The small room at the inn was heavy with tension, almost as heavy as Wiz's paper-white face.
The unlucky Lich shopkeeper was lying weakly on the tatami, her translucent body looking as if it might dissolve into the air at any moment.
Every time Aqua got worked up and waved her arms around, Wiz let out a faint whimper and shrank deeper under the blanket like a startled mimosa. Clearly, the divine aura leaking from Aqua was basically poison to an Undead like her.
"So, that blond pretty boy... Ahem, I mean Hans. He's already started moving, right?" Megumin sat by the table with her staff in her arms, her expression grave. "A Demon King's General dares to pull something like this in the Hot Spring Capital? This is an insult to art itself! Kōichi, you must bring me tomorrow. I'll use the most magnificent Explosion magic to blast him into dried Slime!"
"Being hunted by the entire city's faithful, plotted against by a Demon King's General, and maybe even locked in some dark, damp basement and tortured..." Darkness's cheeks flushed red, her breathing grew ragged, and she clutched tightly at her collar. "Th-this desperate situation... Arcanletia really is Heaven!"
"Darkness, now is not the time to get turned on, though I know that's asking a lot from you." Kazuma cut off the Crusader's fantasy with a disgusted look, then turned to Kōichi. "Kōichi, what do you think? We can't count on Wiz in her current state, and Yunyun is reliable, but right now she's busy explaining to those Axis Order cultists that I really am not Aqua's illegitimate daughter."
While everyone argued back and forth without getting anywhere, Aqua, who had been huddled in the corner fiddling with her sun hat, suddenly stood up.
Her long blue hair moved without wind, and holy light flowed through the cramped room.
Her face, which usually radiated pure stupidity, was now filled with the majesty and mercy of a true deity.
"Enough!" Aqua's voice rang out, clear and bright. "I am Aqua, the Goddess of Water! This is the holy land of the Axis Order, home to my dearest followers, who may have some issues with their brains but are absolutely loyal! Since the Demon King's Army dares to poison my territory, I will not stand by and do nothing! No matter the cost, I will save this city!"
In that instant, even Kōichi felt as if wings had sprouted from Aqua's back. She looked absurdly cool.
And so, at Kōichi's suggestion, everyone came up with a citywide hot spring inspection plan.
Early the next morning, they split into four groups and headed to different hot spring districts of various grades across the city to investigate on-site.
...
By evening, the setting sun had dyed Arcanletia orange-red. Everyone returned to the inn one after another and began reporting the day's results.
"Everything was normal at the public bathhouse in the West District. The water was a little cloudy, but that was only because too many people were bathing there."
Kazuma yawned, looking exhausted.
"The open-air hot springs in the East District were fine too. There were even believers holding Holy Water baptisms in one of them, and things got really chaotic for a while."
Yunyun reported with a red face. Clearly, she had been dragged into it as well.
"The South District water source I checked was stable too." Kōichi rubbed his aching legs, then turned toward Aqua, who was humming proudly as she came through the door. "Aqua, what about your side?"
"Hmph! As expected of me! The six large fountains and three luxury bathhouses in the North District have all been completely refreshed!" Aqua puffed out her chest with pride. "I found that disgusting purple sediment at the bottom of those pools, so I purified all of them while I was at it! Now the water in those pools is so pure that even the water in Heaven can't compare!"
Kōichi and Kazuma exchanged a glance, and cold sweat instantly broke out across their faces.
Sure enough, before Aqua could even finish bragging, thunderous roars and perfectly synchronized chants erupted outside the window.
"Catch that blue-haired destroyer! She turned the North District's Fountain of Longevity into plain boiled water!"
"My hair-growth hot spring! My hair! That crazy woman purified away all my hope!"
"She's a disgrace to the Axis Order! Hang her in the square and leave her to bake in the sun!"
"Hey!!!" Kōichi and Kazuma roared at Aqua in unison. "You're not saving your followers! You're physically wiping out your own Order! Every hot spring in the city is normal except the ones you touched! The Demon King's Army hasn't even made its move yet, and you've already torn down Arcanletia's entire brand!"
"Huh? Huh? Huhhh?!! Why did this happen?! I was only trying to help!"
Aqua let out her familiar wail once again.
Inside the inn room, Kōichi stood by the window, watching the fanatics below waving torches and chanting for the return of their hair-growth hot spring. His brow furrowed deeply.
"Something's wrong. This is way too wrong." Kōichi muttered to himself, his fingers tapping unconsciously against the windowsill. "The Demon King's Army didn't come to Arcanletia for a vacation. If they really wanted to destroy this city, they wouldn't just spit into a few public bathhouses and call it a day. The fact that every hot spring seemed so normal today is the most abnormal thing of all."
He suddenly turned his head and stared hard at Aqua, who was crouching on the floor.
"Aqua, tell me. Does this city's hot spring system have one shared main source? You know, the kind of core spring where if someone takes a piss in it, the whole city can smell it?"
Aqua shuddered under Kōichi's demonic stare and answered without thinking, "Huh? What is with that vulgar comparison...? But yes, there is one. The Great Holy Spring on the back mountain is where all the branch springs converge. It holds the richest natural magic, and it's also the place where my divine power can sense things most easily."
Just as he thought. A sharp gleam flashed in Kōichi's eyes.
The Demon King's Army was probably planning to poison the main source.
Once they succeeded, every hot spring in Arcanletia would instantly turn into a lethal poison pool. By then, it would be too late to purify anything.
"Tonight, Aqua, you're coming with me. We're going to check out that Great Holy Spring."
As Kōichi spoke, he began checking his gear.
"I'm coming too!" Kazuma was the first to jump up, his eyes shining with the light of a fellow man of culture. "Sneaking into the back mountain spring source late at night? Kōichi, you've finally seen the light, haven't you? A place like that has to have plenty of high-society ladies performing late-night Holy Water baptisms! Take me with you. My [Lurk] and [Eagle Eye] will definitely come in handy!"
"Me too!" Darkness's cheeks flushed red, her breathing quickened. "Sneaking into forbidden grounds late at night, getting discovered by guards, then being tied to a tree and humiliated as a perverted peeping tom... For a mission like that, please let me take the lead!"
"Rejected!" Kōichi mercilessly slapped Kazuma in the face, and at the same time kicked Darkness, who had been edging closer, back under the blanket. "Listen up, both of you. For this kind of peeping... Ahem, this kind of covert investigation, the more people we have, the bigger the target. Especially you, Kazuma. Dogs can smell that sleazy aura of yours from a hundred meters away. And Darkness, you make as much noise as a demolition crew when you walk around in that heavy armor. So the best option is for just me and this idiot Goddess to go. She may not have a brain, but her sensitivity to water is off the charts."
"Hey! Who are you calling brainless?! I'm a Goddess! A Goddess!" Aqua shouted in protest, but Kōichi quickly covered her mouth.
"Kōichi! You bastard, you're definitely trying to hog all the late-night perks for yourself!" Kazuma clawed at the floor in frustration. "What's the point of taking that idiot with you?! All she can do is turn hot springs into plain water! Take me! I promise I won't steal your spot!"
Kōichi ignored Kazuma's loser-dog whining. He grabbed Aqua by the collar, climbed smoothly out the window, and raced toward the back mountain under cover of night.
"Listen, Aqua." Kōichi lowered his voice as they moved quickly through the dense forest. "When we get there, no matter what you see, do not scream."
"Hmph, you don't need to tell me something that obvious." For once, Aqua did not argue. Her faintly glowing eyes stared straight toward the mountaintop, and her voice turned cold. "I can already smell it... that nauseating, sweet, fishy stench defiling my sacred water source. Those bastards from the Demon King's Army actually dared to soak their venom in my bathwater... Ahem, my sacred spring!"
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