The next day, after breakfast, Shichen took everyone out to wander the town again.
He hadn't marked the town at all yesterday—he'd spent the whole afternoon playing with Darkness—so now he had to turn yesterday's lie into the truth.
Darkness was back to normal, though one particular spot hadn't recovered yet—it was still swollen—but she was thoroughly enjoying the pain.
Shichen wanted to heal her, but she refused.
This one was hopeless.
He now fully appreciated how scary M (masochist) could be. Fortunately, she could control herself.
A masochist who belonged only to him… he could live with that.
"Shichen, where are we going today?" Aqua asked, excited.
Back in Axel she never wanted to go out, but since this was the Axis Church's stronghold, she suddenly loved going out.
Shichen brought Frieren along too; he took her small hand, and she followed quietly.
"Let's just roam around, buy a few things—since we're out, we might as well enjoy it."
"A-are we… shopping all day?" Darkness asked, fired up. She kept her legs pressed together like she didn't dare walk, yet her face was glowing with excitement.
"You want to go all day?"
"Mm! Preferably," Darkness said, even more excited.
"…"
"H-huh? All day? Won't that be exhausting? And I'm kinda scared," Megumin couldn't help saying.
"Me too… this is the Axis Church's base," Yunyun added.
"Hm? You two don't want to walk? How about I take you somewhere nice?" Aqua said.
"Somewhere nice?"
"Just follow me—you'll love it."
"Sounds sketchy…"
"Then let's split up. You two can keep an eye on Aqua. We'll just window-shop; if we find something fun, we'll come find you," Shichen said.
"Why are you rushing us off? If you carry me—or give me a piggyback—I wouldn't mind walking with you all day," Megumin huffed, tsundere as ever.
"In your dreams," Shichen rejected flatly.
"Tch~ Fine, I'll go play with Aqua," Megumin said, annoyed.
"Eh? Do I have to too?" Yunyun asked Shichen.
"I'll feel better with you there. Help me keep an eye on the two of them," Shichen said, ruffling Yunyun's hair.
"Okay, got it," Yunyun said, instantly brightening.
"Great! Megumin, Yunyun, come with me," Aqua said, leading them off in high spirits.
Watching the three backs recede, Shichen wasn't worried at all—he already guessed where Aqua was headed.
In a sense, that place was very safe.
"Alright, we'll go this way," Shichen said to Darkness. As for Frieren's opinion—didn't matter.
"Shichen, should I take out my talisman? What if Axis followers bother us again?"
"Small problem. Just ignore them. Being pestered beats being attacked out of spite, right?"
If Darkness swaggered around showing the Eris emblem, she'd definitely be targeted—better to ignore them.
"I know…"
"Ah—!"
Before Darkness could finish, a little girl ran past the three of them and then fell flat on the ground.
She was adorable, but seemed hurt and couldn't get up.
"Are you alright, sweetie?" Frieren stepped forward and helped her up.
Shichen and Darkness didn't move.
The girl slowly got to her feet. Pain flickered across her cute little face, but she still forced a smile. "Th-thank you, Onee-san."
"Onee… san?" Frieren blinked, looking a bit pleased. "Are you okay? Did you hurt anything? Watch your step, okay—can you stand?"
"I can."
She gave a shy smile—so innocent it made people drop their guard.
"I'm fine now. Thank you, Onee-san! Um—kind Onee-san, what's your name?"
"Onee-san's name is Frieren~" Frieren replied happily.
"Frieren?"
The girl tilted her head, puzzled, then pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen. "How do you write that? Onee-san, could you write it for me?"
"Of course," Frieren said, smiling as she took the pen and paper, ready to write her name.
"Frieren, wait—look at what's printed on the paper," Shichen quickly warned.
"What's printed on… uh…"
Only then did Frieren see the words on it: Axis Church Membership Application.
"kid, you—"
"Onee-sannnn~" the girl played dumb.
"Goodbye," Frieren said, face blank, handing back the paper and pen before walking off.
"Onee-san!" the girl called after her, full of feeling, but got no response.
Shichen shook his head and tugged Darkness along to catch up.
"Shichen, slow down—the rubbing kind of hurts…" Darkness suddenly said.
"Why won't you let me heal you?" Shichen looked back, speechless.
"Because it feels really good," Darkness said, legs pressed together, eyes fever-bright.
"If you chafe it raw, I'm not keeping it," Shichen warned.
"Eh? How could it get rubbed raw?" Darkness tensed up.
"That place is delicate. If I can rub it swollen, you think fabric rubbing won't damage it?"
"Uh… then go ahead and heal me," Darkness said quickly.
A moment of pleasure wasn't worth it—if she really hurt herself and Shichen didn't want her anymore, that wouldn't do.
Clearly, she needed to take better care of her… ahem, delicate parts from now on.
Healing Darkness no longer required the old excuse about "direct contact." A wash of green healing light covered the area, and the soreness vanished quickly.
"Oh~"
You know your own body best—Darkness lifted her leg a couple of times and found everything fine.
"All set!"
"Then let's go," Shichen said, about to catch up to Frieren.
"By the way, since I'm fine now… what about tonight?" Darkness asked hopefully.
"We'll talk tonight."
Shichen spent pretty much the whole day strolling with Frieren and Darkness.
Plenty of Axis followers came by to invite them to join, but they ignored them.
These people were, surprisingly, rule-abiding—they wouldn't force you, just tried every trick in the book.
Only a fool would fall for it.
But their goddess was a certain fool, so it hardly made a difference whether she fell for it or not.
At noon, Shichen and Frieren picked a random restaurant—the food was much like the inn's: seafood.
They didn't ask Megumin and Yunyun to join; odds were their fare was even better.
By dusk, Shichen took Frieren and Darkness to the Axis Church.
"Shichen, why are we here?" Frieren asked nervously. She'd had her fill of Axis evangelists for one day.
"Aqua and the others are here."
"They are? Aren't they scared?"
"Did you forget Aqua's identity?"
"Fair…"
"Shichen, should I take out my talis—"
"Shut it."
"Mm~ yes, sir!"
The moment they stepped into the church, Shichen spotted Megumin and Yunyun looking exhausted and utterly drained.
"Shichen… what took you so long to come get us!" Megumin said, as if she'd just seen a lifesaver.
"Shichen, I never want to come here again," Yunyun said, on the verge of tears.
"You two okay?" Shichen asked, rubbing their heads to comfort them.
Megumin shook her head and urged, "This place is a demon realm! Let's go back—now! I just want to get out of here!"
"I see."
He didn't need to guess why they were like this—especially with their arms stuffed full of membership applications.
"Shichen, you're here!" Aqua came out just then.
"High Priestess, are you heading back?" a female believer ran over to ask.
"Mm-hmm. Shichen's here to take me home," Aqua said.
"I understand… but before you go, would you like to try the hot spring our church is most proud of? It's the Axis Church's main source of income and the best hot spring in town—its effects are several times better than a regular inn's."
"Several times better? That good?"
"That's right."
"Sounds nice. Shichen, what do you think—want to go soak?" Aqua asked.
"No! I just want to get back to the inn and rest!" Megumin cut in.
"But if the effects are several times better, it might even help with, you know, development."
"Uh…" Megumin hesitated.
"Development?" Yunyun asked.
"Don't worry about it. All you need to know is it'll help with shoulder stiffness," Aqua said.
"Really? That does sound nice."
"Shichen?" Aqua looked at him expectantly. Frieren and Darkness didn't need asking.
"Come here," Shichen said, beckoning Aqua over.
"What is it?" she asked, stepping close.
He whispered into her ear: "Did you forget about your purification?"
"It's fine. I can hold it back for a while. If I forget, I'll say so."
"…This is their biggest source of income."
"Hot springs are renewable, aren't they? Besides, I'm the water goddess—what's wrong with enjoying my church's resources?"
"If you put it like that… let's go."
Perfect—Shichen was just in the mood to get a little payback for how the Axis folks had tormented them today.
"Great!"