Part 7
Aqua chanted every line of her spell clearly.
The great arch wizard placed his 'hand' on the 'hand' of the lady lying on the bed.
Aqua said that lady had no regrets and had moved on.
Although the magic circle just need to fit in Keele alone. But because Aqua was really into it, the circle not only encompassed the bones of the lady, but the entire room as well.
Keele was heavily injured in a fight to protect the lady. In order to guard her till the very end, he abandoned his humanity and became a lich.
It might be wrong to say this, but I felt that turning into a lich that way was really cool.
Maybe after seeing Aqua bully Wiz earlier, I felt this lich here was really manly.
After becoming the concubine of the king, the lady didn't have many chance to go outside. She was suddenly the enemy of the state and toured the entire world to escape capture, and spent the last moment of her life in this dungeon.
Despite the lack of freedom while on the run, she didn't had any complaints, and smiled happily instead– That's what Keele said.
"Did I made her happy?"– He asked himself.
"Ara, that's a big help. A lich can't do something as ridiculous as suicide after all. I was waiting for my end quietly here when I felt a powerful holy aura. So I woke from my long slumber."
In the gentle magic circle that covered the entire room, Keele said amidst laughter.
Aqua finally finished her chanting.
And using a gentle expression I had never seen before, she smiled at Keele.
… Just who was she.
As I was wondering if I saw it wrong, Aqua said gently to Keele.
"Arch wizard Keele, you forsake the laws of the god and became a lich by your own conviction. In the name of the goddess of water Aqua, I absolve you of your sin… When you wake up, you will be before a goddess with unnaturally large breasts named Eris. If you don't mind the age difference between you and the one you love, or if your relations are not between a man and a woman, and if you wish to meet her no matter what form it may be in… You can try asking Eris. She will make your wish come true."
Who the hell was she, to say something so proper.
As I was feeling uneasy about Aqua's uncharacteristic behaviour, Keele bowed his head deeply in the room illuminated by light.
"Sacred turn undead!"
— The light dissipated, and the room was enveloped by darkness once again.
That lich and the remains of that lady (for some reason) had disappeared without a trace.
Aqua and I were silent in the heavy atmosphere.
I slowly told her:
"… Let's go back."
Part 8
On the way back to the surface, I kept talking to quiet Aqua despite the darkness and the risk of being discovered by monsters.
"Nah, will that undead meet the lady again?"
"… Who knows. Eris will probably do something about it?"
Aqua replied coldly, so I could only acknowledge with a soft voice.
After that, I tried to squeeze out a bright voice to change the topic.
"Anyway, that lich was a nice guy. Using 'money is useless to me' as a reason, he gave all of his fortune to us. I don't know how much it is worth, let's split it equally when we get back to town."
Aqua's shoulders suddenly shuddered.
"… That's right. We have to use this money properly for his sake too."
Aqua's voice was louder than before, and more energetic too.
...
In order to lighten the mood further, I decided to ask the question I was saving for when she regained her vigor after reaching the surface.
"Nah, Aqua, that guy did say this before."
"…What?"
Aqua was still a bit depressed.
"… That person. He said he woke up after sensing a powerful holy aura. Could it be the reason we encountered so many undead monsters in this dungeon, was because of you?"
"!?"
After hearing my question, Aqua turned stiff.
In the end, she squeezed out a sentence:
"I I I think… It shouldn't be… Probably?"
She gave a rather vague answer.
"… When the Dullahan attacked, his undead knights seemed to like attacking you very much."
"!?"
Aqua shivered again. I quietly pulled away from her.
Seeing me pull away, she kept drawing near.
"Nah, Kazuma, you can't stay too far from me alright? To guard against monster attacks, don't you think we should be closer? Al, also, with Kazuma's half baked night vision, you won't be able to see the exit I marked with my chalk!"
Hearing Aqua said that, I made a regrettable expression for an instance.
"Hehehe, that's how it is! Leaving me behind here, no way! In this situation, we are ants on the same rope… Wrong, without knowing the way back and sticking with me who could fight the undead, Kazuma wouldn't be able to return by himself! The situation is in my favor! If Kazuma understands the situation now, address me as Aqua-sama from now on, and spread word of my elegant performance in the dungeon to the peoples in town…!"
As Aqua was shouting.
From the darkness of the dungeon, the howl of a beast could be heard.
It was probably attracted by Aqua's voice.
After confirming with detect enemy, I sensed something charging this way.
"..."
I lean against the wall silently, activating my skill to blend into the darkness.
"Hey, wait Kazuma! Wait!? Don't abandon me! Sorry, I'm sorry, it's all my fault! I will apologize, so let me hide too! Please Kazuma! I beg you, Kazuma-sama!!"
Part 9
"… I can guess what probably happened, but allow me to ask anyway. 'What the hell happened'?"
That's the first thing Megumin said to us at the log-house.
"Wahhhh! Kazuma he! Kazuma he wahhhh!"
She stroke the head of Aqua who was sobbing behind me and consoled her.
"Don't blame me, it's the fault of your body traits to attract the undead! You didn't even reflect on it when we were returning! I am taking back the high evaluation I gave you earlier!"
But but– my holy body trait is just the way I am, I can't help it! What do you expect! Drop my holy aura to the same level as a HikiNEET like Kazuma!? If that really happens, the whole world's Axis devotees would cry…!"
"You are not reflecting at all! Go visit the dungeon and find back the treasures the lich and lady gave us. And learn something from those two! Let them teach you how to live properly!"
"You HikiNEET, asking a goddess to learn from a lich!"
I pushed Aqua who wanted to strangle me aside. At this time, Darkness asked:
"… The lich and the lady?"
I fend off the wailing Aqua who was attacking me as I explained the gist of our trip.
"From what Aqua said, that lady had no regrets and passed on perfectly. What was the hard life on the run to her? That lich was still wondering if he gifted the lady happiness. But from the way I see it, she was undoubtedly blessed."
Hearing my casual comment–
"… Of course she was happy, it's obvious that she was blessed. I dare say her life on the run was one of the happiest times of her life."
Darkness said something that seemed to have hidden meanings, and squeezed out a smile that had a hint of loneliness.