After walking for a while, we soon made it in front of the Axis Church. It's a beautiful building perching at the foot of a cliff. Some water flows out at the side of it, giving it the look and feel of the Church of a Water Goddess.
"You know, I think this'll work, I mean, just look at this," I gestured at the architecture beauty that is the Axis Church. "All Axis cultist are blessed with an amazing sense of arts and crafts, if we advertise it correctly, their products would be a massive hit. Their architects will be searched for by lots and lots of people."
"I'd imagine the Axis Cultist would refuse to make anything that has nothing to do with Aqua,"
"Yeah we're here to fix that, remember?"
We were about to step into the church when we heard a bunch of suspicious voices coming from a distance. It is the moaning of a woman, the laughter of a bunch of children, and a clanking sound. I don't know what kind of scenario would create these particular noises, but here it is.
Megumin and I stared blankly at Darkness and Chris. They're both crouching on the corner being thrown rocks by children. It seems that the rocks only hits Darkness, with the rocks tried to be thrown at Chris either misses completely or blocked by Darkness.
I wanted to do something about this, but getting caught helping an Eris Sect is the last thing we need right now. "Oi, kids, don't get close to them!" I told the children and they started running away from the two. When I'm sure they're gone I walked closer to the two.
"Chris, you alright?" I asked the goddess in disguise, not at all caring about the pervert beside her.
The goddess turned around and just looked at me with a small smile on her face. "Kazuma kun, tell Aqua to meet me in my room tonight, okay?"
"Yeah, okay…"
---
A priest wearing a blue uniform welcomed us the moment we stepped into the church. She walked towards me with a playful smile on her face.
I think it's Cecily, the priest with a screw loose from Megumin's memory.
"How may I assist you? The leading priest Zesta-sama and the other cultists are playing, I mean, busy spreading the holy name of Aqua-sama. If you're looking for them, please come another day…"
I decided that we really do not want to deal with them today…
"We're looking for an archpriest with bright blue hair, she's my teammate."
"Oh, so you're a teammate of that great person," she gestured at a small wooden room at the corner of the church. It is obviously a confession room. I told Megumin to wait outside while I walked into the room.
It's a tiny and cramped room. The wood seems to be enchanted with soundproof enchantment. The curtain separating us has a silhouette of Aqua sitting behind it. I don't know if she can recognize me here though.
Though, I couldn't help but think that Aqua giving people life advice as simply ridiculous. But I decided to let her have her fun for now.
"Welcome, lost sheep… Come, confess your sins, the goddess will listen to you and grant you compassion…"
Confess huh?
I looked down in deep thought and think back to the day where I first came here. I smiled a little at the silly feelings I had for the goddess and… I guess, just in case anything happens, I have to confess to her now.
"Well, I do have a confession to make…" I can almost see her surprised expression after hearing my voice. "It's about an Archpriest in my party, we've known each other for a long time. Even longer than any of my teammates."
"At first, I thought of her as nothing but a stupid and useless girl with no talent. I tried not to depend myself on her, fully intent on just solo leveling until I can take care of myself,"
I can hear her huffing in anger behind the curtain.
"But the girl, she kinda proved me wrong you know? Sure she's stupid, she's a debt magnet, and trouble just follows her wherever she goes…"
"But then, I realized something… When I saw her purify those spirits in the graveyard, when she revived me from the death, when she glows brighter than even the brightest star on that stage… I was wrong, I was so wrong, it's ironic considering I'm supposed to be smartest where I come from."
"That girl is a genius, where other people struggles, she glows the brightest. From the littlest things when she absentmindedly made herself a masterpiece, when she brought joy and relief to the wary adventurers after a long day, when she healed others and bring hope to those who has lost them…"
"That girl, she's important. Not just to me, but to everyone else, to all the people who loves her, to people who are going back from a life threatening mission, hoping to see her welcoming smile and her healing magic."
"I… I don't want to lose her… Even if I'm surrounded by other people who loves me and cares about me, I am not giving up on her for anything. Even when facing an impossible odds…. I just can't give up. For her sake…"
"To be honest… If, that accident where I died the first time didn't happen… I might've, you know, confessed to her… I know she will immediately reject, calling me a perv… And I know we're not meant to be together… But now, I'm just so scared of failing my mission and losing her without telling this to her…"
"Ne, goddess sama… I pray to you today to give me strength, to give me power, to help me overcome this great disaster and put an end to all these nonsense… Will you, answer my prayer?"
There was a moment of silence. Then, a flash of light burst forth from the curtain followed by a voice. "Yes… your, your prayer has been answered… Th-thank you, for your confession…"
I stepped out of the confession room, satisfied. I mean, it is called a confession room right? Then I will just have to confess. It's that easy.
"Come on Megumin," I said to my girlfriend who's been waiting for me outside the room. She looked at me with a small smile on her face as she stroked Liz perching on her shoulder. "What is it?"
"No, nothing," Megumin replied simply.
"You've been listening haven't you?"
"Yep, as expected of the perverted hero, lusting after a goddess."
"I'm not lusting after her, goddess doesn't have a sex drive remember?"
"Really?"
"Well, not directly, a man won't find Aqua herself being sexually attractive, but they might find a picture of her or a person cosplaying as her as erotic, you know what I mean?"
"Huh, I never knew that… But that kinda explains why you never make any indecent moves on her…"
---
"Ah, hello Kazuma, Megumin, welcome back,"
Wiz greeted us the moment we stepped into the inn. She has a towel on her hand as she wiped some water off her hair.
"Hello Wiz," I sat down on the sofa in front of her and sighed a little. "Has everyone else returned?"
Wiz shook her head. "No, you're the first to return, but I'm not sure, I was just from the bath," she smiled a little. "The mixed bath was empty and it was very large, it felt like having my own personal hot springs…"
Something crawled on to my lap. I looked down and saw Liz already making herself comfortable. Then, Megumin leaned on to my shoulder before she too, fell on my lap.
"And this is…"
"Your girlfriend demands a pillow lap and proper cuddling after the hell you've put her through,"
"Yeah, yeah," I gently stroked Megumin's head and pet Liz who's also seeking attention. In front of me, Wiz just giggled as she gazed warmly at the scene before her. "Like what you see?"
Wiz nodded in response. "Yes, it's heartwarming," she looked away with a reminiscing look on her face. "You both remind me of them… My old teammates…"
You know, I never know the reason why Wiz became a Demon King General. She's a kindhearted lady who wouldn't dare to hurt a fly. Since our first encounter she's so meek and shy that she became the subject of bullying of Aqua and Vanir.
I wanted to ask her about her motive to join the Demon King when the door behind us opened.
Taylor stepped inside the hotel, his expression is that of a soldier who just return from a great war. Keith followed closely behind him, shivering in fear and whispering something to himself. Yunyun stood beside him, her hollow eyes looked at us as she dragged her feet across the floor.
"Welcome back Taylor!" he turned towards me with a blank look on his face "Uhh, good work! You know what? I changed my mind about the payment for Dust thing, I'll pay you back after this is over, okay?"
Taylor said nothing, he just grabbed Keith by the shoulder and led him towards the public bath. Yunyun didn't follow them, instead walking towards Wiz and sat next to her.
"Welcome back Yunyun," the caring Lich gently pulled Yunyun into her embrace. "It's alright, it's okay…" Yunyun broke into tears and began crying on Wiz's shoulder. "There, there…"
"I'm sorry Yunyun," I heard Megumin whisper telepathically in my mind.
Soon enough, Chris and Darkness returned from their journey. They're both in a much better condition than I initially expected. Chris has an annoyed look on her face, Darkness has that look of bliss on her face.
"Aah… Finally!" Chris exclaimed in exhaustion. "Kazuma, can you get room service to get us some food? Those stupid cultist kept trying to feed us dog food," she said before walking upstairs before sitting on the meeting/dining table.
"What would you like Chris?"
Chris smirked in response. "Give me something expensive, Mr. Billionaire…" she then turn to Darkness. "What about you Darkness? What would you like?"
Darkness looked down a little. "W-well… Dog food is alright…" she muttered with a blush.
"Sure, I'll see if they serve crabs around here."
Soon enough, Dust and Lynn returned from their journey. They both has a relieved look on their faces as they stepped into the hotel. But no sign of being traumatized because of the necklace they wore.
"Welcome back, Dust, Lynn," I greeted them. "How was your date?"
They both blushed a little after hearing that.
"Wh-what are you talking about sensei!?"
"Yeah, we're not dating!"
I just chuckled at their blatant lies. "Sure, sure, you hungry? I just ordered some food."
"It's okay senpai/sensei."
They went straight to the dining table and sat in front of Chris and Darkness. "Are you alright, Chris? Darkness senpai?" Lynn asked in concern.
Chris waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry, most cultist avoided us, they didn't actively antagonized us. Well, the children threw stones at us, but uhh… I mean, it's okay, really," she said.
"I think I'm going to go out for a walk again tomorrow…" Darkness said.
Dust sighed a little after hearing that. "I honestly thought they would hunt you down with Torches and Pitchforks…"
Soon enough, the last person and the main culprit of all this suffering finally arrived. The goddess of Water Aqua walked towards us with a strangely melancholic look on her face. "Good evening, I'm back," she said before sitting next to me.
"Welcome back Aqua," I smiled at her. "So, how was it? Did you have fun at the church?"
Aqua nodded a little. "Yes, it felt nice listening to my worshipper's problems and answering their worries…" her words then faltered a little. She began to speak, though barely audible. "Ano… Kazuma… Do you, do you mean it? In that confession room…"
"You don't mind, don't you? I just thought that it's confession room I think it's fitting if I, you know, confess…"
"Thank you, Kazuma kun…"
"By the way, Chris is looking for you," I pointed at the thief who's staring at Aqua with an unreadable expression on her face. "She said she has something to say to you, in her room."
Aqua tilted her head a little in confusion. "Chris?" she stood up from her position and walked towards the thief. "Hello Chris, is there something you need from the great Aqua sama?"
Chris looked at her flatly. "Yes, Aqua sama, there's something I would love to talk about," she stood up and started dragging Aqua upstairs. "Don't worry, this won't take long."
Yeah, Eris just lose her patience there…