Last Drop of Hope, Chapter 20 (Patreon)

Beta’d and edited by the Grand Cogitator and Dr_Feelgood

Slowly, painfully, Kazuma drifted back to consciousness. He felt groggy and drained still, and every nerve in his body felt like it had been put through the wringer. Part of him wanted to just lie here forever, sleeping for the next year or two, but he knew he couldn’t do that. He struggled to open his eyes, and his vision swam for a few moments, the world around him dark and blurry.

“Big Brother!” someone grabbed his hand and squeezed, and Kazuma’s heart leaped as his brain slowly churned.

“Lia?” he whispered, even as a familiar face slowly came into focus. He found himself lying on a cot in a tent, corporate made by the quality, with curtains around him. The air was full of the smell of blood, sweat, excrement, and disinfectant. Soft moans and cries could be heard, along with coughs, and the hum of various medical devices. Before him, however, sat the one person in the system he really wanted to see.

Alice smiled down at him sadly, reaching down to smooth some of Kazuma’s hair from his clammy forehead. “No. It seems you lost those you love as well, did you not?”

“Sorry,” Kazuma said, closing his eyes again and fighting back tears. “I know you’re actually Alice…”

“No…I’m not.”

That made Kazuma’s eyes snap open again, and he tried to sit up. “What!? Who are you, where is my little sister?!”

“Shhh. It’s alright. I am the one you knew as Alice. But that is not my name.” She gave Kazuma a sad smile, gently pressing him back down onto the pad he was lying on. “My name…” She took a deep breath, composed herself, then continued,“I am Iris Stylish Sword Belzerg. I was the Princess, my elder brother, Jatice, was the Heir Apparent. But from what I now gather…that was hundreds of years ago. When the Flesh Shaper conquered Eris. When the last goddess fell. My memory is yet hazy, but…”

“Your Majesty!” another voice called, and Kazuma looked up, then let out a startled gasp and tried to rise again as someone in NyteTech corpsec armor hurried over. It was a woman with short blonde hair, with one lock of hair on the right dyed purple. She gave Kazuma a withering look, then bowed to Alice. No, Iris?

“What is it, Claire?” Iris asked, turning to regard the woman.

“Your Majesty, the fighting has stopped across all sectors. Word of Beldia’s death is spreading, and NyteTech forces are throwing down their arms,” Claire said, still bowing with one hand over her heart.

“That is good to hear. There is much to do and learn,” Iris said, and she looked exhausted, her expression growing hangdog for a moment. Kazuma saw now that she was still wearing her power armor, her face was smudged and bruised, and her hair greasy from being under a helmet for too long.

“Uh, no offense, but who are you, exactly?” Kazuma said, squinting up at the corporate dog.

Claire rose slightly and gave Kazuma a tight smile. “Claire Symphonia. Her Majesty’s most loyal retainer.”

That prompted an eyebrow raise from Kazuma. “I…think I was maybe out for longer than I thought. Alice, Iris…what happened?”

Iris looked down, and once more looked more like a scared, lonely, and exhausted little girl than a terrifying warrior or weary monarch. “When I touched the soil of this world, I…remembered. Not everything. But my blood recalled me to who I am. What I am.”

“And this bimbo is here, why?” Kazuma demanded bluntly. He’d never been fond of authority figures, and this Claire just oozed “cop” from her every pore.

“Watch your tongue! Such impertinence in front of her Majesty-” Claire began, her color rising as her nostrils flared in anger.

“Enough! I do not need two of my allies fighting when I have enough enemies surrounding me!” Iris snapped, and Kazuma and Claire both muttered apologies.

“Kazuma,” Iris said, turning her eyes back to him, a lingering pain and sadness still there. “I am the last of the Belzerg royal bloodline. The Crown has passed to me. And with it, the weight and authority of being Queen of Belzerg.”

“So, you just…declared yourself queen? I mean, I’d vote for you, but, uh, how’s that work?” Kazuma asked, his brow furrowing. “Because I vaguely remember you dueling Beldia and me spraying him down, but there was a lot of weird stuff going on.”

“I confess, your Majesty, I am somewhat curious myself,” Claire said stiffly. “And, while I find this boy's attitude uncouth…he showed remarkable courage and skill during that battle.”

Rubbing her hands through her hair only made them both filthier, and Iris sighed heavily, shaking her head. “There is too much to tell, and my mind is yet full of holes. But essentially, the Crown is more than just a title. It is a potent magical contract between my House, the Gods, and the Land. Belzerg must have a ruler for all to be right, and I am now that ruler. Weak and pitiful though I am-”

Kazuma snorted, and though Claire shot him a glare and he winced at the pain his body sent as protest at his sudden move, he managed, “Iris, I watched you rip a turret off a tank and then personally duel an immortal cyborg. I don’t think anyone is less weak and pitiful than you.”

“He speaks truly, your Majesty,” Claire agreed, nodding firmly. “That was a magnificent display.”

“Thank you, both of you. But my house was much diminished before I was ever born, and I am but the weakest and frailest member,” Iris said with another shake of her head. “Still, I will do what I can. It is obvious this world needs the Crown to restore it. It is my burden to bear.”

“Right, that still doesn’t explain the pig,” Kazuma said, eyes narrowing at Claire.

She puffed up for a moment, then deflated. “Her Majesty is… merciful. More than I deserve. Until recently, I fought for NyteTech, to my eternal shame.”

“We were all of us deceived and imprisoned by the lies of the CEOs, those I recall as Generals of the Devil King,” Iris said, putting a gauntlet on Claire’s arm. “You recalled your heritage and your oaths. You are no traitor.”

“What, is she some lost ancient bloodline?” Kazuma said with a smirk. When Iris simply gave him a cool nod and Claire looked at him thoughtfully, Kazuma had the wind taken out of him as well. “...oh. So, uh…does that mean you’re not my…”

His throat closed up, and he couldn’t say any more. Iris, however, shook her head and took Kazuma’s bruised and torn hands in her own. “You shall always be my Elder Brother. I sense power within your blood as well, Kazuma. And with your defeat of Beldia…it would not be unusual for such a man to be adopted into the Royal Family.”

“Your Majesty!” Claire gasped again, looking horrified.

“He has the blood of heroes, and do you deny that he is not a man of courage and skill?” Iris asked, turning to Claire with a patient expression.

“N-no, your Majesty,” Claire admitted, lowering her gaze. “And, well…he was the first to find you, was he not?”

“Then you shall be my Elder Brother in truth,” Iris decreed, giving Kazuma’s hands a slight squeeze, her eyes misting over. “I name you Heir Apparent, and Kazuma Squirtgun Belzerg.”

“Uh, can I get a mulligan on my name?” Kazuma asked even as Claire developed a sudden coughing fit, turning away as she chortled.

Iris grinned mischievously, and for just a moment, she was a little girl again. “Why, do you not enjoy your title of honor? It is traditional for Belzergs to be named after their favored combat style.”

“Yeah, but, Squirtgun? Can I at least be named ‘Radiant Water Cannon’ or something?” Kazuma asked desperately. Seriously, Squirtgun? That had to be the worst name ever.

“Hmm,” Iris stroked an invisible beard as if thinking, then grinned and shook her head. “Nope! You shall be Kazuma Squirtgun Sato-Belzerg!”

“Great, thanks,” Kazuma groaned, his head thumping back on his pillow. A slow grin did spread on his face though. “That was pretty awesome though, wasn’t it? I mean, I just got an assist, but…”

“It was. There have been other generals that were defeated throughout history, Beldia was not the first Dullahan to serve in the Devil King’s army. But it was a rare occurrence, and a mighty feat,” Iris agreed, standing. “I fear I must attend to my duties. Rest now. Your mana will take some time to recover after how badly you strained your body in the battle.”

“Right. You take care of yourself too,” Kazuma said, and with a final squeeze of his hand, Iris stood to go. Claire made to follow, but Kazuma snagged her arm. “Hey. Make sure she eats, gets a shower, takes care of herself. She just went through hell as well.”

“It is not for you to dictate what her majesty does,” Claire sniffed. When Kazuma glared at her, she sighed. “You are correct, however. I’ll see to it that Her Majesty gets some rest. That is the duty of a retainer after all.”

They left, and Kazuma lay back on his bed, exhausted, and drifted off again. He didn’t dream so much as pass out for a while, and when he came to again, he was groggy, with a parched throat. He disconnected his IV pole from its clip, then hobbled out of his little cubicle with it rattling beside him. There were still plenty of sick people around, but there were nurses giving what aid they could. Kazuma found a bucket to piss in and a bottle of water, then was making his way back to his own bed.

“Hey! Kazuma! You’re alive!”

Kazuma glanced into one cubicle, then grinned. “Dust! Rin! You made it!”

“Barely,” Rin croaked, giving Kazuma a slight smile under her mountain of bandages, her face mostly obscured, one leg raised in a full cast. What Kazuma could see of her face looked like it had been badly burned, and her tail had been salved and bandaged as well. Dust was stilling close to her, holding her hand, one arm in a sling, an eyepatch over one eye and half his face swathed in bandages.

“You two look like hell, I didn’t see what happened after we ditched the ship,” Kazuma said, leaning on the makeshift frame for support.

Dust grimaced. “We were coming down OK, but we got hit with the backblast of a plasma gun or something. Fried us half to death, barely survived. Rin got the worst of it…”

“He tried to block the whole thing,” Rin said, sounding both tired and proud as her eye fixed on Dust. “Somehow the big stupid lug managed to keep me alive and he still came off looking better.”

“...didn’t manage to save you,” Dust muttered, blushing and looking downcast.

“I could try healing you a little, I think I have some mana back,” Kazuma said, raising a hand and taking a step forward.

“Save it, you look half dead,” Rin said with a slight shake of her head. “Besides, someone supposedly coming with meds of some kind that will heal everyone.”

“They called her an Archpriest, maybe she has magic too?” Dust said hopefully. He looked back to Rin anxiously. “I just hope they can fix Rin up, I’m worried about her…”

“I’ll be fine,” Rin said quietly, laying her head back down. “Just need some rest…”

“What about Lan, Lolisa?” Kazuma asked, thinking of the last time he’d seen the pilot, and Lolisa, right before she’d passed out.

“Lan’s fine, barely a scratch on her. She’s trying to salvage what she can from the wreck,” Dust said. “But Lolisa…they dunno if she’s gonna make it.”

“What!? She was fine last I…” Kazuma trailed off, then swallowed. Holy water. They’d been making Holy Water. And Lolisa… “Where is she?!”

“Two stalls down. They’ve got her on life support, but-” Dust began, but Kazuma was hobbling over as fast as his aching body could manage. The first cubicle he peeked in had an unconscious Cecily, who looked fine, just sleeping. He didn’t know the woman super well, but he owed her a lot for her willingness to help save Iris.

Staggering to the next curtain, Kazuma pulled it open to reveal a body completely swathed in bandages, laying on a cot with an IV in and a vitals monitor that showed a weak pulse.

“Lolisa!” Kazuma gasped, hurrying over. As he did so, the body stirred slightly, and eyes that were so bloodshot they looked like bloodstains opened.

“K-kazuma…” Lolisa whispered. “Don’t…touch…”

Hesitating, Kazuma glanced at the chart at the foot of the bed. He caught sight of “burns, 90% of body.”

“Oh hell…what…was it?” Kazuma sat down heavily on the bedside, feeling dazed and horrified.

“It’s…ok. W-worth,” Lolisa gasped. “P-priest…tried…heal me…hurt…hurt so bad…”

“Shit, is there no way to heal you?” Kazuma asked, feeling desperate. He pulled up his Adventurer’s card. He had a lot of skill points now: apparently, the assist with Belida had been enough to take him all the way to level 22.

“N-no,” Lolisa whispered, and closed her eyes. Feeling helpless, Kazuma just sat there, looking down at her, while her chest rose and fell in shallow breaths. Was this how it ended for the brave succubus? She had to have known that helping to make Holy Water was going to do horrible things to her, but she’d done it anyway. For a demon, she was remarkably altruistic. It didn’t seem right at all.

For long minutes, Kazuma sat there, feeling both hopeless and drained. They’d won the battle, Iris was safe, better than safe, but the cost had been catastrophic.

Then, someone barged into the hospital tent and shouted, “Never fear! Aqua is here!”

“What a jerk,” Kazuma grumbled, not bothering to look up from Lolisa. He heard some more noises behind him, including more of that obnoxious woman who’d come into the hospital like she was some sort of hero. The noises got louder and louder, and finally Kazuma had enough. He stood up and stalked over to the curtain, just as it was thrown back.

A girl looked up at him, and the first thing Kazuma noticed was her red eyes. Crimson orbs like that only came from one kind of person, and he took a step backwards involuntarily. Despite the fact that the girl he was looking at was slender and came up only to his chin, she was clearly a Crimson Demon by the way she was dressed and armed. No one else was going to carry around a sword bigger than she was or be dressed in red and black armor.

“Hmph. Are you hurt too?” the girl demanded of him, looking him up and down.

“No, I just like wearing bandages and limping for fun,” Kazuma snapped at her.

The girl rolled her eyes. “Great, another smart ass Outsider. Look, do you want to be healed or not?”

Before Kazuma could formulate a reply, a woman in blue with a scandalously short skirt bounced up, looking outrageously happy for someone in a hospital. “Hey Megumin, anyone else to take care of? I swear, it still smells like demon in here!”

“Who asked you?” Kazuma demanded. “And keep it down, would you? Lolisa’s trying to sleep!”

“No one needs to sleep when I’m here!” the second woman, Aqua by her coloring, grinned at Kazuma. “No one needs to sleep, because the super amazing goddess of the Axis Cult is here! Don’t worry, everything’s going to be alright!”

Behind Kazuma, Lolisa let out a whimper. “It burns…the light…it burns…”

Kazuma’s eyes went wide, but Aqua suddenly scowled. “A-ha! I knew it smelled like demon! Right, just let me at her! I’ll have her exorcized in no-”

On reflex, Kazuma slapped Aqua. “Don’t you dare!”

“Waaaaaaa!” Aqua wailed, at the same time as Kazuma found himself pinned to the floor with a sword in his face.

“Don’t you DARE hurt Aqua!” Megumin snarled. “I’m the only one allowed to do that!”

“Get off of me!” Kazuma snarled, trying and failing to shove Megumin off of him. She might look like she weighed 40 kilos soaking wet, but she was frighteningly strong. “Lolisa saved all our lives!”

“Huh? How could a smelly demon do that? I bet she has you mind controlled!” Aqua huffed, reaching down to touch Kazuma’s forehead. “Heal! Break Curse!”

Instantly, a tinglingwave washed over Kazuma, and he felt much better. He blinked in shock, but put out a hand. “Bind!”

Electrical cords snapped from the equipment around them, wrapping themselves around Megumin, who squawked in outrage. Kazuma pushed the now cocooned girl off him, then stood up and yanked Aqua back from Lolisa by her ear. “Don’t go near her! Holy magic hurts her!”

“OWOWOWOWOW! I know that! She’s a demon! I’m going to exorcize her”! Aqua squealed.

“Don’t you dare! If you think of harming one hair on her head, I’ll-” Kazuma trailed off as Megumin got out of her restraints, rising to her feet with murder in her eyes. “Oh shit…”

Before Megumin could strike, an enormous armored figure appeared, grabbing Megumin’s sword and tossing it away, then picking her up by the collar, at the same time as they grabbed Aqua and pried her from Kazuma’s grip.

“Lady Megumin, Goddess Aqua, I must insist you calm down,” the giant blonde woman said in firm but polite tones. “There seems to have been a misunderstanding.”

“Put me down!” Megumin snarled, writhing in the woman’s grip. “Just because you’re an overgrown gorilla doesn’t mean you get to manhandle me! Give me back my sword!”

“Darkness, come on! It’s just one demon! She needs a good exorcizing!” Aqua whined.

“Wait, I know you!” Kazuma said, pointing at the giant of a woman. She looked like she was 2 meters tall even without that power armor on, but with it she had to stoop slightly, even though the tent roof was 2.5 meters tall at least. “You’re that other knight who fought with Alice! I mean, uh, Queen Iris!”

“I have that honor,” Darkness agreed, nodding. She looked at Megumin and Aqua, who were both struggling and pouting, and sighed heavily. “And this is his Highness, Kazuma Squirtgun Sato.”

The name made Kazuma wince, especially when Megumin and Aqua both stopped struggling to laugh at him.

“Squirtgun? And people make fun of Crimson Demon names,” Megumin said, smirking at Kazuma. “Even for an outsider, that’s just completely stupid!”

“Squirtgun? What, is it so tiny you had to name him after that,” Aqua tittered, putting a hand to her mouth.

“H-hey! It’s perfectly normal, I’ll have you know!” Kazuma snapped. “I, uh, I just…I sort of, uh…used Basic Water magic to weaken Beldia, so…uh…it sort of looked like a squirtgun…”

“Huh? How could basic water magic weaken a dullahan?” Aqua asked.

Megumin, however, had stopped laughing, and looked impressed. “We heard about that. That was you? Wait, then that demon behind you…”

“I couldn’t stand, neither could Cecily. We were already hit with Mind Down. Lolisa held us up while we hosed Belida down with Holy Water,” Kazuma said quietly. He looked behind him. “But, well…Lolisa…she’s a demon. Holy Water hurts her too…she’s burned all over her body.”

Aqua sniffled, looking like someone had just ruined her day. “That’s…that’s so sad…”

“I know,” Kazuma’s shoulders slumped. “You’re probably that Arch Priest everyone said would heal everyone, but her…” He swallowed. “Could you…even help a demon?”

“No,” Aqua said, tears trickling down her cheeks. “I…I’m sorry I said I’d exorcize her…she…well. She doesn’t sound like much of a demon…”

“You can put us down now, Darkness,” Megumin said quietly. “We’ll go help the others. Aqua? Maybe, um, stay away from Lolisa?”

“Yeah,” Aqua agreed as Darkness set them both on their feet. They quietly went off to heal the rest of the wounded, while Kazuma went over to kneel by Lolisa’s side again. He heard heavy footsteps, and looked up to see Darkness hovering over them.

“It does not seem right,” Darkness said with a heavy sigh, taking a knee herself. She was actually gorgeous now that Kazuma got a good look at her, with fine high cheekbones and near flawless skin. Her hair was long enough that it hung in a ponytail past her shoulders, and her blue eyes were clear and full of empathy. “We can be healed by Lady Aqua, but this girl, who gave so much…”

“Yeah,” Kazuma said. Then he blinked. “Wait…hold on a sec…”

He leaned forward over the bed, and heard Darkness gasp behind him. Then, he pressed his lips to Lolisa’s. At first, nothing happened. Then her lips greedily began to suck at his, her tongue darting into his mouth. A wonderful sensation washed over Kazuma, and his knees trembled. He could feel mana flowing out of him, but he didn’t care. Aqua had restored his reserves, so he was going to be just fine. He would-

Blinking, Kazuma looked around at a sea of stars. He was sitting in the void in a silver chair, nothing around him but empty blackness. That, and-

“Chris?” Kazuma asked, blinking slightly at the woman sitting across from him. She looked like Chris, anyway, though she didn’t have the scar, and her bust was bigger, the facial features were a dead ringer, though instead of Chris’ tube top and hot pants, this woman was dressed in a dark gray robe, with a feathered mantle and dark headdress.

“So much for disguises,” Chris chuckled. She reached up, running a finger over her right check. It came away coated in makeup, and revealed the scar she had. She winked at Kazuma. “Guess it doesn’t work as well when you met my Avatar first.”

“Avatar? Wait, are you…are you alive?” Kazuma asked, swallowing and thinking of the last time he’d seen Chris, bleeding out in the jungle, Slyvia and her commandos right behind them.

“Yes and no. The person you met was just a projection of myself. And, well, Chris isn’t the name most would know me by,” Chris said. She gave Kazuma a sad smile. “Have you figured it out?”

“Uh, no. What were you doing in that basement, anyway?” Kazuma asked, tilting his head to one side. “I never had time to really think about it, but it was really weird.”

“It was. Lucky timing. I’d just worked up enough power to escape, however briefly, and there you were.” Chris smiled sadly, shaking her head, putting one hand to her breast. “I was doing the same thing Iris was, for that is her true name.”

“I know. She remembered it when we got back to Belzerg,” Kazuma said with a slow nod. “But how did you- wait. The same thing as her? You were in one of those mana harvesters?”

Chris nodded, leaning back in her chair, putting one hand to her forehead. “Yes. And I am trapped there still. You would know me as Eris. Goddess of Fortune…and the Moon.”

“Holy shit,” Kazuma breathed, then colored. “I mean, uh, s-sorry, your holiness.”

“It’s fine,” Chris, or rather, Eris said, making a dismissive motion. “It’s good you reached the planet before you died. I just wanted to let you know before you passed on, that…you have given this world hope, Kazuma. Though you fell in battle against demons, with Iris free, there is yet real hope that one day, this world can be healed. I may be the last goddess, but-”

“Aside from Aqua,” Kazuma said. “And, uh, I’m dead? How?! I was just healed!”

Eris blinked rapidly. “Aside from…? But, Aqua’s been dead for centuries, just like all the other gods. I’m the last goddess of Belzerg.”

“Well then who was the blue haired bimbo that just healed me and all the other people in the hospital?” Kazuma demanded.

Eris’ eyes went wide, and then, a voice spoke into the void.

“Kazuma!? Kazuma, are you there!? Wake up! I tried the resurrection spell, but it’s not-”

“SENPAI!?” Eris gasped, jumping to her feet. “Senpai, you’re-”

“Eris?! What are you-”

“Senpai, we’re alive!” Eris gasped, throwing her arms open wide to the heavens. “You’re alive! How, where…?!”

“I was trapped in an ice cube for a thousand years or something, I dunno, Wiz did it. But you-”

“Wiz?! The Ice Witch?!” Eris gasped, sounding baffled. “But how…?”

“Uh, ladies, I hate to interrupt, but can someone tell me what the hell is going on, and why I’m dead!?” Kazuma demanded, getting to his feet and looking around.

“Because you kissed a half dead succubus, moron! Now she’s crying and saying she’s killed you! What did you think was going to happen!?” Aqua demanded.

Eris turned and gave Kazuma a dirty look. “Seriously? You kissed a succubus?”

“She’s a good one! She helped me kill Belida!” Kazuma snapped.

“The only good demon is a dead demon,” Eris said coldly. Then she blinked. “Wait, you killed Belida?!”

“Eh, I got an assist, it was mostly Iris. But hurry up and bring me back! It wasn’t Lolisa’s fault,” Kazuma huffed.

“Hold on, what about Eris!? Where are you?!” Aqua demanded. “If both of us are alive, then we can kick the Devil King’s butt and save the world!”

“He died hundreds of years ago,” Eris said tiredly. She shook her head. “There isn’t much time. Aqua, I’m imprisoned on the moon. I fled there with a handful of survivors when Belzerg fell, along with the Royal Heir of Belzerg. We lasted for a few hundred years, before Slyvia created ships to come and conquer us. But if you’re free…Aqua, you have to save the world!”

“We’re working on it. One asshole  down, six to go,” Kazuma said with a nod.

“Five, Wiz is a good guy!” Aqua said cheerily. Then her tone sobered. “But Eris…I don’t know how to get to the moon…”

“I mean I did just come from there, you just need a ship,” Kazuma said with a shrug. “But I think we got other problems right now.”

“Yes. Save the world, Aqua, I may have to take my own life to deny Silvia power,” Eris said, sounding dejected. “If I do-”

“Fuck that!” Kazuma snapped, turning to Eris. He put his hands on her shoulders as she started, looking up at his face. “We got Iris out. Your turn next. We’ll handle things here, then come for you. Whether it’s a teleport, or space ship, or whatever. No one left behind. Especially not you.”

Eris blinked at Kazuma, then tears filled her eyes, and she wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you…take good care of Aqua and Iris…you’re a good man, Kazuma Sato.”

“Just don’t call me Squirtgun,” Kazuma said, feeling choked up.

“Squirtgun?” Eris asked, stepping back and wiping a tear from her eye.

“He squirted Beldia to death, it’s really funny,” Aqua informed. “Eris, are you sure I can’t bring you back too?”

“No, this is just a piece of me I gave to Kazuma. I don’t even know if I can tell the rest of myself still trapped on the Moon, but…I’ll hold out. Somehow. Until you come,” Eris promised, taking Kazuma’s hands. “Now go. Sounds like you’ve got work to do.”

“Yeah, OK,” Kazuma agreed. He turned to the void. “So how does this-”

“-work.” Kazuma blinked, looking up at the worried face of Aqua. “Huh.”

“KAZUMA!” A pink blur shoved Aqua aside, and Lolisa’s tear streaked face looked down at him. “Y-you big dummy! I told you not to touch me! B-but then you kissed me! I-I t-tried not to, b-but I couldn’t help myself, a-and…”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Kazuma said, giving Lolisa a dopey grin. “Turns out we had a cheat code.”

“You jerk,” Lolisa sniffled, pounding a fist onto Kazuma’s chest. He groaned slightly, and she gasped. “S-sorry!”

“No, it’s fine, I just…” Kazuma looked down at himself and grimaced. “I think I need a new  hospital gown…”

“Oh, uh…w-well…” Lolisa blushed and looked away. “S-sorry. It’s, um, it’s what happens when a succubus drains you…”

“Does it count as losing my v-card?” Kazuma joked.

“Gross,” Aqua muttered in the background.

For her part, Lolisa blushed and looked away. “I, uh, I didn’t mean to, um…that is…”

“Oh relax,” Kazuma sighed and held up a hand. “Help me up?”

Lolisa pulled Kazuma to a sitting position, and he looked over Aqua, who was beaming at both of them. “Well, thanks for bringing me back. And not killing Lolisa, I guess.”

“I’ll make an exception for her. Normally I would kill any stinky demons I found, but she was so sad you were dead…I think she’s nice!” Aqua declared, folding her arms over her chest.

“T-thanks,” Lolisa muttered. She gave Kazuma a nervous smile. “A-and…thank you…I-I probably would have died, but…I didn’t want to kill anyone else… not…not after…” she touched the back of her neck, and grimaced.

“Yeah, well, I think things are getting a little better around here.” Kazuma glanced around. “Where’s Iris?”

“Her Majesty is tending to the troops, and planning our strategy,” Darkness said, and everyone craned their necks to look over at her. She was standing with Megumin and two other Crimson Demon Girls, most of the dividers for the hospital having been taken down. Apparently, Aqua had healed every single patient, so they were packing things up. “Santomon Chemicals is building up for an attack, and rumor has it that Hans himself will take the field.”

“That disgusting piece of filth,” Aqua growled. “I might be willing to forgive Wiz, and even this nice succubus, but I’ll never forgive him for what he did to my followers!”

“Even I think Hans is disgusting,” Lolisa agreed with a shudder. “He’s the reason the sky and water are poisoned…he did it deliberately, you know. It wasn’t just about the profits.”

With a groan, Kazuma started to get to his feet. Lolisa jumped to her feet with a flutter of wings, and helped him up, looking concerned. “Are you…?”

“Fine, I just wanted a pretty girl to help me,” Kazuma joked, then winced. “Ugh, I still feel sore…”

“I healed your wounds and replenished your mana, but your spirit will take time to recover,” Aqua warned. “You’ve died, and gotten Mind Down twice in one day. You need to rest.”

“No time for that,” Kazuma sighed, but he let himself lean on Lolisa anyway. “Gotta find Iris. There’s work to do…”

“I-I’ll make sure he rests, Goddess,” Lolisa promised. She gave Kazuma a shy smile. “He…he’s a good man.”

“To see him force himself upon an unconscious girl,” Darkness muttered. “He seems to me to be a pervert…”

“I was trying to heal her!” Kazuma protested. “I remembered succubi transfer mana through-”

“Pervert,” Megumin agreed with a nod.

“Definitely a pervert,” Aqua added.

“You’re all jerks,” Kazuma said, and flipped them all off.

“Hey! Not in front of Komekko!” Megumin snapped, covering the littlest Crimson Demon’s eyes with a hand.

“I-I don’t mind, he saved my life,” Lolisa protested. She turned Kazuma back towards the bed. “Come on, I’ll wash you off, then get you some food.”

“Maybe we should get a male nurse,” Megumin called. “Kazutrash might try something on you again.”

“I’m not bringing you back again if you die from being a pervert again, Kazuma!” Aqua called.

“I wonder if I could convince Claire to molest me in my sleep,” Darkness muttered.

“I’m surrounded by perverts,” Megumin complained. “Aqua, do you have that edible soap still?”

“Of course!”

Kazuma tuned it out as the group wandered off, and Lolisa laid him down on the bed. He really did feel completely drained.

“Um, if you mind, I could get someone else to help you,” Lolisa offered. “I-I’m full now, so I won’t kill you on accident, but-”

“What guy doesn’t want a sponge bath from a beautiful woman?” Kazuma said with a yawn. The last thing he saw before he passed out again was Lolisa’s blush and grin.

When he did sleep, he dreamed of a world with blue skies, green grass, and laying on the grass with Iris on one side, Lia on the other.

And for once, it didn’t feel like a hopeless daydream.