly started amping up the force until it was blasting against my legs. I was being pushed away from the floor.
I started pushing again, stronger and stronger. My heels lifted off the floor, leaving me on my toes.
I was nearly at my limit. I pushed as hard as I could and I was lifted completely above the ground.
I was fucking flying!
I can fucking fly!
My left arm slipped, flicking to the side and in my panic, I lost my focus and fell onto my back.
As I lay there, I cackled, before I decided that I would master these spells. Powerful and weak, quick and slow. I would learn everything there was to learn until I could do anything I wanted to without a second thought.
It was a couple hours later, when I was practicing calling forth controlled amounts of my spell as quickly as possible when a thought struck me.
These spells were as simple as thinking of what element I wanted to produce and supplying the mana for it, so could I do it with elements I didn't yet posses?
I had to try, because if I could, then I wouldn't have to spend any skill points on them, freeing them up for other skills to learn.
I'll try for something simple first; Ice. I already had water, which would complement it nicely.
I drew mana into my hands; it had long since become as easy as breathing, and concentrated.
Ice. Cold, brittle, crystal, freeze.
My temperature of the air around my hands plummeted, drooping well below zero in a fraction of a second.
Oh, fuck yeah.
I stood and quickly made a small puddle at my feet, about a metre in diameter.
I knelt down and cast.
I touched my hand to the water's surface, and it immediately solidified around my hand, but didn't travel very far. I pushed more mana into it and it spread, but not very far. I was nowhere near the other side of the puddle.
Maybe I could push the ice after it hand left my hand?
I tried to push the mana that had left my body. I closed my eyes and tried visualising it spreading throughout the pool, turning the whole thing solid.
I felt it moving, spreading, cooling. I opened my eyes, and the puddle was pure ice.
I smiled.
I was a fuckin' magician baby!
"Hey Megumin," She looked up to me from her seat as I took my own opposite her.
The three women took in my appearance. I had gone and purchased some basic adventurers' apparel, some leather armour on my chest, steel around my forearms and lower legs, and a green cloak trimmed in yellow on my shoulders. I had stopped to purchase this before going back to the guild for dinner.
"You ever hear of chantless casting?" I asked her.
She snorted, "'Course, but it's nearly impossibly hard to learn," She said firmly, before admiring my new apparel, "Nice clothes, by the way,"
"That so?" I asked.
She nodded, so I determined that a demonstration was in order.
For dramatic effect, I clicked my fingers and called a small, lighter sized flame to the tip of my index finger.
I raised an eyebrow at her as her jaw dropped and eyes widened.
"K-K-K-Kazuma-sama, how are you doing that?!"
Oh? A rise in honorific? Was I that awesome?
"Pure skill... and practice. Lots of practice," I admitted, cutting off the spell.
"Okay, cool trick I guess,"
"D-do it again!"
The bored acknowledgement from Aqua and demand from Megumin came simultaneously.
"Just cool?" I asked as I conjured a flame over my palm and had it dance around my fingers for Megumin's amusement, her eyes brightening and following its journey intently.
"How about this then," I continued, sliding her my adventurer's card, "Tell me exactly what Spells I know, would you?"
"You've got the four basic elemental spells. That's it," She answered, still bored.
I smirked, leant over, and grabbed her glass, freezing the contents solid.
"Huuuh?!" She exclaimed in shock, looking between her glass and my card frantically.
"What do you think of it, Megumin?" I asked the girl, summoning a pencil sized piece of ice in my other hand and smoothly twirling it around my fingers, while quickly flaring the flame blue before back to orange.
"S-so cool!"
"See? Megumin understands. Why don't you be grateful for how lucky you are to have someone as awesome as me in your party?" I asked, flipping her words from earlier in the day on her, a very smug smirk firmly in place.
"Anyway, we need to start taking quests again. The mating season of the giant toads has begun, so they've been around town more-"
"No toads!" Quickly came for Megumin and Aqua simultaneously.
"…Why not?" Darkness asked as I groaned, "Toads fear blades and are easy to take down; their sole mode of attack is grabbing prey with its tongue. The defeated toad meat could be sold for easy money. I heard that you might get eaten if your equipment is too weak, but since toad hates metal, Kazuma should be safe with his current equipment. I will protect Aqua and Megumin,"
"They seem to have a psychological barrier against toads after their own idiocy got them both eaten," I said, levelling a glare at both women.
"We'll chose another quest then," I continued as they flinched, "We're still new, so it'll have to be another easy quest,"
"What an introverted Shut-in… Only Kazuma has a weak job, so I understand why you are being cautious. But including me, the other members have top tier jobs! We should take on a bunch of high difficulty jobs and make lots of money, level up like crazy and take down the Demon King easily! That's why; we should take on difficult quests!"
"You have been next to useless the entire time we've been here,"
She was stunned. Megumin and Darkness quickly left to find a quest, not wishing to be apart of the conversation any longer.
"When you demonstrate your worth, we'll take on harder quests, you former goddess. And so far, you realise that I'm the only competent one in the party, right?"
"Ugh… No, not former, erm… in principle, I am still a goddess…"
Aqua looked down but she still argued with me, and my voice turned louder.
"Goddess! What should a goddess be doing? What did you do during the cabbage hunt? You did grab a lot towards the end, but you were spinning around because of the cabbages and threw a tantrum on the floor! Even vegetables could make you cry, are you really a goddess? Are you really qualified to call yourself a goddess? Your only contribution so far is getting eaten by a toad and party tricks!"
Aqua burst out into tears.
Good, vulnerability is up. Time for kindness; establish myself as protective.
I grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes, putting on a kinder look.
"Look Aqua, I get that you wanna defeat the Demon King as fast as you can to get home, alright?" Quieter tone… now, "I do," Up the sincerity, "I promised you that I'd get you back home," switch to determined, "and there's no way I'll ever break that promise," Perfect, now apologetic, "but as we are now, we're nowhere near strong enough," Now for a bit of excitement. "But I have lots of knowledge of Japan, and Luna recommended that I become a merchant because of my Luck, remember?"
She wiped at her eyes, nodding.
More excitement now, "Well, I can make stuff from my world, sell it in this world and make a fortune! We can use that money to buy Experience rich foods and get super high levelled really easy! Then the Demon King won't stand a chance!"
I took my hands off her shoulders and grabbed her hands instead.
I looked down 'apologetically', enjoying the sight of her thighs as I spoke.
"I'm sorry for what I said just before; about you not helping. I'm scared. Scared that we'll die, and that I'll fail you,"
I squeeze her hand, looking her in the eyes again. She had brightened up, and now looked sympathetic, understanding.
Fucking idiot. I wasn't scared. I don't think I can even feel fear.
I pulled up another determined look. "It might take longer this way, but I will get you home. Remember that Aqua. I'll do everything I can for you,"
Ohoh, that was smooth. I impress myself sometimes.
She sniffled, her eyes tearing up again. She disconnected her hands and flung herself around my shoulders.
Nice. An even better response than I was hoping for.
She wailed, "Thank you sho much Kashuma-shan," She managed, arms tightening as she cried once more.
I wrapped my arms around her too, holding her tightly.
I couldn't help the vicious smile that came to my lips. "I'm here Aqua. I'll always be here,"
She recovered after a couple of minutes, returning to her normal seating strategy, though she was closer. Much closer. Her shoulder was pressed into my side, her thigh against my own. She had also commandeered my left hand, holding it tightly in both of hers below the table.
Darkness and Megumin returned shortly after.
They clearly noticed Aqua, her eyes red and puffy, and her proximity to me. They looked sympathetic, and in Megumin's case, a little envious. They sat without a word.
I cleared my throat, deciding to go with a little embarrassment, before I spoke.
"So what did you find?" I asked.
"Well, we found a quest that should help Aqua level," darkness answered.
Right, she was a healer. Not much in the way of mob clearing for her.
"Undead?" I asked simply.
She nodded, as Megumin spoke "The only problem is that Darkness' armour isn't repaired yet,"
Right, she managed to get it nearly completely smashed being a meat shield when we fought the cabbages.
Darkness crossed her arms and announced frankly:
"I am fine with it. My full set of defensive skills are not just for show. Even without armour, I dare say that I am harder than an Adamantoise. And it feels better without armour when I get hit,"
"… You just said it feels great to get hit,"
"… No I didn't,"
"Yes you did,"
"I didn't… The only question is whether Aqua is willing…"
"So what do you-"
She was asleep.
This fucking girl.
On a hill far away from town.
There was a public cemetery for poor and homeless people.
The dead are buried in this world.
A hole would be dug then they would be covered with earth.
Our quest this time was defeating the undead monsters that were emerging from the cemetery.
It was almost evening.
We set up a tent near the cemetery and wait for night to fall.
"Slow down Kazuma, I saw that meat first! Here, the vegetable on this side is done, so eat this instead!"
"After the cabbage hunt, I don't like eating vegetables anymore. I am afraid of the vegetable flying off somewhere if I grill it,"
We set up a hot plate some distance away from the cemetery, barbecuing as we wait for dusk.
We spent the time leisurely even though it was a hunting quest because the target was a small fry known as a zombie maker.
It was an evil spirit that could control zombies. It possessed a high quality corpse and manipulated several other zombies like minions.
A novice party could defeat this monster, so we took on this quest.
So even though Darkness did not have her armour, it wasn't too dangerous for her.
After finishing their meal, I poured coffee powder into a mug, adding water with my 'Create Water', and used 'Fire' to heat the mug.
Megumin looked at me with a complicated expression and held out her cup.
"Excuse me, please give me some water. I feel that Kazuma is more proficient than I am in using magic. Basically no one uses basic spells, but you make it looked convenient,"
I cast 'Water' into Megumin's cup.
"Is that so, isn't this the way to use basic spells? Oh, right," I called forth some 'Earth', "What do people use this spell for?"
I showed Megumin the dusty earth on my palm.
There are all sorts of elemental basic spells, but I wasn't sure how normal people utilized this earth elemental magic.
"Well… The crops grown from magically created earth are high in quality… That's it,"
After listening to Megumin's explanation, Aqua besides me burst into laughter.
"What, Kazuma wants to plow the lands? Are you changing jobs to farmer? You could use 'Create Water' for the plants too! This job is a great fit for you, puhehe!"
I faced Aqua with my right palm and raised my left hand.
"Pu he ahh! Ah–! My eyes!"
A gust of wind blew the dust onto Aqua's face, the goddess rolled on the ground after the sand got into her eyes.
"That's not the only use it has, genius,"
"Huh?! Normal people don't use it that way! And why are you using basic spells better than a wizard?!" Megumin exclaimed
"'Cos I'm great,"
"It's cold," Aqua whined, "Hey, Kazuma; our quest is to take down the zombie maker right? I have a feeling it won't be a small fry like that, but a big shot undead,"
It was late at night now. The full moon had risen and shone down on us, providing a small amount of light.
"Definitely, but it doesn't matter. After all, we've got a powerful Archpriest on our side, don't we?"
She smiled, "Right!"
We started towards the graveyard, myself in the lead, waiting for my 'Detect Enemy' to ping.
Ping it did.
I drew my sword and spoke, quickly and quietly, dead serious, "There are lots. Be ready,"
Many more than there should be.
I could detect at least 6, when a zombie maker should only be able to produce 2 or 3 minions.
Blue and white lights suddenly shone from the middle of the cemetery.
What the fuck is going on?
That blue light seemed evil and fantasy like.
The blue light that was visible from afar was a giant magic circle.
At the edge of the magic circle was a figure in black robes.
"… Hmmm? I think… that isn't… a zombie maker," Megumin said unconfidently.
Besides the black robed figure were several fluttering shadows.
"Are we going in? Even if that isn't a zombie maker, anyone staying in the cemetery at this hour is probably an undead. If that is the case, it wouldn't be a problem with Arch priest Aqua around."
Aqua took out her staff and appeared anxious to move on.
Calm down, you dumb bitch.
"Ah—!"
I don't know what the suddenly shouting Aqua was thinking as she charged at the robed figure.
"Wait! Hey, wait up!" I called.
The charging Aqua ignored me and rushed to the figure, pointing at it with her finger.
"How dare of you to show up here, Lich! I will take care of you!"
Lich?
On par with vampires, a Lich is one of the top tiers of the undead.
High level wizards could desert their mortal bodies through magical arts and become the immortal known as the overlord of death.
Unlike the undead monster that rose because of strong grudges, they twisted the order of nature and were existence which defied god.
A powerful monster akin to a final boss.
Fuck.
"Stop, stop–! Who are you? Where did you come from and why are you destroying my magic circle? Stop! Could you please stop?"
"You are noisy, shut up undead! You must be thinking of using this suspicious magic circle for devious means, I will stomp it! Stomp!"
The powerful monster grab on to Aqua's waist in tears, attempting to stop her from stepping on the magic circle.
Huh?
The minions besides the lich didn't move in to stop the two of them wrestling with each other, and just stood there watching them blankly.
What the fuck is going on right now.
Aqua claimed the person she was entangled with was a lich. However, the way it looked, she was just a pitiful passer-by that was being picked on by a hooligan.
"Stop–! Please stop–! This magic circle is used to send the wandering spirits to heaven! Look, the spirits are floating from the magic circle towards the sky right?"
Just as the lich said, lots of wisp like bluish white objects that came from nowhere drift into the magic circle and was goes up into the sky along with the light of the magic circle. I didn't trust her though, who knew what she was doing.
Just because they were going up, didn't mean they were going to heaven.
"You are acting too arrogant for a Lich! An Archpriest like me will perform such benevolent acts, so just scram! You are taking too much time, watch me purify the whole cemetery along with you!"
"Eh? Wait, stop!"
The Lich started to panic when she heard Aqua's words.
The panic seemed legitimate however.
But Aqua ignored her, opened her arms and shouted.
"Turn undead–!"
A white light encompassed the entire cemetery with Aqua in the middle.
That light seemed to be gushing out from Aqua's body and the zombies around the Lich disappeared when the light touched them.
It was the same with the spirits gathering at the magic circle of the Lich, they disappeared when Aqua's light reached them. The Lich was also basked in that light…
"Hyaaa–! My, my body is fading? Stop, my body is disappearing! I will be purified!"
"Hahahaha, foolish Lich! Your existence goes against the law of nature, an undead that defies the will of the gods! Disappear, be vanquished by my power!"
"Aqua,"
She stopped, turning to me.
"Don't kill her just yet,"
I turned towards the lich, kneeled down and addressed her.
"Who are you and what were you doing?"
She opened her mouth to answer but I cut her off.
"Be careful. If I don't like what you say, or I so much as think you're lying, you will die,"
Aqua cracked her knuckles from above us, reinforcing my point.
Her eyes widened and her already pale skin whitened further.
"M-m-my n-name is W-Wiz, and l-like I said, I w-was s-sending those s-spirits to h-heaven! I s-swear!"
I rolled my hand in a 'go on' gesture.
"B-because… As you can see, I am a Lich, the overlord of the undying. As the overlord, I could hear the voice of the spirits wandering in the world. Most of the spirits in this public cemetery don't have money and didn't have a proper burial, so they couldn't move on to the afterlife and loiter the cemetery every night. Since I am an overlord, I will visit periodically and send the children on their way,"
"That's why, but you haven't told me who you are,"
"I-I'm Wiz, a lich, and a general of the Demon King's army,"
Oh.
That makes things easy.
"Aqua," I said as I stood. She grinned and raised her arms to cast.
"Wait! Please don't purify me!"
Seeing that I made no move to stop Aqua, she screamed, "I can help you defeat him!"
That's a good offer.
I put an arm in front of Aqua to stop her.
"How,"
"T-the other generals and I only maintain a barrier around his castle! I've never actually hurt anyone! You could likely break the barrier if there are only 3 generals to maintain it, but if I assist, you could do it when there are as many as 5 still remaining!"
I mulled it over. The offer was good, but I would probably defeat all the generals first before taking on the big boss man himself. I didn't want any reinforcements arriving when we fought. Plus, they'd be good Experience.
I'll let her live. For now. Though I may kill her myself eventually for a few levels.
I bent down and offered her a hand.
"Sorry about that Wiz, I hope you understand my caution. My name is Kazuma, and this is Aqua, Megumin and Darkness," I said, gesturing with my head at the three of them.
She took my hand gratefully and I pulled her to her feet.
"Y-yes, I understand. Thank you for sparing me, Kazuma-san,"
"So, why are you the one doing this Wiz? Shouldn't the priests be doing it?"
"Ahh… Well you see…"