"This should be everything." Selena sighed, looking through the papers. "It's the first incident of this caliber in a while. Please come back tomorrow for payment, for now, I still have a lot to do alongside the guild."
"Got it, I'll take Alice back home and come back tomorrow." Liam looked at Alice who was still unconscious on the bench even though the healers already healed the wound on her head. What happened there, did they all go in to fight the boss and die? Only she was left alive? Liam could remember seeing Jamile and several other adventurers' corpses scattered around the boss's arena, as well as some traces of great magic similar to what that old man Gatom could use.
Why would a wizard like him fight to the death? I bet he could've teleported away, no, I can pretty much guess. The only reason wizards could throw their lives. Liam's face twisted in rage, but he took a deep breath and sighed. He looked at Selena, "What do you know about the gods?"
"I know what everyone knows. There are several gods that bless people who believe in them." She replied.
"That old wizard Gatom, was he a believer of the goddess of magic?" Liam asked.
"Yeah, aren't most wizards like that?" She looked at him, "AH! I got it; if you want to offer his soul some salvation, you can leave an offering at the magic goddess altar in the church."
"Thank you. I'll see to that." Liam smiled. Like hell I would, I want to go piss on her alter, that leech. But, I'm indeed too weak now. I'll deal with the gods after finding the hero and the cult trying to resurrect me. Yeah, those take priority, as long as I don't get resurrected, they won't find who I am.
"Is that you, Liam from the supply team?" A woman's voice came from behind him, and he turned only to see the guild's butcher. She smiled, "My name is Tina. I worked with you as a butcher. Remember saving me from the ground shark's corpse?"
"I do remember you. What do you want?" Liam looked at her.
"We'll finish cutting the monsters tonight, but instead of picking your reward tomorrow morning, could you come in the evening?"
"Why is that?"
"We'd like to send the dead share to their families first. We hope it might be of some relief."
"I don't mind. See you tomorrow then." Liam replied as he approached Alice and carried her.
"Take care." Tina waved her hand. "And, I know that seeing so much death could do more harm than appears to the eye. The church's doors are always open to consultation."
Liam stopped and glared back at her. "Death is a natural thing; I need to church bugging my head with their crap. They can't bring the dead back."
"But, most people can take seeing so many deaths, it hurts them here." She tapped her head. "That's a good place to come to terms with death."
"Feeling good about it is harmful. Don't tell me that man is happy in the afterlife; tell me how I should prevent the next man from dying." Liam walked out of the church before they could get him angrier.
Just as he was about to reach their house, Alice seemed to be waking up in his arms. "Where am I?" She mumbled.
"Found you unconscious in the boss's room. It's a long story, but he was already dead when I arrived." Liam replied, hiding the fact that there was a second boss that he killed.
"Is… that so?" She could feel her head throbbing and her whole body screaming in pain. She seems to have been healed, but the toll of the battle still sat on her body. And what was most important, both she and Liam were drenched in demon blood and guts.
"We need a bath first…" She wiggled, trying to get Liam to put her down.
"You think you can walk?" He looked at her with a smile.
"Yeah. It's embarrassing to have you carry me…" She looked back, "Wait! You walked through the whole city with me like this?" She gasped.
Liam smiled, "Of course I did."
"Put me down." She struggled harder until he let her down, she tried to stand, but her legs gave up and she started falling down. Liam immediately caught her with a smile, "See, you can't stand on your own. The healers said your whole body was exhausted due to the life magic they used to heal you."
Alice looked at him. I should be able to withstand normal healing magic… but I guess putting myself through a lot of stress against that demon is the reason for this exhaustion. She remembered how she kept regenerating from the demon's slashes and fire, all while unleashing a lot of powerful magic.
Liam carried her into the house and stopped at the bath's door. "You'll go in first, I'll heat some water for you." He sat her in the changing room and went outside, grabbed several buckets of water, and heated them with [Fire Magic]
He went back to the bath and filled it with hot water for Alice, and then went to her in the changing room. "Do you need me to help you strip?" He looked at her with a grin.
"I'll do it myself." Growled, looking away.
Liam left her to take a bath as he went upstairs to get rid of his blood-soaked clothes and find something to eat. Alice tried to stand from her seat, but she could barely move by leaning on the wall. She ended up taking her clothes up while lying on the cold ground and then crawled to the bath to wash. This wasn't the first time she was this exhausted after a fight, but she never got used to it.
As she kept moving after getting exhausted too much, her body kept getting heavier and heavier as she took her bath, and as Liam was in the kitchen trying to munch on some carrots like a rabbit, he heard a loud noise and gargling from the bath.
He sighed and rushed in, finding she had fallen face-first into the large tub of water he filled for her, and was drowning while unable to even struggle. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her out. She gasped for air, but her whole body was limp, not a single muscle wanted to move.
After taking several deep breaths and coughing the water she breathed, Alice stared at Liam who carried her while she was naked. "Put me down! And stop looking!"
Liam lifted an eyebrow, "You better calm down. You almost died here,"
"That and this are different matters!" She cried.
Liam flicked her nose, "Calm down." And then did it several times until she cried, "I get it! I calmed down, stop, my nose!"
"I'll finish bathing you and take you upstairs to rest. I'll be too dangerous to leave you alone here." He sat her down and went to the changing room to take most of his clothes off. He didn't want them to get wet.
As he walked back in, he saw her look away with a red face. "You'll have to be content with me now. We don't have anyone else here." He started rubbing her back. "If we got another companion, you'll be able to rely on her for those things."
"I know…" She mumbled.
After finishing her bath, Liam carried her to the changing room where he started pulling her clothes.
"I can wear them myself." She gasped, seeing him pull her underwear.
He stared at her, dangling her bra in front of her. "Say that again?"
"Sorry, I can't…." She knew well that she couldn't move a muscle.
After clothing her, Liam carried her and went to the kitchen, where he gave her a mug of milk to drink before he carried her to her room and laid her on the bed. "Take a nap. I'll go take a bath and prepare us something decent to eat."
In a faraway land, a man growled, walking away from his throne. "The demonic shrine crumbled days after being sat, who could've done it? I'm certain that was going to burst and give us a safe base in the central continent." He scratched his head, his long black claw hitting his three obsidian horns.
"Demon Lord Oni," A ten-foot-tall purple-skinned woman with one horn on her forehead approached him. "The report says the whole adventurer squad got wiped out, but they managed to clear the dungeon. The only notable two people in that group were an A-ranker called Jamile, and a former S-rank wizard called Gatom. They both died in Action."
"Cleared the dungeon at the cost of their lives? Damnable wizards…" He grunted, sitting back on his throne.
"Were there any survivors?" He asked.
"Non on our side, but the two of the adventurers survived. C-rankers called Liam and Alice." She answered.
"Alice… that damned name, bringing back bad memories of the old days. Send the shadow hands. I want the woman alive to torture and the guy skinned alive. At least bring me their heads if they proved to be trouble." He sighed.
"The shadow hands?" She gasped, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it'll serve as a good test for her loyalty. We have her sister here, but I still fear she'll betray us." He looked away, "She's the hero's little sister after all."