Part 7
A week after the demon king army attack incident was resolved peacefully.
"I want to take a quest! It's fine even if it is a bit hard, let's take a quest!"
"Huh…" x2
Megumin and I expressed our displeasure when we heard Aqua say that.
Except for Aqua, our wallets were very full.
And there were only high difficulty quests left, I don't want to go out of my way to take these jobs.
"I am fine with it… but it's not enough with the firepower of me and Megumin…"
Darkness glanced at Megumin and me while saying this.
Even if you look at us, Megumin and I had no reason to force ourselves to take a dangerous quest.
Looking at how disinterested we were, Aqua cried out loud.
"Please I beg you–! I don't want to work anymore! The store owner gets mad if I don't sell all the croquette! I will work hard! I will do my best this time–!"
Megumin and I looked at each other.
"Alright then… then take a look and see if there is any quest that looks fine. We will go with you if the quest isn't too bad."
Aqua rushed to the bulletin board after hearing us say that.
"… Kazuma, shouldn't you take a look too? If you leave it to Aqua, she will probably pick an incredible quest…"
"… You are correct. But I won't complain even if the quest is a bit hard…"
After listening to Megumin and Darkness' comment, I had an ominous feeling.
I came to the bulletin board, and stood behind Aqua who was thinking about which quest to pick.
Aqua didn't realize I was behind her and browsed the quest seriously.
Finally, she tore a paper from the board.
"… Good."
"Good your head! What quest are you taking!"
I snatched the client request from Aqua's hand.
'– Hunting manticore and Griffon– manticore are fighting for territory. It is dangerous to leave them alone, please hunt both of them. Bounty is 500,000 Eris.'
"You idiot!"
I shouted as I returned it to the bulletin board.
It was right to follow her. I was almost dragged down by her to take on an incredibly dangerous quest.
"What, we just need to let Megumin give them an explosion while they are together to settle it in one shot. Why are you so timid…"
This fellow was planning to let me take on the task of getting these two dangerous monster to gather at the same spot.
How about taking this quest and letting her do it alone. As I was thinking it over, Aqua tugged my sleeve excitedly.
"This one! Look at this one!"
Listening to what Aqua said, I took a look at the request form she was pointing at.
'– Lake purification–The lake which was one of the water sources for the town had been polluted. Brutal alligators had moved into the lake. Request for someone to purify the lake. The monsters in the lake will leave after purifying the lake, there is no need to fight the monsters *Requirement: Priest with purification magic. Reward is 300,000 Eris.'
"… You can purify the lake?"
Aqua snorted and said.
"Idiot, who do you think I am? From my name and appearance, you should be able to tell what portfolio I had as a goddess right?"
"Aren't you the goddess of banquets?"
"As if you HikiNEET! I am the goddess of water alright! Didn't you see my beautiful blue eyes and hair?"
I see.
Earning 300,000 by just purifying the water, it's a great deal.
Not needing to fight meant it was worth it.
"Let's take this one. Or rather, wouldn't you alone suffice if it is just purifying the water? You can hog all the rewards this way right?"
But Aqua didn't agree with me.
"Well… I think the monsters will harass me while I am purifying the water right? Before I finish the purification, I hope you all can protect me from the monsters."
So that's the plan.
But from the name brutal alligator, isn't it an alligator type monster?
That sounds dangerous…
"By the way, how long would the purification take? 5 minutes or so?"
If it was just a short while, we could wing it with Megumin's explosion magic.
Aqua tilted her head and said:
"… About half a day?"
"That's too long!"
Fending off monsters with such a dangerous name, who would want to do that.
As I was planning to put the bulletin back…
"Ahh! Please, I beg of you–! There is no other quest that is as good! Please help me Kazuma-san–!"
I was planning to stick the paper back on the bulletin board, but Aqua entangled my right hand and begged me for help. Looking at her, I thought of an idea.
"… Nah, how does the purification process work?"
"… Hmm? To purify the water, I just need to touch the water with my hand and continuously cast purification magic…"
I see, she needs to touch the water.
I had an idea, but that way…
… No, wait.
"Hey Aqua. I think there is a way to purify the water safely, you want to give it a try?"
Part 8
There was a large lake some distance from town.
This lake was one of the water source of the town, there was a stream flowing out of it straight into town.
The lake was besides a mountain, and water flowed endlessly down from it into the lake.
I got it now.
As stated in the request, the lake waters appeared a bit murky and showed signs of stagnation.
I thought monsters prefer clean water, so that wasn't true.
As I looked over the lake, I heard a timid voice behind me.
"… Nah… Are we really going to do it this way?"
Aqua sounded really uneasy.
My plan was flawless, what is there to worry about?
Aqua spoke:
"… I felt like a captured rare monster that is going to be sold…"
… The rare monster was locked in a steel cage, hugging her knees in the center as she spoke.
I plan to throw Aqua along with the cage into the lake.
In the beginning, I was planning to let her stay inside the cage some distance away from the cage. But since purification required contact with the waters, the plan had evolved into this.
As the goddess of water, Aqua could stay in the bottom of the lake for an entire day without breathing and won't be uncomfortable.
From what she claimed, even without purification magic, there would be purification effects just by immersing Aqua into the lake.
That was her godly nature. No matter how lousy of a goddess she was, it was still impressive.
Darkness and I had already moved Aqua's cage to the side of the lake.
It was a steel cage, an equipment we loaned from the guild.
As some of the request include capturing monsters, these items were meant for such quests.
We didn't come here to throw the useless goddess into the lake, so we don't need to carry it too far.
We just need to put it by the lake so Aqua could come into contact with the water.
This way, she would be fine even if the brutal alligators attacked her while she was purifying the waters.
It was a cage meant to transport captured monsters anyway, it should be able to keep Aqua who was inside safe.
I heard from the guild staff that the monsters would leave the lake after purification was completed. But just in case they refuse to leave Aqua after that, we attached a strong chain to the cage.
Because the cage was heavy, we dragged it here using the horse we borrowed from town.
In the event of an emergency, I intend to use the horse to drag the cage to escape.
The cage had been lowered into the edge of the lake, soaking Aqua's feet and buttocks in water.
Next would be maintaining the current situation as the 3 of us wait in the distance. Aqua hugged her knees and said softly:
"… I feel like a tea bag being drained of its flavor…"