Chapter 205: Sena: What Do You Think of Me, Mr. Kobayashi?
Satou Kazuma was dragged away, shouting and screaming. And the one who had taken him away was the royal prosecutor, Sena, who had an extremely bad impression of him before even meeting him. For a moment, he couldn't even tell if the super-high luck stat on his card was real.
You get into trouble too easily, Kazuma-kun!
But Kobayashi believed in his companion.
Even if Kazuma was lewd, shameless, and despicable, and had the indecent title of "Axel's Pervert," he was still a good man who dared to take responsibility for his actions. If he said it was a misunderstanding, then it must be a misunderstanding!
"Miss Sena."
"Is something wrong, Mr. Kobayashi?"
"About Kazuma... ahem, Satou Kazuma... is it possible he was wrongly accused?"
"What?"
"What I mean is, could there be some misunderstanding in this? Seeing him struggle like that... how about we let him explain first? Even a criminal has the right to defend himself, don't they?"
Even for a royal prosecutor, the necessary procedures still had to be followed.
Being misunderstood was a fate that no one could escape. So, as long as they gave Kazuma a chance to speak, to explain the cause and effect, and to prove his innocence, Sena would have to release him.
However, he had underestimated her arbitrariness.
"No!"
"...Eh?"
"Mr. Kobayashi, almost every criminal I arrest says they've been wrongly accused. But in the end, they all obediently confess their crimes. But it's fine. Whether he was wrongly accused or not, once I take him back to the interrogation room, I will in-ter-ro-gate him... pro-per-ly!"
Sena's lips curled into a dangerous smile.
You're planning to use torture, aren't you? You're planning to use torture on him to force a confession, right?
"Wait...!"
"Also! Satou Kazuma is your companion. I am aware of that. But to have such a filthy and despicable person in your party... you must be very heartbroken. Since that's the case, then allow me to take care of it for you."
Sena spoke very politely and tactfully, but he could still hear the hidden meaning in her words.
—Don't even think about covering for him!
I wouldn't do that, okay?!
If there really was an irredeemable scumbag in the party, then he wouldn't need her to step in. He would have eliminated him first!
But with her saying that, she had completely blocked his words.
"You two! In the name of the royal prosecutor, I order you to escort Satou Kazuma back to the interrogation room!"
She commanded Guards A and B to take him away. At the same time, she adjusted her glasses and said rather seriously, "Mr. Kobayashi, it seems we can no longer tour the beautiful scenery of Axel together. But I will pay you a visit later. Please wait for me."
Is she saying she's coming to the mansion to interrogate me later?
Then, she left.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, looking very troubled.
He hadn't expected her to be so prejudiced against Kazuma. And he really hadn't expected Kazuma to pull a stunt like this right off the bat, giving her a reason to arrest him and take him back to the interrogation room.
You've really done it, Kazuma-kun!
Darkness asked with some concern, "Kobayashi, what should we do now?"
Phew—
He let out a breath and said, "Let's go home first. At the very least, we need to understand the cause and effect."
"Mmm. Megumin and Aqua should know something."
Darkness nodded in reply.
Afterward, the two of them returned to the mansion.
In the mansion's living room, Megumin was teasing her pet cat, Chomusuke, and Aqua was lying on the floor, baring her fangs and squaring off against the cat.
And the idiot goddess was even wearing a skirt, so her underwear was on full display.
...is impossible.
From his perspective, there was only a cloud of mosaic; he couldn't see anything at all. Even if he used [Spectator], it would be blocked by her divine power.
"Megumin? Aqua?"
"What are you two doing?"
He and Darkness looked at the two of them, puzzled. For those who knew, they were playing with a cat. For those who didn't, they would have thought Megumin was playing with the other two.
"Ah, it's Kobayashi! And Darkness! Welcome back!"
Aqua turned her head, and after seeing him, she jumped up from the ground and went to greet him cheerfully.
She was always this cheerful, sometimes a little too cheerful.
He stroked her head and asked curiously, "This is rare. Why are you out here? Have you finished analyzing the Falna?"
"How is that possible!" she said, shooting him a look. "That's a god-level item! It's impossible to figure it out in a short time. I just got tired and came out to relax. I say, Kobayashi~~~ Seeing as I'm working so hard, buy me a bottle of sparkling liquor~~~"
The goddess was begging her believer, hoping he would satisfy her desires a little and offer her some tribute.
"Okay," he said, not hesitating.
Her eyes lit up. "Really? You'll really buy me sparkling liquor?!"
"Mmm. Just consider it a reward for your hard work recently."
"That's great! I want the guild's special high-grade sparkling liquor!"
"I'll buy it. The big bottle!"
It had to be said, her ability to infect others was extremely strong. That cheerful aura also affected him. Megumin and Darkness also looked at her with smiles on their faces.
Megumin said to Darkness, "Welcome back, Darkness."
"I'm back."
Darkness also smiled and greeted her, then noticed the small black furball in her arms and cried out in excitement, "Megumin! What is that cute little thing?!"
"This is Chomusuke. She's my pet."
"Chomusuke!"
Darkness reached out her hand to stroke the cat-like pet in her arms. And Chomusuke, unlike how she had treated Aqua, did not attack, but instead was very well-behaved and let the female knight stroke her.
Come to think of it, Chomusuke had been brought here by Megumin while Darkness was away, so it was normal that she didn't know.
But there was also something abnormal.
"How strange. This cat is so strange," Aqua said, biting her fingertip, as if she had discovered something.
"What's wrong? What's strange about her?"
"This cat... actually didn't scratch Darkness! Don't you think that's strange?!"
"Is it? Besides, she didn't scratch me or Megumin either. There's nothing strange about it."
"No! It's definitely strange! Look! That ominous black fur, and the unusual white cross on its forehead! I'm sure of it! It's definitely an ominous existence! A demon! It's a demon!"
Aqua suddenly started shouting.
Although to an outsider, it looked as if she was slandering Chomusuke out of shame and anger, he, who knew that Chomusuke was the other half of the Demon King's general, Wolbach, could only say that the goddess's intuition was frighteningly strong.
But he couldn't let it be known. Otherwise, the crazed goddess would definitely purify Chomusuke under the pretext of eliminating the Demon King's army.
Therefore, he had to misdirect her a little.
"How is that possible? You idiot Aqua. It's just an ordinary kitten," he sighed, and as if annoyed, he tapped her on the forehead. "Even if you're a goddess, don't just say everything is ominous or to be feared. That's so rude. You'll hurt Megumin's feelings."
"R-really? It just seems like an ordinary black cat. I'm sorry, Megumin."
She was able to listen to reason, probably because she didn't want to hurt Megumin's feelings.
Megumin was not angry. Instead, she held up the black cat in her arms, brought it in front of Aqua, and said, "Chomusuke is very well-behaved. Maybe you just provoked her before. This time, it will definitely be fine."
Although she said that, he still saw with his sharp eyes that when she had picked her up, she had specially restrained all four of her paws. This way, even if she wanted to attack, she couldn't.
She's pretty smart!
"I-is that so?"
Aqua was a little unconvinced. But under Megumin's affirmative gaze, she still reached out her hand and slowly approached her.
Everyone unconsciously held their breath.
Closer, so close! It's already past the attack range of her claws!
A happy smile appeared on Aqua's face.
In her eyes, to be able to get this close meant that she wouldn't be attacked again, and her tense heart relaxed a little.
"Meow—"
Suddenly, Chomusuke meowed, and then bit the hand she had extended.
"...Eh?" x2
Megumin and Darkness were stunned.
He also couldn't help but hold his forehead. As expected, is this how it is?
They're mortal enemies. Is this punishment for her being unscrupulously promoted as an evil god by the Axis Order, causing her to lose believers?!
"Cho-Chomusuke! Let go!"
Fortunately, she still listened to Megumin. She let go of her mouth amid the scolding.
"Kobayashi~~~"
And the idiot goddess's big eyes immediately welled up, and she pounced into his arms, aggrieved, seeking comfort.
"Alright, alright. It's not a big deal, even if you're not liked."
"No! She's definitely a demon! An ominous existence! I'm going to purify her! No one can stop me!"
His persuasion had no effect. The crazed goddess was already on the verge of a rampage.
But he couldn't let her do that. He forcibly held her, not letting her get close to Chomusuke, and at the same time, had Megumin take the black kitten back to her room.
After a long while of fuss, she finally calmed down.
Only then did he, sitting on the sofa, say, "Aqua, Kazuma-kun was arrested by the guards. Do you know anything?"
"Arrested? Why?" she was clearly stunned. But soon, she said, in a sarcastic and gloating tone, "Pfft pfft pfft, it must be that scumbag Kazuma stealing someone's panties on the street again. And with his perverted and lewd level, isn't it perfectly normal for him to be arrested?"
It's a normal thing?!
And what's with that gloating? If he saw that, he would be angry and yell at you again!
Speaking of which, stealing panties...
At that time, he had indeed seen him holding a piece of clothing in his hand.
Don't tell me he really did use [Steal] on a female adventurer, and was then arrested on the spot by Guards A and B?
But from the look of it, it didn't look like panties.
And...
At this moment, Megumin came down from the second floor. After hearing their conversation, she said, "He was probably trying to get someone to try on clothes."
"...What?" he was stunned.
She said, with a hint of complaint and a bit of schadenfreude, "He asked me to try on clothes before, but I refused. So he probably went to the street to find someone else to try them on."
Why did you refuse?
...He couldn't say this out loud.
Because the clothes he made always came with some particularly shameful effects. And because of the size restrictions, the victim was always Megumin. So it was understandable that the chuunibyou loli would be resistant.
"In other words, he went to the street to find someone to try on clothes, but because of the special effects, the female adventurer made some strange movements, and then he just happened to be seen by Guards A and B, so he was arrested on the spot?"
He made a small deduction.
This should be the truth of the matter.
Of course, it wasn't necessarily that simple. With his lewd and perverted personality, it was very possible that he had taken the opportunity to make "this kind and that kind" of... in the eyes of outsiders, lewd... small movements on the female adventurer.
Wouldn't that be even more of a reason to arrest him?!
"It's fine, it's fine," Megumin said, for once with a hint of darkness, and a smile. "Harassing female adventurers is a minor crime at best. No harm will come of it."
In Axel, harassing female adventurers is not a minor crime!
Aqua also spread her hands and advised, "That's right, that's right. It's just a small problem. Let's just wait for him to serve his time and come out safely."
Why is it a given that he will serve time?
Darkness also said with a pained expression, "Although it's heartbreaking, for now, let's just forget about him!"
Hey! Don't just forget about him!
"You three! He's our companion, isn't he? Why are you acting like you're just going to leave him to die?"
He was completely speechless.
It seemed that the group's resentment towards him was quite large, so much so that no one wanted to save him, and they hoped he would suffer a little.
"Mr. Kobayashi—! Mr. Kobayashi, are you there—!"
Before the group could come to a conclusion, the royal prosecutor, Sena, had already arrived.
His heart tensed, and he quickly instructed the problem children, "You three! Don't say anything strange! It wouldn't be good if it deepens the misunderstanding! Got it?"
"Mmm, I got it!"
"Got it, got it."
"Rest assured, I'll be careful."
The three of them agreed readily, but he had a feeling that something was wrong.
This feeling of unease...
But she was already here. It was impossible not to receive her.
There was no helping it. He just had to bite the bullet!
He and Darkness walked out of the mansion. She was waiting at the main gate, and following her were two guards.
"Miss Sena."
"Mr. Kobayashi. I hope I'm not disturbing you by visiting."
"Not at all. Please, come in!"
He welcomed her into the mansion.
When they reached the living room, Megumin and Aqua were sitting upright, their backs straight like "three-good" students. Darkness took the initiative to go to the kitchen to prepare black tea.
Normally, this should be Aqua's job, but the idiot goddess had the magical constitution of turning any liquid she touched into pure water. To prevent Sena from mistakenly thinking they were fooling her, he had sent Darkness instead.
The perverted knight, apart from her useless performance, was top-tier in all other aspects.
Soon, fragrant, hot tea was placed in front of everyone.
Sena stared straight at him, her expression serious. He didn't know what she was thinking, which made him also become nervous.
Don't tell me... she's already grasped the truth of the matter?
She came so quickly. Don't tell me she used torture? Forcibly pried open his mouth, and made him confess to a crime he hadn't even committed...
"Mr. Kobayashi."
"Y-yes..."
She suddenly spoke, and he came back to his senses. At the same time, his mind was constantly thinking about what she was going to say.
Is it about his crime? Or about Aldarp? Or some other important intelligence...
However—
"Mr. Kobayashi, I was wondering if you have a woman you're interested in?"
"...What?"
"Pardon my rudeness. What I mean is... what do you think of me?"
This woman... what is she suddenly talking about?
(End of Chapter)