After the soak, Shichen still didn't know where Yunyun's mark was; Darkness hadn't found it anywhere not covered by a towel.
gumin probably knew but refused to tell him. That was a little out of character—shouldn't she be the "if I'm going down, you're coming with " type?
Oh well. If he didn't know now, he could always find out later.
Back in the room, gumin and the others trailed after him into Shichen's room. Maybe because her own mark had been exposed, gumin couldn't quite et his eyes.
"Aren't you going back to your rooms?" Shichen asked Yunyun.
"I… can we stay here for a bit?" Yunyun asked softly.
"Of course."
"Great!"
"Yunyun, careful—Shichen might be trying to find out where your mark is," gumin warned.
"If Shichen wants to know, I can tell him," Yunyun said, blushing.
"You… that's our clan's mark. How can you just show it to him?"
"But it's Shichen. It's fine."
"You… forget it." gumin shook her head helplessly.
"Look at Yunyun, then look at yourself. I already know yours—what's there to be shy about?" Shichen said, a little disappointed.
"H-How do you even know the Crimson Demons' sha points… Yunyun's just an outlier."
Compared to most Crimson Demons, Yunyun really was different—where the rest wore their chuunibyou like a badge of honor, she was embarrassed by it. To Shichen, though, Yunyun felt like the normal one.
"I've already touched it. You're still afraid of letting see it?"
"W-Wait—stuff like that!" gumin stared at Yunyun in a panic.
"gumin? Mind telling what exactly happened?" Yunyun looked at her with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Th-this…" gumin cut a pleading look at Shichen. "Shichen…"
"Just tell her. It's not so state secret."
"No way I can tell her!"
"Shichen, what happened?" Yunyun pouted at him, clearly annoyed. She obviously knew where gumin's mark was, and since Shichen said he'd "touched" it, there wasn't much to guess—they'd done sothing behind her back.
"Well… co here."
"W-Wait, Shichen, you—?" gumin's face went scarlet.
"Can't hide it anyway," Shichen said, palms up.
"Uu…" gumin glanced at Aqua and the others and realized none of them cared in the slightest.
"So, here's the deal…"
When Yunyun ca closer, Shichen leaned to her ear and explained: he'd helped "encourage developnt" for gumin, and since one hand was enough, the other had wandered off on its own. Nothing to hide—especially not from Yunyun.
"I see. Since you're a guy, that kind of thing isn't a big deal… but, um, I can do it too," Yunyun mumbled, flustered.
"Got it," Shichen said, blinking at her rosy cheeks.
"Mhm…" Yunyun ducked her head, mortified.
"Hey! What are you two whispering about?" gumin, who'd been wallowing in embarrassnt, instantly sensed sothing was off.
"It's nothing. Anyway, we haven't had dinner yet, right? How about we go eat and see if this inn's food is any good?"
"Let's go, let's go—I'm starving!" Aqua chid in at once.
" too! Shichen, bring my cola!" Frieren perked up.
"…I've had it on the whole ti."
"Co on, move it!"
"Hold up! You still haven't told what you two were whispering about!"
"Nothing at all~" Yunyun sang back.
"You expect to believe that?"
"That's still better than secretly asking Shichen to 'help your developnt,' isn't it?"
"Uh…"
That shut gumin up.
The dining area was on the first floor. There weren't any other guests, but the spread was lavish—still seafood, but far more abundant than the other inn's.
After picking their dishes and finding seats, Shichen and the others dug in.
"By the way, it feels like this town's in danger," Aqua said suddenly.
"What's up?"
"Well… you know my purification ability, right?" Aqua asked.
"Yeah."
"Purifying the baths at the previous inn was easy—done in no ti. But the springs here felt off. It took ages to purify them."
"I see," Shichen nodded.
"Wait—purify? Aqua, what are you talking about?" gumin latched on to the keyword.
"Did I forget to ntion it? If I touch any liquid, I can purify it completely into water. I am the water goddess, after all," Aqua said, proud as ever.
"What? So you're saying the hot springs here turned into ordinary water because of you?"
"Uh…"
"Great! I was wondering why the springs weren't doing anything—it was you!" gumin snapped.
"Ahem, well, let's not focus on that. There's sothing more important."
"Don't change the subject!"
"gumin, let Aqua finish," Shichen soothed.
"Fine…" gumin obediently went back to gnawing on a jumbo prawn.
"I'm saying it took that long to purify because the springs here are seriously contaminated. And isn't everyone in town saying the hot spring quality's getting worse? It must be the Demon King's army, who see my Axis Church as a threat! Hmph! They can't win head-on, so they're trying to take the Axis Church's most important source of inco—the hot springs!"
To be fair, Aqua did have a brain cell or two. She might have been guessing wildly, but she wasn't far off.
"Oooh, scary," gumin said perfunctorily.
"Believe !" Aqua huffed.
Darkness couldn't help asking, "It's just that the springs are getting worse. How does that lead to the Demon King's army?"
"Yeah," gumin added. "Maybe it's just so regular folks who can't stand Axis Church harassnt anymore?"
"No ordinary person could pull this off. It has to be the Demon King's army. My Axis Church is their greatest threat!"
"…"
"Trust . Help protect this town. Will you help ?" Aqua, unusually righteous, pleaded. Unfortunately, gumin and the others weren't buying it.
"I wanted to stroll around town. You've already kept busy all day, so no," gumin refused without hesitation.
"Mm. I've seen firsthand these past two days how terrifying Axis cultists can be, so I'll pass too," Darkness said.
"How could you! A stroll isn't that important! And Darkness, what about your justice?"
"This…" Under Aqua's fiery stare, Darkness looked away. She could help, but Aqua's claim was all fog and no evidence—and she was flaky on a good day. Hard to take seriously.
"Shichen…" Aqua looked at him with tearful eyes. Only he could help her; Yunyun only listened to him, and Frieren didn't care about anything but her cola.
"Alright, alright—I'll help you." Shichen really couldn't handle that pitiful look of hers.
"Yay! Shichen, you're the best!" Aqua nearly threw herself on him.
"Eh? You're really helping Aqua? What if it's just her imagination?" gumin asked.
"No. She's right. There are Demon King's troops here," Shichen said.
"What? Really?" Darkness tensed up.
"Do I have any reason to lie to you?"
"No—we believe you. In that case, I'm helping too," Darkness said, suddenly serious.
"Then I'll help as well."
"Count in!"
Everyone volunteered—except Frieren, happily sipping her cola.
"You guys! Why do you only believe Shichen? I'm the water goddess!" Aqua protested.
"It's fine. They trust , and I trust you. Sa difference, right?" Shichen said.
"That… makes sense. Shichen really is the best!" Aqua bead. The smile was a little dazzling—she really was beautiful.
"So what's the plan?" gumin asked.
"Simple. We keep sightseeing and, along the way, look for the Demon King's people. Aqua, you keep purifying the springs," Shichen said.
"That vague? Hey, Shichen—can you co along and let fire one off tomorrow? I didn't get to release today," gumin whispered.
"F-Fire one off?" Darkness perked up.
"Explosion Magic," Shichen said, smacking her lightly on the head.
"Mmm~ do it again, a little harder," Darkness murmured.
Shichen ignored her and answered gumin, "Sure."
"Aweso!" gumin bobbed her head happily.
An Explosion would definitely cause a stir. The people here were a little unusual, but unlike Axel, they weren't used to it. Which was exactly the point: stir up the Demon King's forces so Aqua could purify the springs.
If Aqua finally wanted to get sothing done, he'd back her all the way—even if helping the Axis Church made his skin crawl.
Perfect. Once this is settled, he'd take a little "paynt" from Aqua. She'd completely let her guard down around him now, and he couldn't help wanting to fully savor her.
That shouldn't be illegal… right?
~~~
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