Chapter 135: Doing Quest in Rainy Day?

The next day, the weather refused to cooperate—it was raining.

The rain wasn't heavy, but it wasn't light either. The patter of raindrops drifted in from outside, making everyone feel even lazier.

The damp air carried a trace of chill. When Shichen woke, he instinctively tightened his arms around Aqua.

"Mm …"

Aqua's sleepy murmur made Shichen open his eyes.

The moment he did, her refined features dazzled him; for a split second he thought he was cradling a goddess.

Well, she was a goddess.

Asleep, Aqua looked truly beautiful. Because he was hugging her, she had to keep still, leaving her as alluring as a slumbering princess.

But once he was fully awake, he couldn't keep treating her like Sleeping Beauty. With a soft sigh, Shichen let her go.

"Mm … Shichen?" Aqua blinked drowsily.

"It's fine—go back to sleep."

"Oh… okay." She closed her eyes without hesitation.

Shichen shook his head, climbed out of bed, and got dressed.

When he finished, he glanced at Aqua—who was now hugging the blanket the way she had been hugging him. She lay on her side, back toward him, left leg draped over the quilt, her rear half-exposed like a crescent moon.

Curious, Shichen used Steal on her. As expected, aside from her nightclothes she had nothing on.

Well, she was sleeping—one garment was all she wore, proving she really wasn't wearing underwear!

Shichen hadn't seen her take any off when changing, either.

He wasn't interested in Aqua's underwear per se; he'd just wanted to know whether she wore any. At last, his long-standing mystery was solved.

Leaving Aqua alone, Shichen went to the window, opened it, and glanced outside. A fine mist hung in the air, the sky gloomy—not a day for going out.

He chose not to venture outside. Instead, he practiced magic in the room until it was time for everyone to wake up.

Afterward he roused Aqua and took her downstairs for breakfast.

Although the weather wasn't fit for quests, they still needed to meet with Darkness.

When they'd eaten, Shichen used Teleport to bring everyone straight to the guild.

Early in the morning, the guild was quiet. Besides Luna and the other staff at the counter, no one else was there.

"Oh, teleportation really is handy, Big Brother! Can I learn it too?" Kazuma, having experienced it firsthand, couldn't help asking.

"Of course," Shichen replied, "but it costs a lot of skill points. You're not ready yet."

"I know. I'll build up my stats first, then save the points."

"Smart."

"Heh, I've played games before—I know to do things in order."

"What game uses teleport?" Megumin asked curiously.

"It's unrelated to teleport," Shichen explained. "I just meant boosting basic strength first." In games, if you don't have some base power, you can't do anything—whether grinding levels or farming gear—so rushing to learn a flashy ability is pointless.

But there were no online games in this world; Megumin didn't get it.

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Never mind." Shichen smiled and ruffled her hair.

Today Megumin wasn't wearing her hat. Her short hair felt silky, making her look even more child-like.

"Tch."

"Shichen-san, what brings all of you here?" Luna approached with a smile. "Taking a quest?"

"No, we're waiting for someone," Shichen answered cheerfully.

"Waiting? Who needs the whole party?"

"Haha, no worries, Luna-san. Our party's getting a new member, so we all came."

"Oh, I see—congratulations!" she said sincerely.

"Thank you. Don't mind us; we'll wait over there."

"All right… Would you like something to eat?"

"No need—we just had breakfast."

"Really? You should try the guild's breakfast sometime; it's quite good." She sounded disappointed.

"A-hem, next time for sure."

"It's a promise, then!"

"Well, I'll get back to work." Luna left smiling.

"Phew…" Shichen exhaled and sat with the others at a side table.

Kazuma took a seat by himself, while Megumin and Yunyun sat on one side of Shichen and Aqua slumped on the other, instantly falling back asleep.

"Hmph! Did you have to be that nice to that woman?" Megumin grumbled as soon as she sat down.

"Megumin, what are you talking about?" Yunyun sighed.

"Isn't it obvious? That woman clearly has her eyes on Shichen!"

"But she's a guild employee."

"So what… hmph!"

"Come on," Shichen laughed. "She was just being polite—you can't glare at her for that."

"Tch—sounds like you don't mind at all."

"Of course not!"

"Hmph! You must be after the fat on her chest! What's so great about it?"

"Megumin, you don't understand—that's a man's romance!" Kazuma cut in.

"Did I ask you?" Megumin stared at him expressionlessly.

"Sorry…" Kazuma apologized at once.

"Hey, how can you treat a teammate like that?" Shichen lightly swatted Megumin's head.

"Big Brother…" Kazuma looked touched.

"Then why do you treat me like this?" Megumin glared at Shichen.

"Uh… habit?"

"Argh!" Furious, she hammered his arm with her tiny fists.

"Quit it, quit it," Shichen quickly grabbed her wrists.

"Let me go!"

"Nope. If I do, you'll keep hitting—unless you promise to stop."

"No way! I'm used to it; I'll feel awful if I don't hit you."

"Let me go!"

"If we weren't in public, you'd already be flat on your stomach," Shichen warned, pulling Megumin onto his lap and pinning her arms so she couldn't move.

"Trying to hit me again?"

"I haven't hit you, have I?"

"Hmph! At least you've still got some conscience."

"Anyway, stop—Darkness and the others are here."

"Where—hm?" Just then, the guild's doors swung open. A valiant blond knight and a stern white-haired thief stepped inside.

The knight wore a faint smile, eyes shining with expectation; the thief looked serious, and a hint of fear flickered in her gaze.

Spotting Shichen's group, both women headed straight over.

"Shichen, we're here!" Darkness called.

"Morning." Shichen waved.

"Good morning, everyone." They stopped opposite him.

Seeing them about to sit, Kazuma nervously slid to the far end of the bench.

"Chris, you came too," Shichen said with a smile.

"W-what are you planning?" Chris clutched Darkness's arm, tense.

"What could I be planning?" Shichen twitched a corner of his mouth—was he that scary?

"You tell me."

"Don't assume the worst of me. Yesterday was an accident—just a coincidence."

"I don't believe you!" Chris kept her guard up.

"What happened yesterday?" Megumin asked Yunyun.

"Well, uh…" Yunyun glanced at Shichen, hesitating.

"Hmm? Keeping secrets from me now?"

"I—I can't say! Ask Shichen!"

"Grr… Shichen, what happened yesterday?" Megumin craned up at him.

"Hm?" Shichen glanced down, then tapped her forehead with his chin. "Kids shouldn't ask so many questions."

"Why you…!"

"Enough about that. First, let's welcome Darkness to the party!"

"Oh! Does everyone agree?" Darkness asked excitedly.

"Of course. Who wouldn't welcome a Crusader?"

"Thank you, everyone!"

"What about Chris? Want to join too?" Shichen invited her.

"No!" Chris shook her head at once.

Shichen didn't mind. "All right, then, if there's nothing else, we'll head back."

"Head back? Where to?" Darkness blinked.

"The inn, of course."

"Why? Aren't we taking a quest?"

"It's raining."

"Which makes it the perfect time! There'll be even more Giant Toads outside town in the rain—we're not going to hunt them?"

"Who hunts Toads in the—"

"I think it's a great idea!" Megumin suddenly chimed in, eyes shining. "I'm in a bad mood; smashing Giant Toads will be perfect!"

~~~

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