"I can't take it anymore!! I'm going to go have it out with them!!"
Kazuma stomped off quickly toward the Axis Church headquarters. We hurriedly followed. The headquarters building was the largest and most beautiful in town, so it was easy to find.
As soon as he entered the headquarters building, Kazuma shouted,
"Person in charge, come out!! I'll give you a sermon!!"
Hearing that, a woman who appeared to be a priestess of the Axis Church came over to Kazuma with a smile and said,
"Oh my, what brings you here? To join? For baptism?"
Then she brought her face close to Kazuma's and said,
"Or perhaps, are you interested in me? Hohoho~"
At that, Kazuma's anger seemed to vanish as his face turned red, and he answered,
"...Interested... yes."
Hearing that, the priestess laughed and said,
"Hohoho~ I'm just joking~ Why so serious? Are you feeling alright? If it were that handsome gentleman over there, it would be fine. Feel free to talk to me anytime~"
The priestess teased Kazuma, then looked at me and said that, so I replied,
"I'm already married, sorry."
"Oh my~! That's too bad. But it doesn't matter. The Axis Church accepts all kinds of love."
Kazuma, hearing the exchange between the priestess and me, changed back to a very angry expression. It really seemed like the Axis Church had no normal people.
"At any rate, the High Priest, Zesta, is away playing... I mean, spreading the name of Lady Aqua through proselytizing. Sorry, please come back another time~"
By now, Kazuma had realized there were no normal people in the Axis Church and tried to quickly find the others and leave.
"Haven't a mage and an Arch Priest come here?"
"Ah~ those two..."
The priestess pointed to the back of the chapel. There, Megumin, with numerous Axis Church application forms stuck all over her clothes, was sitting in a corner shivering, and Yunyun was trying to comfort her. Unlike the original story, Yunyun also had several application forms stuck on her clothes. It seemed that Yunyun's personality had improved a bit from being with me. If she was even being proselytized by the Axis Church.
We approached Megumin and Yunyun and asked where Aqua was.
"Where's Aqua?"
Then Yunyun answered,
"Aqua is over there in the confessional, counseling the faithful."
The confessional consisted of two small rooms. One room was where the faithful confessed their sins to the goddess or sought advice. The other room was where the priests listened and counseled them. Aqua seemed to be in the counseling room, so Kazuma knocked and called out to her.
Knock, knock!
"Aqua! Hey, Aqua!"
When Aqua didn't answer, Kazuma entered the room where the faithful were confessing. He probably intended to bring Aqua out.
Meanwhile, I asked the priestess,
"Excuse me, is a priestess named Cecily here?"
"Ah~ Sister Cecily is currently enjoying a bath in some strange liquid, like slime. She should be out shortly. Shall I let her know you're here?"
"Yes, please."
Cecily was an Arch Priest with blonde hair and blue eyes, quite beautiful, but the problem was that she was a severe lolicon and shotacon, and that wasn't allβshe would also go crazy over handsome men.
She was a strange person, but perhaps due to her deep faith, she displayed top-tier abilities as an Arch Priest. Since coming to Konosuba, I had always had her in mind as a party member.
Honestly, normal people are rare in Konosuba, so I thought, 'if that's the case, I might as well pick someone with good abilities.' So, since I was at the headquarters, I decided to recruit Cecily as a party member.
I, along with Megumin, Yunyun, and Darkness, waited for Aqua and Kazuma, but they didn't come out, so this time I entered the faithful's room. From the front room, I could hear Aqua's voice.
"Welcome, lost sheep~ Come now, confess your sins. The goddess will listen and forgive you."
Aqua seemed to be seriously, as a goddess, listening to her followers' concerns. So I decided to play along.
"Well, there's a female priest named Aqua in Kazuma's party. This priest loves alcohol so much that I've had to help her back to the inn several times. Then, one morning when I woke up, her skirt was flipped up. As she apparently never wears underwear, it was very revealing."
When I told a story from the past, Aqua and Kazuma in the front room seemed extremely surprised.
"What!? You saw that??"
"Ha! I've always wondered about that, Aqua!! So you've been going commando all this time???"
I continued the story.
"Anyway, seeing that, rather than finding it erotic, I was seriously troubled. How could she not realize it, wearing such a short skirt all this time? And does she not wear underwear because that place smells bad and needs ventilation..."
"Waaah!! Stop!!! Stop saying that!!!"
Aqua quickly cut me off, hurriedly came out of the confessional, grabbed me, and pulled me outside. Then she asked,
"Keep it a secret from everyone else."
"I will. But in exchange, tell me. How can you wear such a short skirt and not be discovered going commando? And why do you go commando in the first place?"
Kazuma, also curious about my question, was listening nearby.
"Well... it's kind of a liberating feeling. Like I'm free..."
"Huh? So you go commando just because of that? You hussy!?"
Kazuma was utterly dumbfounded.
"Then how have you not been discovered until now?"
"There's a perception-altering magic that only women know. If I use that, no one notices I'm commando. I use it every morning, but that day, I had been drinking and slept late, so it seems the magic wore off."
Kazuma finally understood why a certain magic had worked differently on Aqua.
"So that's why, when I used Steal on you, I only stole your staff or feather robe, not your underwear!"
"Anyway, keep it a secret. I've become unable to wear underwear now."
"What are you talking about, you hussy! Sigh... fine. I'll keep it a secret."
I also agreed to keep it a secret and learned the perception-altering magic from Aqua. With this, another mystery of Konosuba was solved.
(D) Oblivian β Impairs people's perception of you.
We had been whispering about something in front of the confessional for a long time, so Megumin and Yunyun approached us and asked,
"What are you guys talking about?"
Kazuma scratched his head and answered,
"Nothing. I was just saying we should hurry back and enjoy the hot spring."
"Yes, let's. I don't want to stay here any longer."
I needed to meet Cecily, so I had to wait a bit. I told them,
"You guys go ahead to the inn. I'll come after I talk with a prospective new party member."
"What? A prospective party member?"
"Yeah, a priestess of the Axis Church named Cecily."
Hearing that, Megumin was greatly surprised and asked again,
"Wait???? Did you just say Cecily???"
"Yeah."
"Tae-jin, you might want to reconsider..."
Megumin was trembling as she spoke, so Kazuma, curious, asked,
"Why? Do you know her?"
"She's a severe lolicon and shotacon!!!"
"Huh?? Isn't that a crime?"
"They say the Axis Church accepts all forms of love."
Just then, a beautiful woman's voice came from beside us.
"What was that, Miss Megumin?"
"Eep~!"
Megumin seemed extremely surprised. The woman speaking next to her was Cecily herself. As expected from the original story, she was a stunning blonde beauty.
"Long time no see, Megumin, Yunyun. I'm sad you don't visit often."
"Ahaha~ well, our party came to Arcanletia to sightsee. We stopped by to say hello..."
"Oh~ Then like last time, let's bathe and sleep together again."
"We already have lodgings!"
"Really? Tch! Too bad..."
Cecily looked very disappointed. If this was the level of beauty, even Kazuma's heart might have raced. But judging from the conversation, he seemed to have grasped what kind of person Cecily was and looked disappointed.
"By the way, who is this incredibly handsome gentleman next to you?"
"My name is Tae-jin. As an adventurer, I'm known as the Silver Flash. I'm looking for a priest."
"Oh~ So you came looking for me!"
"Yeah."
Cecily smiled and suddenly grabbed my hand.
"Tae-jin, let's go! Our love starts now~ Lady Aqua! You heard my prayers~ Thank you!"
"Hahaha, it's nice that you're energetic. But unfortunately, I'm already married. To two women, in fact."
"That's not a problem. The Axis Church accepts all forms of love. Married man or whatever, it doesn't matter!"
As expected, Cecily wasn't right in the head. But recruiting her was easy.
"Then wait a moment. I'll pack my things right away and be back."
Yunyun looked very flustered by this sudden rival. I had told her before coming that I was looking for a priest, so she didn't say anything, but she seemed very flustered that it was Cecily.
"Um, Tae-jin, there are other priests. Do we have to go so far as to take the managing High Priest, Cecily? Why not just take the time to find a normal Eris Church priest?"
"Axis Church priests are known to be weird, but they're also known for their high skill. Cecily has the highest skill among them. That's why I chose her.
The Axis Church is almost entirely composed of weirdos, so I figured I might as well choose based on ability. And from what I hear, you and Megumin already know her."
"W-well, yes."
I managed to convince her. Yunyun didn't say anything more, but she seemed very worried about the future trouble this might bring.
After waiting a bit inside the chapel, Cecily came out with her luggage.
"I'm ready. Let's go."
"Yeah, let's go to the inn. I'll carry your luggage."
"Oh my, how kind."
We tried to leave for the inn. But outside, Darkness was being pelted with stones by local children. I quickly stopped them.
"You brats! Can't you stop!"
The children scattered and ran away. I helped Darkness up and dusted her off.
"Tae-jin, even the women and children in this town are high-level! I really want to live here!"
Seeing Darkness's flushed face, she seemed to have enjoyed being hit by the stones.
"You seem to have enjoyed it, but we need to get to the inn."
"Yeah, let's go."
Just then, Cecily saw Darkness's necklace and asked me,
"Who is the Eris follower here?"
"She's one of my wives I mentioned earlier."
"Huh??? Don't tell me you're also an Eris follower, Tae-jin?"
Cecily was worried that I might also be an Eris follower.
"No. I have no religion."
"Phew... that's a relief."
"And let me be clear in advance: Darkness, my wife here, is not in my party. My party consists only of Yunyun and myself. So I've been looking for party members. We're traveling with Kazuma's party because we're close."
"Ah! I see. I understand."
We returned to the inn and reserved a room for Cecily. Then Cecily said,
"You didn't have to go to the trouble. I can share a room with Megumin and Yunyun."
"I refuse!" "I refuse!"
Megumin and Yunyun shouted simultaneously. Then Cecily, blushing, said to me,
"Well, then I suppose I have no choice but to share with Tae-jin..."
"Sorry, but Darkness and I are on our honeymoon. I came here partly to look for a priest, but the main purpose is our honeymoon trip."
"Tch! I see. But whenever you think of me, please come to my room anytime~"
Cecily looked very disappointed again. I had somewhat prepared myself for Cecily's crazy talk, but experiencing it firsthand made me a bit worried about the future.
"Now, let's relax and enjoy the hot spring."
"Yeah, let's do that. I saw there's a mixed bath here."
Kazuma seemed very excited about the mixed bath.
"I'll be heading in, then..."
Kazuma spoke loudly, as if wanting the women to hear, and tried to go to the hot spring. What exactly was he expecting? At any rate, after making that announcement, he waited for a long time without going to the bath. Then the women said,
"Go on~"
"I...!!!"
"Just go already!" "Yeah, hurry up and go!" "What are you waiting for? Why aren't you going?"
And so, Kazuma headed off to the hot spring rather dejectedly. I went with him. Of course, instead of the men's bath, we entered the mixed bath.
"Tae-jin, do you think there will be women there?"
Kazuma was still hopeful.
"Maybe, but they could also be old grannies."
"Sigh... I suppose so..."
I had a reason for coming to the mixed bath too. It was because I might meet some important people here. But due to the changes I'd caused in the original story, it was uncertain if I would meet them.
We undressed and entered the mixed bath. Since it was a mixed bath, out of politeness, we used towels to cover our privates. Once inside, the entire bath was an open-air bath, allowing us to enjoy the surrounding scenery while bathing.
"Wow~ It's nice that it's an open-air bath."
"I agree."
We showered quickly and headed toward the bath. At the far end of the bath, three people were sitting and talking. One of them was an incredibly beautiful, well-proportioned redhead. Seeing her, Kazuma, excited, said to me quietly,
"Tae-jin, look over there! There's an incredibly beautiful woman in the bath!"
"Yeah, there is."
We also got into the bath and began to enjoy it. Kazuma couldn't take his eyes off the woman. I also looked at the three people. One man was Hans, the woman was Wolbach, and the last man was Vanir.
Huh? Why is he here...
I was glad to meet the important characters, but I was a bit flustered to see Vanir here.