"Ah... Ah! Ahchooo!"
"Bless you," Kazuma said on reflex, then pondered the sheer absurdity of saying it to a Goddess. "I do hope you keep that cold to yourself, Aqua. Living in a stable is hard enough without passing a cold back and forth."
"Foolish mortal!" Aqua suddenly declared, rising to her full height. "I am a Goddess!" Sniff siff. "We, unlike you NEETs, do not get sick! Ohoho! That is why I am a truly superior being who really needs to lie down."
And just like that the superior Goddess collapsed down onto the bale of hay, and tugged her paper thin blanket over herself. Kazuma shook his head. If even someone as haughty as Aqua could be brought so low by the cold weather... "I'll bring back a hot drink," he promised while stepping out of the stable. "We'll forget about getting a new quest today, give you some time to recover."
"No new quest!" Aqua suddenly yelled, then broke out into a coughing fit that could be described as anything but godly, nor dignified. Disgusting was a better word to use. Kazuma moved his handkerchief to around his own mouth. "That's intolerable! The longer we stay here the less our chances of beating the Demon King! I won't let that happen! I can't let that happen!"
Five seconds later and she was shivering under the blanket again. Kazuma shook his head. No quests today. Only him and Megumin? Not a chance! A group like theirs needed a healer, even one as quirky as Aqua. If only they had a fighter they'd be a bit more rounded out...
"You stay right there," he warned. "I won't be gone for long. I'll bring you a hot drink to heat you up, and that'll help heat you up as well. You'll feel a lot better if you don't move around too much. Okay?"
"Aaaacho!"
He'd take that as a yes. Where Aqua was concerned you had to take the victories where they lay. Still, it did rather put an exclamation mark on their current living situation didn't it? This was untenable. They needed a better place to stay than a stable. The hygienic issue was pretty obvious, especially since his own world's understanding of diseases was a little more advanced and nuanced than this world. Then again this one had magic as an advantage.
Even so. It seemed that healing magic was no match for the common cold.
He made his way directly towards the guild, making a lot of motion with his arms. It felt like he was fighting off an army of cold demos all by himself! Really, this was a rare occasion where he felt a little sorry for Aqua. It sucked having to deal with a cold when you have better things to be doing. Still, he should have at least enough cash in hand to get both of them a nice hot drink. That should help heat her up in no time at -
"Megumin, Megumin!" a loud messy sniff filled the guild hall. "Dis mission sounds nice and easy! Achoo! Achoo! Achooooooo!"
Kazuma peered across the guild's main hall in disbelief. He blinked twice. He blinked a third time, just to be sure. Standing in front of the quest notice board was a wobbly looking blue haired beauty who had a raggedy blanket wrapped around her shoulder. Standing next to her, in turn, was a girl wearing a large pointy hat who was wiping down her face which was covered in - actually, best not to think about it - using a material that looked suspiciously like -
"My tracksuit!" he yelled, grabbing the only thing he had taken from his other life out of the cheeky arch wizard's hands. It was drenched. With what, he really did not want to think about! "Aqua! What are you doing out of bed when you're so sick, and also how did you beat me here in the first place?"
"I know a shortcut," Megumin announced.
"I literally walked a straight line!"
"Fufufu, just like a non-mage, you are a slave to euclidean geometry!"
Must... resist... urge to throttle young arch wizard! Remember, she knows Explosion and is the opposite of shy about casting it! "We can't go questing today," he announced. "Aqua is sick, she'd be a liability." More of one than usual, at least.
"I'm not siiick!" Aqua whined. Which would be all well and good if you didn't have a snot bubble the size of a fist dripping out of your nose. She sniffed, then lunged for his tracksuit with obvious intent. "I'm... Just... A little bit... On the damp side! I need to dry off! Lend me your tracksuit, I need to borrow it for... something unrelated!"
"Something unrelated my eye!" Kazuma yelled back, tugging the tracksuit desperately out of her grip. "Megumi! Get her back to the stable! Pronto! And you can forget about that hot drink!"
Ugh! Honestly! The two girls trudged back towards the entrance and Kazuma collapsed into a nearby chair. He needed something a bit stiffer than tea right about now. His head rolled over to the side to watch the two of them head back towards the entrance. In their own way they were both such troublemakers, but Aqua was easily the worse of them. Yeah, thank goodness they were trouble in different ways! That much was a lucky break! Kazuma was pretty sure that if he had to deal with more than one Aqua, he'd go completely off his rocker!
Although, funny thing. He could almost swear there was a tiny sliver of blue hair sticking out from under Megumin's hat. Must be just a trick of the light. Must be a trick of the light. Nothing he had to worry about.
Right?
Mon Apr 24 00:26:31 2017
2 comments Last updated: Mon Apr 24 08:13:02 2017