116 Revelations

116 Revelations

Selene left us in her office as she went to try and find someone to babysit us as we did quests. It was both insulting and demeaning to have to rely on someone else's good will for something like that, especially for me. I was used to handling things myself and I used to be powerful enough to back that up. Now? I was the shmoe of shmoes, even with my armor as a crutch.

“It's going to be okay.” Wiz consoled me and patted my shoulder.

I sighed and leaned against her slightly. “I'm sorry I can't take the armor off to hug you properly.”

Wiz smiled and gave me a quick kiss. “It's okay. We can make up for that tonight.”

“Assuming the manager doesn't find someone and we stay here for another night.” Megumin said.

“We could go to an inn or something instead.” Cremea offered after a few minutes of silence.

I shook my head. “Only a fool would give up Selene's protection without good reason.”

“I'm glad you understand that.” Selene said as she entered the office again. She didn't walk by us to go to her desk, so the news was either really good or really bad. “I'm sorry I couldn't find anyone that was willing to share with someone that has such a low level.”Geett the latest novels at novelhall.com

Bad it was. I thought and didn't voice it as I tried to not let my emotions show on my face.

“What do we do now?” Fio asked as Cremea hugged her to comfort her. “All of our plans are ruined.”

“I don't know.” I told her. “I honestly don't know. Nothing is working out like it usually does.”

Wiz caught her breath and we all turned to look at her.

“What is it?” I asked her.

Wiz blushed a little at all the attention. “Well, I... I just... I think I know what's wrong.”

“What is it?” Megumin asked.

Wiz looked up into my eyes. “Kazuma... after what you went through... you... you are no longer favoured by the gods and goddesses.”

Everyone in the room gasped, even Selene.

“N-n-no, that... that can't be true.” Darkness whispered. “My goddess Eris likes him. I can feel it.”

Wiz shook her head. “Liking someone doesn't mean you have their favour.” She said and reached up to slip her hand inside my helm to cup my cheek. “She has returned you to us; but, she may have damned you as well.”

I opened my mouth to tell her she was wrong, then thought about it. Even Fate herself said she couldn't directly interfere after the system had been threatened by the Head Succubus, and now that system was unavailable because it was being worked on to fix the damage done to it by Eris when she stopped me from moving on to the next world.

Something must have shown on my face because I was suddenly surrounded by my party members and Wiz gave me a tender kiss that was full of love and understanding. Of everyone there, she alone fully understood being damned by the gods and goddesses. She had been cursed as an undead Lich for years until I saved her.

Goddess Eris, please help my dearest Kazuma. He has been cursed by the gods and goddesses after you graced him with life and returned him to my embrace. He is suffering and I don't know what to do. Please, please, please! I beg you! Help and guide me down the right path! I promise to make a donation at the nearest church as soon as I can. I am your humble worshipper, Lalatina Dustiness.

Chris let the shiver go back down her spine and she thought about how best to do that. Everything else she tried had backfired spectacularly and then what Darkness said registered in her mind. She caught her breath at what that would mean and looked up into the sky with a silent inquiry.

Unfortunately, there was no response, which meant Darkness was only partially right. Kazuma wasn't cursed by them, because he was being completely ignored instead. It definitely explained how her own luck had twisted in on itself, because she wasn't allowed to affect anything that dealt with Kazuma. She did not wonder how they knew she was acting through her human avatar, because it didn't matter.

Her actions would be thwarted, no matter what she tried. That meant she couldn't help Kazuma, even indirectly through Darkness. It saddened Chris that all of her efforts were for naught and the urgent and sincere prayers of one of her most fervent worshippers would remain unanswered and unfulfilled.

Chris gave Kazuma's party one last longing look, her eyes lingering on her friend Darkness for a bit longer than a normal friendship would allow, then she dropped her head and slipped away as her heart broke a little. Not being anywhere near them was the only way for her to help them now.

*

I managed to lighten the canvas covered wagon significantly by the time Selene returned. She also had two armored guards with her. She asked what the carriage looked like and I easily produced a piece of paper and used magic to put an image of it on the surface. I also added smaller pictures of the interior and of my party's things.

“Check the stalls, businesses, and less reputable parts of the city for everything.” Selene said and handed the paper to the guards. “I want the city scoured and everyone involved drawn and quartered if they don't cooperate. Do you understand?”

“Yes, manager. No mercy for assassins, bandits, and thieves.” One of them said. They both saluted her and then trotted off with the sounds of clinking armor.

“Thank you, manager.” I said, my voice full of sincerity. “I mean that. Thank you.”

“It's the least I could do. If I went myself...” Selene shook her head.

“There's no better kill than overkill.” I joked and she softly laughed. “I'd like to apologize for my behavior as well. I was being an ass and you were just trying to help.”

Selene smiled. “You were right as well. I should have asked to perform triage on you. If I had, we wouldn't be here right now.”

“We would have handed Dust and his party over to the guild right after arriving if we hadn't been distracted.” Megumin said. “At least we removed that defunct headhunter quest from the quest boards.”

“With the method of payment dead, the quest should have been automatically cancelled.” Selene said. “It seems I have a few mandates to send out to the other guild halls across the country.”

I kept my mouth shut, mostly because I didn't want to anger the only person not in my party that was willing to help me in my quest to save the world. I just hoped staying quiet didn't bite me in the ass later.

We attached the two horses and Selene admired them for both their prowess and their speed. The horses preened under her praise and looked proud, making the guild manager chuckle and she patted their necks before she climbed up into the driver's seat. I gave her a look and she didn't say anything and held her hand out for the reins.

With a sigh, I handed them to her and sat beside her as Wiz, Darkness, Megumin, Cremea, and Fio climbed into the back onto the padded benches. I didn't have time to change anything besides adding the cushions and wouldn't until we stopped near the dungeon. It would be dark when we arrived and Selene warned us that nighttime was the worst time to enter the active dungeon. We would camp for the night and enter in the morning.

Without a bed or somewhere safe for me to remove my armor, there would be no cuddling or anything for me. The odd look on Selene's face told me that she understood our problem and she slipped into the heated sleeping bag I gave her and she let out a contented sigh. I stayed up for first shift watching the alert wards and the others tucked into their own sleeping bags and quickly fell asleep.

It was a long four hours as I tried to level up some easy skills that didn't require a lot of movement or magic. Honestly, it was pathetic. The armor's crutch pretty much stopped me from making any easy gains and I had to work that much harder to get even a few levels in fighting with a weapon and fighting without.

When it was time, I put my sword away and woke Selene. She would finish the next four hours on watch and then we would enter the dungeon. After my performance, I was sure it was going to be a lot of me standing there and watching everyone else fighting on my behalf, and that was going to suck.