parentshiftbook #402 - You can’t even beat vegetables, and you expect to beat people?
#402 - You can’t even beat vegetables, and you expect to beat people?
It was impossible not to be worried.
The front lines were strained, and many powerful adventurers had retreated to the royal capital. Even the King and Prince had left the fortress.
But even so, everyone decided to go.
“How unusual. I thought you, Kazuma, would chicken out.”
“That sounds more like you.”
Kazuma Sato and Aqua teased each other. After all, whenever something like this happened, Aqua was always the first to cry and beg to stay, and Kazuma Sato was the first to run away. They were two peas in a pod.
But the only reason they weren't afraid now was that the powerful Yunyun was there.
“But I feel a little annoyed.”
“What's wrong?”
“Look, that guard clearly recognized us, but they didn't seem to remember me at all. They could clearly call out your names, but isn't that too much? I also made a lot of contributions in that siege.”
“…Kazuma, are you referring to the contribution of being beaten to death by Kobolds?”
“You bastard—!”
That was undoubtedly an embarrassing incident he didn't want to remember.
Yunyun and the others displayed great power on the battlefield. Unwilling to be outdone, Kazuma Sato also wanted to make some contributions so that he could live safely in the royal capital, but he accidentally fell for a trap.
“You two, we're in the wilderness now, be a little quieter… Wait, something's wrong!”
As Darkness was stopping the two from arguing, she suddenly noticed four or five people ahead. They were squatting in the corner with their arms around their knees, their beards unkempt, and their eyes bloodshot, looking like they were doubting their life.
“Are you guys alright?!”
The female knight quickly ran over.
The others were also slightly panicked.
Before coming, they had heard from the guards that the front lines were strained. They didn't expect it to be like this. These men appearing on the road might have been adventurers, but now they were like this…
Kazuma Sato anxiously asked, “Hey, what's wrong with you guys? Has something happened on the front lines? Are you injured? Aqua, heal them quickly!”
Aqua healed the men, and the wounds on their bodies quickly healed, but they still seemed to be suffering from severe mental trauma.
“We were robbed… we were robbed… robbed…”
For some reason, these people kept repeating this sentence.
“Robbed?”
“So, there are bandits?”
“Oh! I didn't expect bandits to appear!”
Also, for some reason, everyone in the party except Yunyun seemed very interested in bandits.
This was actually a difference in perception.
The other world generally had worse security, and there were bound to be thieves on the roads. Even in Axel, there were thugs and the like.
But Konosuba was different.
In this world overrun with monsters, wanting to live outside towns without sturdy walls, and even making a living as bandits who rob passersby, was simply wishful thinking.
—They probably couldn't even beat vegetables, let alone people?
Therefore, instead of being a bandit and even facing the price of being wanted and unable to enter towns, it was more worthwhile to be an adventurer. Therefore, bandits were very, very rare.
Darkness grabbed the man's thin shirt and asked eagerly, “Bandits, where are the bandits!?”
“Don't worry, if there are bandits, leave them to us! I've never seen a humanoid monster before!”
“M-Me neither!”
Megumin and Yunyun's eyes sparkled.
“Bandits must be a group of people living an ascetic life in the mountains, their eyes flashing with lewd light, and even if a weak woman appears, they will do their best to ravage her! I am a female knight, after all, I can't let those people go…!”
Darkness said righteously.
Of course, it would have been better if she didn't have a flush on her face. This girl was definitely not thinking about teaching the bandits a lesson, but about being taught a lesson by the bandits, and even drooled at the corner of her mouth.
However, these words stimulated the men.
“Weak woman… weak woman… no! Demons… are demons! Demons have appeared!”
“Demons…?”
Even Kazuma Sato and the others looked blank, not knowing why bandits would be associated with demons, but then one of the men muttered in a broken voice, “I'm sorry, we'll never be bandits again, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…”
That's when everyone realized.
It turned out that these men were not robbed by bandits, but they were the bandits themselves, but they didn't expect to be counter-killed when they tried to rob someone, so they had such a breakdown.
Suddenly, everyone lost interest.
No one was interested in bandits who had already been played with, let alone bandits who had been completely stripped bare.
Even Darkness was the same. She had no interest in bandits who couldn't do excessive things to her.
The group continued to walk forward.
Night gradually fell, and the formation changed. Aqua, whose night vision was better than Kazuma Sato's, took the lead, while Yunyun summoned her familiars to guard the surroundings.
Whether it was because they had been speeding up their progress or because the monsters on the road had been swept away, they did not encounter any danger.
In the middle of the night, they arrived at the relay point.
Everyone slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
They had heard before that there was lodging facility here, and what appeared in front of them was a building about the size of a noble's mansion, surrounded by sturdy walls.
After walking towards the lights, a very distinctive sign came into view.
“I didn't expect this lodging facility to be a hot spring inn.”
“Another hot spring inn?”
Hearing Kazuma Sato say this, Yunyun couldn't help but complain, causing her companions to be puzzled.
“What's wrong?”
“How should I put it… I've seen too many hot spring inns, and I'm getting tired of them.”
For Kazuma Sato and the others, the last time they went to a hot spring inn was two or three months ago when they went to Alcanretia, the city of hot springs and water, but for Yunyun… far away was the time she went to the hell hot spring with the elf girls, and closer was the time in Water Gate City.
“It's okay, let's go in.”
“That's right, that's right, let's take a bath together later, there must be a mixed-gender hot spring here…”
“Kazuma, don't even think about it!”
Kazuma Sato's evil thoughts were resisted by all the girls, and he looked very hurt.
At this moment, Yunyun pushed open the door of the hot spring.
Just as they walked in—
“Welcome, my master, Lady Yunyun!”
A woman wearing a cloak and hood, whose face could not be seen clearly but whose figure was very good, knelt in front of everyone.
“—A demon!?”
Aqua was the first to react.
She seemed to have some kind of radar, a natural reaction to demons, liches, and other undead beings. The moment she saw the person in front of her, she immediately wanted to jump over and purify her.
“How dare you appear in front of me, you're really brave! Just a mere Archdemon, watch me purify you! Die—”
“Stop it!”
Kazuma Sato grabbed Aqua and pulled her back, causing her to fall to the ground.
It was as expected.
The idiot goddess lost her composure when she saw Arnes.
“Kazuma, what are you doing! A demon, this is a demon!”
“I know, but you should have noticed too, this big sister knows Yunyun. You should be able to guess that she is the Archdemon who was summoned, right?”
“…I-I hate it, how could I forget such a thing.”
No, this girl definitely forgot.
Suddenly being glared at by Aqua with murderous intent, Arnes, not knowing if she sensed something, was also a little nervous and cautiously asked, “Lady Yunyun, who is this person…?”
“Want to know about me?”
Aqua got up from the ground, pretended to pat her clothes, and then proudly said, “I am Aqua! That's right, I am the High Priest of the Axis Order, and also the goddess they believe in!”
“How dare you say you're a goddess, what arrogance!”
“What did you say!?”
Arnes, like Darkness and the others, did not believe that Aqua was a goddess at all, and her words and eyes were filled with obvious contempt.
As expected, demons and high priests were naturally at odds.
Seeing that the two were about to argue, Megumin and Yunyun stepped forward.
“Long time no see, Big Sister.”
“You are…!?”
Arnes saw the two of them, and her yellow eyes were filled with obvious anger. Obviously, she still remembered the matter of Megumin scamming her out of 300,000 Eris, and rushed up angrily to argue with her.
“You little girl—”
“S-Sorry!”
Knowing that she was in the wrong, Megumin subconsciously raised the shield in her hand in desperation—Komekko.
And Arnes, after seeing the black kitten in front of her, turned her angry expression into a happy one, grabbed it and shouted loudly, “Wolbach-sama~! Long time no see!”
“Meow~!”
Not knowing if Komekko had high intelligence, knowing that Arnes was now a companion, she did not break free from Arnes's arms as before, but meowed affectionately.
Megumin and Yunyun breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing Arnes playing happily with Komekko, Yunyun coughed subconsciously.
“Cough cough. Sorry Arnes, I know you're happy now, but it's getting late…”
“Yes! I'm very sorry, Lady Yunyun, it was my negligence! Indeed, even if I subjugated the bandits, corpse dragons, and many monsters along the way, I imagine that the long journey would still make everyone feel tired. Come, I have prepared the check-in procedures, please come this way!”
“Thank you… eh, wait a moment.”
Subconsciously thanking her, but everyone quickly noticed something was wrong.
“You said the bandits along the way…”
“Yes, I was attacked by bandits on the way here, but I have already stripped them of their equipment and left them by the roadside… Could it be that those guys have caused you trouble?”
“Should I say yes or no…”
Finally knowing why those bandits looked so broken, Darkness, who also knew the truth, also looked broken.
In addition, not letting Arnes harm humans was also an order from Yunyun. After all, she now belonged to the human camp, and if she killed humans, let alone Aqua, even Wiz would explode.
Looking at her companions who looked a little tired, Yunyun said, “Alright, let's check in first.”