Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o!
Volume 2 Chapter 3
Offering a helping hand to the ghost of a young girl!
Translator: Skythewood
Editor: Darkdhaos, RavenSlither, Chris S
Part 1
I brought Aqua along with me to a certain place.
I left Darkness at the guild, so we could grab a hold of a good quest if there was one.
Megumin went somewhere early in the morning.
She would disappear like that sometimes, but where did she go off to?
— The balance in our party was bad.
The good points were too obvious.
Aqua was excellent as an arch priest, Darkness, the tank in our party, was really tough, and didn’t really require healing magic.
Megumin’s instant damage output was stronger than most other mages, and could often resolve the problem with one spell.
But the current issue was the need for stable fire power.
And thus, I had to learn skills and fight. However, I had the weakest job ‘adventurer’, so I wouldn’t be strong no matter how hard I worked.
I wanted offensive skills.
And so, after I had leveled up in the dungeon run a few days ago, I came to this store.
“Alright, we are here. Listen Aqua, let me be clear, you can’t make a mess or act violently. And don’t use any magic, understand?”
This was a tiny shop that sold magic items.
Aqua looked at the sign of the shop and tilted her head with a confused expression.
“Hey, why are you restricting me from this and that? I have been meaning to ask you, who do you think I am? A delinquent or a bandit? I am a goddess alright? A holy being.”
I dragged Aqua who was complaining non-stop and opened the door of the shop.
The bell on the door rang crisply, announcing our arrival to the owner.
“Welcome… Ahhh!?”
“Ahhhh!? You finally showed up, damn undead! You dare set up shop here!? A goddess like me has to sleep in the stables, but you can open a shop? You’re getting too full of yourself, lich! I will burn your store down in the name of the gods!”
I used the hilt of my sword to knock the head of Aqua who was running amok despite my reminder before entering the shop.
I ignored Aqua who was sulking in a corner with her hands on her head, and greeted the frightened owner.
“Yo, Wiz, long time no see, I came to visit.”
Part 2
“… Hmmph, doesn’t this shop know how to serve tea?”
“Ah, sorry!! I will bring it now!”
“Don’t serve her tea! I have never heard of a magic item shop that serves tea to its customers!”
I stopped Wiz from following the orders of Aqua, who was picking on her.
This was my first time in a magic item shop, so I toured around it, toying with the merchandise.
I was holding a small bottle.
“Ah, that will explode on strong impact, so please be careful.”
“Ah? You serious!?”
I put the bottle back in a panic.
I reached for another bottle beside it…
“Ah, that one will explode if you open the cap, so…”
I placed that bottle back gently, and picked up the one besides it.
“What about this one?”
“It will explode when it touches water.”
“… how about that one?”
“It explodes when heated…”
……
“Does your shop only sell explosives?!”
“No no no! All the explosive bottle series just happen to be on that rack!”
Ara, this wasn’t the time for this.
I didn’t come here to buy magic items.
I ignored Aqua who was drinking the tea she was pouring for herself and cut to the chase.
“Wiz, you mentioned this before right? You said you can teach me some of the skills of a lich. I have some skill points now, so could you teach me something?”
“Puu!”
“Hyaaa!”
After hearing what I said, Aqua spat the tea in her mouth all over Wiz.
“Hey, what are you thinking Kazuma! The skills of a lich? You say you want to learn a lich’s skills!? I was wondering what you said to her after taking this woman’s name card! The skills of a lich are all evil! It would be bad if you learned such skills! Listen, liches are something like the relative of slugs that like dark and wet places.”
“How, how mean!”
Hearing Aqua’s definition, Wiz was in tears.
“No, I don’t care if liches are the relatives or siblings of slugs– it’s normally impossible to learn skills from a lich right? I feel that if I learn these skills, I might be able to increase the combat potential of our team. You should understand that with our current powers, we can’t handle powerful foes or any large number of enemies right?”
“But… As a goddess, I can’t stand my servant learning the skills of a lich…”
After hearing what my words, Aqua was still complaining, but gave in.
Hearing Aqua’s grumbles, Wiz asked hesitantly.
“‘As a goddess’…? Erm, I was almost destroyed when you used turn undead… could it be, you are a real goddess?”
Ah, no good.
If you want to ask what the real identity of Aqua was, a monster like a lich would know best.
As for me, I still doubt at this moment whether Aqua was a real goddess.
“You could say that. You probably won’t spread this around, so I shall tell you. I am Aqua. That’s right, the goddess revered by the axis cult, Aqua. Mind your manners, lich!”
“Eek!”
Wiz made a face of terror I had never seen before and hid behind me.
For liches, an existence like god was like their nemesis.
“Hey Wiz, I know undead and goddess are akin to water and oil, but you don’t need to fear her that much.”
I consoled her, but Wiz said:
“No, I don’t mean it that way… I heard that the Axis cultists have brain problems, so it’s best not to get involved with them– that is part of the common sense of the world. And she said she is the goddess which is the leader, so I…”
“What did you say!?
“Sor, sorry!”
“… Sigh, the topic is not progressing at all…”
I chased Aqua to the side, letting her browse the items in the shop.
She obediently shopped around, picking some potions randomly and sniffed inside.
I kept an eye on her as I regained my composure and talked to Wiz.
“Speaking of which, I heard recently that Kazuma’s party defeated Beldia-san. That Beldia-san was a powerful swordsman among the demon king’s bosses, you guys are amazing.”
She said that with a gentle smile…
Hmm?
“‘That Beldia-san’? It sounds as if you were acquaintanced. Did you know each other because you are both undead?”
In the face of my query, Wiz said in an idle manner.
“Ah, I didn’t make this clear before, I am also a boss of the demon king’s army.”
She said with a giggle.
……
“Catch her!”
Aqua who was browsing the merchandize suddenly pounced on Wiz!
“Wait! Aqua-sama, please let me explain!”
Wiz who was pinned down by Aqua wailed.
Aqua wiped the sweat from her cheeks and reported her victory.
“This is great Kazuma! We can clear our debts now! Not just that, we will become rich! Not just renting a place, we could even buy a mansion!”
Aqua shouted joyously.
I squatted down and looked at Wiz who was subdued by Aqua.
“Hey Aqua, let’s listen to her… Erm, what does being a boss mean? If you are a spy of the demon king, as adventurers, we can’t let you off…”
After hearing this, Wiz explained in tears.
“That’s wrong! I was asked by the demon king-san to maintain the barrier to the demon king castle! I have never harmed anyone before. I might be a boss, but I am actually a (lol) boss! You won’t get any rewards for defeating me!”
Wiz’s words made me and Aqua look at each other.
“… I don’t know what you are saying, but we should play it safe and destroy you.”
“Wait a moment Aqua-sama!”
Wiz who was pinned under Aqua screamed again.
I stopped Aqua who had started chanting in a hurry.
“Eh, what do you mean? Is it like the cliche in video games, where the main character opens a path to the demon king castle after defeating all the boss? And Wiz is the one in charge of maintaining that barrier?”
“I don’t know what video games are, but that’s it! It was the demon king who requested this of me. Because I didn’t stop running a shop casually on the human territory, the only thing he asked me to do as boss was to maintain the barrier! and maintain the barrier! He said no one would suspect that a boss of the demon king would set up a shop in a human town, so the barrier would be safe!”
“Which means humans can’t attack the demon king castle if you are alive. This will give us plenty of trouble. Kazuma, let’s do away with her.”
Upon hearing Aqua’s words, Wiz wailed:
“Wait, please wait! With Aqua-sama’s power, you could easily break through the barrier created by 2 or 3 bosses! But there are 8 bosses in the demon king’s army, there will still be 6 bosses even if you defeat me. Even Aqua-sama can’t break through the barrier of 6 bosses! If you want to attack the demon king castle, you have to defeat the other bosses. I beg you to let me live before you take out the other bosses…! I have some things I need to take care of…”
Facing the crying Wiz who was pinned by her, Aqua made an awkward expression.
She would glance at me every now and then, observing my condition… Did she want me to make the decision?
“Eh, I think that should be fine right? Even if we defeat Wiz now, the barrier would still be intact right? And the barrier can only be dispelled after all the bosses are defeated. But with Aqua here, we could break through the barrier without taking out all the bosses right? Then we will just need to wait for someone to take out the other bosses other than Wiz right?”
To be honest, I didn’t think an immature party like us could do anything to the demon king’s bosses. And I didn’t plan to do something that dangerous.
Even if we didn’t do anything, someone like sword master Mitsurugi and his demon sword– people who were transported here with blessings, would kill the bosses of the demon king’s army.
But, as long as Wiz was here, the barrier would be intact and they couldn’t get to the demon king.
So, before we get strong enough to defeat the demon king, it would better to maintain the status quo.
Wiz who didn’t see through my despicable schemes smiled after hearing my words.
“But, would that really be okay? The bosses of the demon king are Wiz’s acquaintances right? Won’t you get angry at us for defeating Beldia?”
Wiz pondered for a moment and said.
“… Beldia-san and I weren’t at great terms… He rolls his head under my skirt to peek at me when I took strolls. There is only one person who was on good terms with me among the bosses. And that person… probably won’t die so easily… Also,”
As Wiz spoke, she–
“As of now, I have decided to live as a human.”
had a lonely smile.
Part 3
“Eh, well then, I will display all the skills I have once, take note of anything you want to learn. You let me go the previous time too, consider this as a sign of my gratitude…”
After Wiz finished, she seemed to be thinking of something, and looked back and forth between me and Aqua with a panicky face.
“What is it?”
Wiz looked at Aqua timidly.
“I can’t use my skills without a target. Which means… if no one can be my target…”
I get it, so that’s why.
“Hey, Aqua, go.”
“Ah? A mere undead wants to use her skills on me?”
Facing Aqua’s intimidation, Wiz took a few steps back in fear.
“Eh, that… how about the skill ‘Drain touch’? Ah, I will just drain a little health! For Kazuma-san to learn this skill, I just need to drain just a tiny bit to show the effect, and he will probably learn it!”
Wiz explained in a panic. Aqua showed a devious smile.
One was a powerful lich, the other a goddess, both were powerful people.
But looking at the two of them, I don’t know which was the goddess, which was the lich.
“It’s fine, no problem. Drain as much as you like, come!”
Aqua extended her hand.
Wiz timidly took Aqua’s hand…
“Erm, excuse me……? …Hmm? What is happening?”
I did not understand what was happening, and it was a surprise to Wiz too.
“Ara ara are you okay? Didn’t you want to drain my health and mana? Ara ara, you are a top tier undead, but you can’t even use drain touch?”
Unlike the arrogant Aqua, Wiz looked as if she was going to cry at any moment.
“What, what is happening–!?”
Seemed like Aqua was resisting her, not letting her drain any energy.
— I silently slapped the back of her head.
“That hurts!? Hey don’t interrupt me Kazuma! This is a battle between a lich and a goddess! I am the elite amongst the goddess, how could I let her drain me so easily!”
“No, I wouldn’t be able to learn the skill like this, just let her drain a little… Sorry Wiz, this girl keeps on finding trouble with liches because of the nature of her job.”
I apologize to Wiz on Aqua’s behalf. Wiz shook her head widely.
“It’s, it’s fine! It’s it’s because I am a lich…”
I asked Wiz to display her skill again.
“Well then, excuse me…”
Wiz took Aqua’s hand and used ‘Drain touch’ once more.
‘Drain touch’ seemed to be a skill unique to the undead, capable of draining an opponent’s health and mana.
At the same time, it allowed one to share his health and mana with another.
By using this skill well, we might be able to make up for the lack of offensive power in our team.
After watching Wiz’s skill, I checked my adventurer’s card.
A skill named ‘Drain touch’ appeared on the card.
I used my skill points to learn this skill without hesitation.
“Erm, Aqua-sama? It’s fine now, could you release your hand… And the hand that you are grabbing is turning numb, please let go!”
“……”
I watched them closely. After Aqua heard what Wiz said, she held on to Wiz’s right hand tightly, and used her other free hand to grab Wiz too.
“Ah, Aqua-sama? Erm, my hand is hot… Also, it hurts, it hurts! Aqua-sama, my body is gradually… being purified and evaporating! I am disappearing, Aqua-sama! I will disappear if this goes on!”
“What are you trying to do amidst the confusion?”
“Pain!”
I knocked the head of Aqua who refused to let go of Wiz with my fist.
Maybe it’s my imagination, but did Wiz look more faded?
— At this moment.
“Pardon my intrusion, is Ms. Wiz here?”
A middle aged man opened the door and walked in, ringing the bell.
Part 4
“Evil spirits?” x3
Here’s the summary.
The visitor was a real estate agent.
It seemed that all sorts of spirits were appearing in the empty houses.
The visitor even asked around the adventurer’s guild. Everyone said this was the first time they encountered something like this and didn’t know how to handle it.
Even after posting a quest to subjugate the spirits, new ones would move in right after the quest was done.
“No matter how we exorcise them, the evil spirits kept coming one after another. Selling the house aside, it is a pain just clearing the houses of spirits.”
The middle aged man sighed with a fatigued expression.
So why was he discussing this with Wiz?
Maybe it was the doubt written on my face, the man explained to me immediately.
“Before Ms Wiz set up shop here, she was a powerful mage. Whenever the people in town run into any difficulty, they would seek Ms. Wiz for aid. And Ms. Wiz seemed to be the expert on handling undead monsters. That’s why I am here asking for her help.”
I see, the lich was known as the overlord of death after all.
This man probably didn’t know Wiz’s true identity, but Wiz was really suited for something like this.
But that man seemed troubled as he looked at Wiz.
“But… Ms Wiz seems unwell today. Your face had always been pale, but it’s even more so today. How should I put it, it feels… as if you could disappear at any moment…”
“……”
I stared wordlessly at Aqua who was planning to purify Wiz. She immediately averted her gaze in an awkward manner.
Wiz revealed an awkward smile and patted her chest.
“No problems, leave it to me. We just need to settle the evil spirits in town right?”
“Ah, no! I wasn’t planning on troubling Ms Wiz to exorcise all the evil spirits in town… just that mansion would be enough.”
“Ah, that mansion. I see…”
Wiz nodded to acknowledge understanding what the man said… That mansion?
“Leave it to me. I just need to expel the spirits wandering in that mansion, correct?”
After hearing that, Wiz immediately stood up, but sat down again due to the lack of strength.
“Ah, ahhh! Wi, Wiz-san! Forget it if you are not feeling well, please don’t push yourself!”
The man hurried over to help Wiz up. Aqua who couldn’t watch any longer turned her gaze in an absurd direction, she was getting more embarrassed.
I walked to Aqua’s side, staring at her face wordlessly.
“… This, this quest, please let us take it…”
Aqua couldn’t ignore her guilty conscience and said softly.
Part 5
“So this is the mansion.”
It was a mansion in the suburbs.
According to that man, the number of rooms were few for a mansion, the fact was contrary to this.
It was several times the size of a single mansion in Japan, and used to be the villa of a noble clan.
But that aristocratic family had abandoned this villa.
As the villa was about to be sold, evil spirits appeared within it.
“Not bad! This place is great! This is where someone like me should be staying in!”
Aqua shouted while hugging a small bag. Megumin who was also carrying a bag was blushing from emotions.
Living in this villa.
This wasn’t one of Aqua’s delusions.
Because the mansion was huge, there were plenty of evil spirits within. As a result, it had been widely regarded as a haunted mansion.
And the reward for the exorcism was a free stay before the bad image of it was gone.
Which means that after completing this quest, we won’t need to save up our money to get by winter.
I felt lucky to meet with such a great opportunity.
“But can we really exorcise the evil spirits? I heard new spirits would keep coming no matter how much you clear them.”
Darkness who was carrying a large pack said.
That’s right. Going by common sense, finding the reason why the spirits kept coming and resolving the issue was the best strategy.
But the quest we took was limited to exorcising the spirits.
To be honest, thinking about it in the long term, the longer we dragged on the quest, the longer we could stay in this villa.
“But it feels like this place had not been occupied for a very long time. Didn’t the disturbance of the spirits only happen recently? Could it be, this mansion already had issues before the spirit problem hit the entire town…?”
Megumin said uneasily.
“Yes, but even if this mansion had problems, we will be fine. We have Aqua with us, right? No worries, she is an expert in fighting undeads.”
Even though I felt a bit uneasy while saying that, but I still think her abilities as an arch priest was very strong.
… Probably.
“Leave it to me! … Fufu, I can see it, I can see it! From the observation of my spiritual eyes, the maid who had a relationship with the noble who was just fooling around and bore a child, and was kept here as the illegitimate child of the noble clan! The noble died from illness and the maid went missing. The young girl left here contacted the same disease as her father, and died without ever seeing the faces of her parents! Her name was Anna Filante Asteroid. The things she liked were her dolls and the stories of adventurers! But please don’t worry, this spirit won’t pull pranks on us. She will not harm us! Ara, she might be a child, but she liked matured things like drinking fine wine. So, prepare some wine as an offering!”
Aqua kept clamoring on like the cunning psychics that appears on television all the time. I looked at her with the eyes I reserved for doubtful con man, and asked Darkness and Megumin at the same time.
“… Nah, what do you think? I want to ask why this girl knows such unnecessary settings and names… Is she alright in the head? Or perhaps I judged her too hastily?”
“……” x2
I don’t know if they harbored the same uneasiness as me, but they didn’t answer my question.
Part 6
Late at night.
We took off our equipment and settled down in the mansion.
We had decided the distribution of the rooms, and brought our respective luggages there.
Aqua would be staying in this mansion from today onwards, so I held on to the faint hope that the evil spirits would be exorcised because of that.
On the other hand, I was worried that her physical traits which attracted undead might bring more of them here.
But she was an arch priest after all, and her real identity was the goddess Aqua.
She wasn’t the type that allowed spirits to do as they pleased in the place she lived.
I took the biggest room on the 2nd floor of the mansion, and slept quite soundly.
“Ahhhh!? Wahhhhhh!!”
At this moment, I heard wails coming from Aqua, whom I had placed so much hope in.
“What is it!? Hey, Aqua, what happened! Are you okay!?”
I rushed to Aqua’s room and rapped on the door.
No reply. Judging that something was amiss, I rammed the door open.
Before me was…
“Boo… Woooo… Ka, Kazumaaaahhhh!”
In the middle of room, Aqua was cradling an empty wine bottle and crying.
… Hey.
“Well, what happened to you? Say something, why are you hugging a bottle? If you made that sound because you were drunk, I will wake you up with create water.”
“That’s not it! I didn’t drink the wine! This was my precious and valuable wine. I was looking forward to enjoying it after my bath! But it was empty when I returned to my room ahhhhh!!”
I decided to go to sleep after a shower.
“I see, good night, see you tomorrow.”
“Ahhh!? Wait Kazuma! A spirit! This must be the work of an evil spirit! The wild spirits that congregated here, or the illegitimate child that was bounded to this mansion! It must be either of these two! I will make my rounds around the mansion and destroy all the spirits I see!”
I don’t know if wild spirits existed in this world, but since Aqua said she would exorcise them, I had no reason to stop her.
“… What happened, what’s with that ruckus?”
“Is something wrong? It’s getting late, so please behave yourself.”
Darkness and Megumin were here too, probably drawn in by Aqua’s wailing.
“This girl said her wine was taken by evil spirits and wants to exorcise them now. I was thinking about retorting ‘ why would spirits want to drink spirits’. But there were too many things to retort so I didn’t manage to. I think I will sleep, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
As I returned to my room, Aqua was still lecturing me from behind, but I didn’t mind.
If the spirit was just mischievous to the extent of drinking people’s wine, it would be fine letting it be.
Part 7
I woke up in the middle of the night, wondering how long I had slept.
The mansion was silent, it should be late at night.
— I wanted to go to the toilet.
I tried getting up from the bed…
… but my body couldn’t move.
What’s happening… Sleep paralysis?
I tried sounding out, but that failed too, only a mumble escaped my lips. I couldn’t call out to Aqua for aid.
I realized how desperate the situation was.
Correction, my need to pee was facing a never before seen crisis.
No, I had to endure, I am already an adult!
There were only two situations for an adult to urinate as he pleased: 1, in a special shop, or 2, if you were an old man.
Unable to move my body, I gritted my teeth to hold it in. At this moment, I heard a sound come from the corner of my room.
— Poop.
That sound was really loud in this quiet room.
Hearing this sound, I shifted my gaze to a corner of the room.
In the corner of the room… stood a tiny doll of a girl in a dress. Why did she appear here?
“…!”
I gulped unconsciously.
Cold sweat kept breaking out.
What was going on, why did this object appear here?
I didn’t have any recollection of this thing being in this room in the first place. Did Aqua place it here to scare me?
Yeah, that should be it. It definitely was.
That useless goddess; I will take care of her tomorrow.
I pushed the blame onto Aqua one sidedly, and closed my eyes to escape reality.
— Dang
A sound reverberated through the entire room, and made me burst out into cold sweat while my eyes were closed.
Yeah, that’s right. It was too pitiful to push everything onto Aqua.
Yeah, that’s right, that girl also had times when she worked hard, so I should be gentle to her every now and then.
— Bang.
She was a goddess-sama after all, yeah!
Correct, a goddess was living in this mansion.
Evil spirits? Those things would be killed instantly if they meet Aqua. Our Aqua was a goddess that could easily purify a lich!
Clank.
Clank.
Clank–!
I will apologize to Aqua for the incident in the morning. I was too disrespectful to a goddess. Yeah, I will reflect on it, I will definitely reflect on it.
–Clank clank clank clank clank clank clank clank clank, clank clank clank clank!
Ahhhhhhhh I will absolutely apologize and turn over a new leaf!
I will apologize, so Aqua-sama, please help me!
… I was not sure if my confession and prayers worked, but the sound from the corner of the room stopped.
That’s great, there were no such things as spirits after all.
I relaxed slightly.
At the same time, a certain curiosity welled up within me.
— Should I open my eyes?
I wanted to open my eyes, and check on the status of that doll.
But, my instinct or something like a 6th sense was holding me back.
What should I do? I was so bothered by it. But I thought it would be scary if I opened my eyes, and it was also scary if I didn’t!
After considering it for a moment, I remembered I couldn’t go to the toilet if this went on.
And so I made up my mind to open my eyes slightly…
I locked eyes with the doll that was staring at my face.
“Hyaaaa!!”
I screamed as if I was squeezing my psyche dry, and swiped the doll away the moment I could move my body.
Part 8
“Aqua! Aqua-sama!”
I ran barefooted on the corridor towards Aqua’s room.
I could hear something chasing me from behind.
How scary, scary, super scary! What was that, why was this happening?
— Clank! Crack crack crack, bang bang bang!
As I listen to the unpleasant noise behind me, I didn’t even knock and charged into Aqua’s room directly.
I closed the door in a panic and locked it.
A second later, I heard the sound of something crashing into the door.
I felt the impact came through the door onto my back. I looked around the room.
Aqua wasn’t here.
In her place, sitting in the middle of the room in the darkness was a black haired girl with blood red eyes.
“Hyaaaa!”
“Wahhhh!”
I couldn’t help screaming, and the brunette before me was also shrieking for some reason.
She sounded familiar, so I looked closely and realized it was Megumin in her pajamas.
After Megumin and I screamed for a moment, we regained a bit of our composure.
The banging sound kept coming from the door.
It was too scary, so I didn’t dare to think about what was hitting against the door.
“Don’t, don’t scare me Megumin, I almost peed myself!”
“That, that’s my line! Why did Kazuma come to this room! I thought Aqua was coming back…!”
Hearing Megumin’s words, I calmed myself down.
“And why were you in Aqua’s room? And where did Aqua went?”
Megumin stuttered.
“Ugh… eh, there, there was a doll, eh, moving around my room…”
Ahh, so Megumin encountered the same thing as me.
“And…… well… I wanted to ask Aqua to protect me… I wanted to ask her to take me… to the ladies…”
“… So you too…”
Hearing what I said, Megumin seemed to realize I was in the same boat as her.
“Kazuma was chased around by dolls too? I think Aqua and Darkness went out to exorcise the spirits.”
“… Aqua aside, even Darkness… Ahh, that girl is a crusader.”
Darkness might have acted that way, but her job was still a crusader. Crusaders were holy knights that follow the will of the gods; devoted believers.
They might not be at the level of priests, but they should be able to invoke the holy powers.
I didn’t think the muscle headed Darkness would learn magic skills, but she should have been able to do something like offering prayers to gods.
But that meant Megumin and my situation had gotten worse.
As it was too sudden, things like weapons had been left in my room.
Megumin didn’t have her staff either.
Using explosion magic indoors without her staff would be devastating.
As I was troubling over what to do, Megumin seemed to realized something and said:
“Kazuma, the noise outside the door seemed to have stopped. Maybe the dolls are not there anymore?”
Ah, now that she mentioned it, I noticed that the sound had stopped.
But frankly speaking, I didn’t dare to open the door.
Aqua could purify a lich easily, so she would not be taken down by a doll.
If that was the case, we could only defend this room until Aqua and Darkness exorcised all the spirits in the mansion.
–But there was another problem.
“Nah, Megumin, please face the door and cover your ears. Excuse me, but I am going to relieve myself at the balcony…”
I slowly undo the belt on my trousers, in order to settle my biological problem, I walked towards the balcony…
At this point.
Megumin grabbed the belt of my trousers from behind, not letting me go.
“Hey, what are you doing, release me, or my trousers and the carpet in this room would be ruined!”
“I won’t let you go! How could I let you relieve yourself! Aren’t we comrades?! Whether it’s the toilet or anywhere, we will go together…!”
Megumin said with a serene smile…
“Stop that you! Why are picking this moment to talk about being comrades! Didn’t you say people of the Crimson magic race don’t need to use the washroom?! How about… look, there is an empty wine bottle there, just use that!”
“You seem to have said something incredible! What do you want me to use that empty bottle to do!? I won’t let you get your way! I can at least guard Kazuma’s back while you pee… that’s why, let’s use the bottle together…”
I felt something wrong when Megumin’s voice became softer, and looked at her.
I found her staring intensely at the balcony window.
…I looked over there with a foreboding feeling.
Was this unexpected, or was this just as expected.
A large number of dolls were pressing against the window and looking our way.
“Ahhhhhhh!” x2
Megumin and I screamed at the same time and charged out of the room.
Part 9
“Boohoo… Kazuma, are you there? Don’t leave me okay?”
“I’m here, of course I’m here, I won’t leave you even if the doll comes out, so hurry up.”
After dashing madly along the corridor, we hid in a toilet in the vicinity.
Our bodies had reached their limits.
After I finished, I waited by the door for Megumin.
Maybe she was worried about me leaving her behind, she kept talking since a while ago.
“…Erm, Kazuma, it’s a bit embarrassing to go to the ladies like this, could you sing a song loudly or something?”
“Why do I have do something so embarrassing like sing a song in front of the toilet! And we will encounter the same thing if we camp outside or visit a dungeon, what would you do then?!”
Although I retorted Megumin, I was actually feeling quite awkward too, so I sang a song to smoothen the atmosphere.
Speaking of songs, I actually only know Japanese songs, so I just randomly hummed an capella.
“… Ermm, you can stop now, Kazuma. That was a weird song, I had never heard of this melody before. I have always wanted to ask, where are you from, Kazuma?”
“I came from a wonderful nation that has the custom of singing before the toilet in the middle of the night, called Japan. Since you are done then come on, let’s link up with Aqua and Darkness.”
Megumin quietly followed behind me after I casually answered.
Anyway, right now Megumin and I were helpless before the evil spirits.
So we had to link up with Aqua’s group as soon as possible.
— And then.
As Megumin and I made our way to the corridor from the toilet…
Clank– clank– clank– clank–
When I heard this sound, I shrunk my body.
Megumin beside me grabbed my sleeve and drew near while trembling.
How scary, dolls were scary.
The doll probably wouldn’t kill us, but if you thought about it, being chased by human shaped dolls wearing western style dresses in the middle of the night was horrifying.
The shivering Megumin moved her hands from my sleeve, pointed both hands to the front and was mumbling something…!
“Hey, what are you planning to chant! Are you planning to blow the whole house away?!”
I covered the mouth of Megumin who was chanting explosion magic out of fear. I pushed my entire body onto her to stop her from moving.
— Before we realized it, that clanking sound before the door had stopped.
Megumin grabbed my hand with trembling hands and looked up at me.
Damn it, I had to make a stand!
“Megumin, charge out after the door is open. I just learned ‘Drain touch’, so I can absorb some mana from the dolls! Even if the dolls attack me, I wouldn’t die from that!”
Megumin whose mouth was covered by me nodded after hearing my shout.
“Come at me bro! If you have the guts then do it, evil spirits! My mad dog goddess will teach you a lesson later ahhh!”
I shouted and knocked the door open. Bang! Something collided with the opening door.
That’s great, the dolls that might chase us were sent flying from that blow!
I pulled Megumin’s hand and dash out of the door, planning to break through in one go…!
“Aqua! Hey Aqua, are you okay!”
As I was planning to run, I turned stiff. Before the door was Aqua who was squatting down, nursing her face, and Darkness who called out to Aqua.
Part 10
“Yes, no more problems. There were plenty of evil spirits here. In the end, I worked until daybreak.”
After Aqua purified the last spirit possessing the dolls, she said while looking outside the window which was turning bright.
Even an expert in fighting undead like her took an entire night to dispose of all the spirits in this mansion.
“Hmm, I think we should report this to the guild. Although we didn’t take on this quest in the guild, this is a job for adventurers anyway. We might get some unexpected bounty for exorcising all the spirits in this mansion. I also want to know why are there so many spirits turning up in town suddenly.”
Everyone agreed with Darkness.
I asked Darkness and Megumin to stay in the mansion to tidy up the place, and head to the guild with Aqua to report to the guild.
On the way there, Aqua and I discussed about exorcising the undead from the house.
“Speaking of which, where was the illegitimate child you mentioned? Didn’t you say the spirits won’t harm us?”
Aqua hit her fist onto her palm, as if she just thought of something.
“Ahh! That child was present too! Don’t worry, this incident was done by the wild spirits from other places. But I think the one who drank my high class wine was that illegitimate child of that noble! Nah, Kazuma, the wine that was drank, could we bill it under necessary expenses…”
I ignored Aqua and extended a hand to open the door into the guild.
“Good morning. It’s a bit early, but I have something to report, is it convenient?”
It was really early, but the receptionist onee-san was already working.
“No problem, may I ask what is it?”
Aqua and I explained to her how we took a request from the property agent and went to subjugate the evil spirits in the mansion. The receptionist onee-san took a look at Aqua’s adventurer’s card and nodded.
By the way, the adventurer’s card seemed to record information and the number of monsters you defeat.
“There are many who are seeking help due to the spread of the evil spirits. Since you have successfully repelled the monsters, we should give you some bounty rewards. Thank you for your hard work.”
After listening to her, Aqua and I quietly made a victory pose.
The receptionist onee-san continued.
“Sorry for taking your time, but we have found out why the evil spirits were wandering around; here is the report. There is a public cemetery in Axel town right? I don’t know who played a prank, creating a giant holy barrier on that cemetery. The spirits in the cemetery had nowhere to go, so they had to go to town and haunt houses where no one was living in…”
— Aqua’s body shook for a moment and stiffened.
……
“Excuse me for a moment.”
I interrupted the onee-san and pulled Aqua to a corner of the guild.
“Hey, you have some clue right? Tell me!”
“… Yes. Didn’t Wiz asked me to periodically visit the cemetery to send the lost spirits to the other world? But going there every now and then is a real hassle right? So I thought if I chase all the spirits in the cemetery away and let them wander around, they will dissipate naturally over time…”
Aqua seemed to have given up struggling, revealing the truth honestly.
Which meant that because of this girl’s laziness, the spirits had nowhere to go and came to town.
… How absurd. That didn’t make sense no matter how you thought about it.
“… We won’t claim the reward from the guild, understood?”
“… Yes.”
Aqua nodded guiltily.
“After this, we will head over to the property estate and apologize, since what we did was just like a fraud.”
“…… Yes. I am very sorry.”
After leaving the guild, we decided to go to the real estate shop next…
But I thought we should inform Darkness and Megumin first, so we returned to the mansion and informed the real estate agent who was there.
“Ara ara, I was worried and came to take a look. I didn’t expect all the evil spirits to be exorcised!”
Seeing the smiling face of that man and knowing how worried he was about us, I couldn’t stand it anymore.
Aqua and I started to explain what happened, and was planning to return the house to that man after finishing the exorcism.
… But.
“I see… But if it is possible, could you please stay here from now on? This house is too big, and there are more evil spirits here than other places, so it has a bad reputation…”
“We are very sorry!” x2
Aqua and I fell on our knees and placed our foreheads onto the ground. The man said in a panic:
“Ahh, it’s fine it’s fine! Please raise your head. Well then, it’s settled– all of you will stay here for now. To dispose of so many spirits proves that you are powerful adventurers. Providing support for adventurers are the obligations of the citizens in this town. And if you continue to live here, the bad reputation of the mansion would gradually fade away…”
In the face of that man’s generous suggestion, Aqua and I bowed again.
“Ahh, enough, stop doing that!”
Part 11
There were two conditions for living in this mansion.
Both of them were a bit strange…
“After finishing your adventures, or when eating dinner, you have to chat about your adventures with your companions… That is a strange condition, but it’s not very hard.”
I muttered to myself as I squatted in the courtyard of the mansion.
That man made some strange request.
The other condition was–
“Kazuma-san, morning! Are you cleaning the tomb?”
As I was squatting near the tomb clearing the grass, I could hear someone talking to me from behind.
I turned back and saw Wiz who looked much better than yesterday.
“Are you alright? Sorry about yesterday, that idiot gave you so much trouble.”
“Don’t worry, or rather, it’s great it had been settled this way. She will definitely not be lonely now.”
Wiz said something I don’t understand as she smiled at me.
The other condition for living here was– cleaning the small tomb at the corner of the courtyard.
And so, I started weeding the courtyard immediately.
For some reasons, Wiz looked very happy seeing me working hard at weeding.
When I was about to invite her in for a seat, Wiz said she needed to tend to her shop and left after bidding me farewell.
Why did Wiz come here for?
Was she worried about us and came to take a look?
I poured water over the tomb stone and cleaned it.
While doing so, I could made out some vague words on the tomb stone.
This must be the name of the person who was resting here.
It was unclear, but I could see the word ‘Anna’.
— Anna… Anna?
Who was that? I think I heard it somewhere recently…
As I was thinking about it before the tomb stone, a shout came from the mansion.
“Kazuma! Lunch is ready, come quick! If you don’t come over now, your food will get cold!”
It was Aqua who was sticking her head out from the window of the mansion, waving and shouting at us.
“I know, wait a moment, I will be right there!”
After answering, I used the cloth to wipe the tombstone, cleaning it.
The tombstone displayed the name ‘Anna Filante Asteroid’ prominently.
I definitely heard this name somewhere…
“Kazuma! Megumin says that for every minute you are late, there will be one less piece of fried meat! Take your time, you don’t need to hurry, our lunch would be more bountiful that way.”
“Wait for me, how could I let you brutes do that?!”
I finished up cleaning the tomb stone and ran towards the mansion.