Chapter 884: Hans, Did You Eat People?
Alcanretia was a town built against the mountains, with a mountain path leading to the rear hills behind the settlement.
At this moment, the night sky stretched overhead as the group advanced along the uneven mountain trail toward the back hills, torches in hand.
"Boss, is that Death-something Slime really in the back hills?"
Kazuma, supported by Megumin, had regained some strength and stepped forward to ask Eiji.
"Darkness investigated at the guild. Quite a few hot springs have been affected so far. Most people who bathed in them developed rashes and similar symptoms. Judging by the symptoms, they were all poisoned just like the church's hot spring," Eiji explained. "But there's one common factor—all the tainted hot springs are on the same branch stream!"
"What does that mean?"
Aqua leaned in, her face radiating idiocy.
"Are you stupid?! If they're on the same branch stream, that means they share the same source!"
Kazuma answered while throwing in a side of mockery for Aqua's intelligence.
"Ohhh, I get it now!"
Aqua had an epiphany.
"So, Hans poisoned the source of the hot springs, and the toxins spread downstream through the branch stream!"
Yunyun tensed up, her expression grave.
"How dare he! If his scheme succeeds, not only will all the hot springs be ruined, but there could even be mass casualties among the civilians!"
Darkness's face twisted in disgust.
"Could this also be the Demon King's orders?"
"Why do you have to drag the Demon King into this?"
Eiji shot her an annoyed glare.
"To introduce that much poison into the source and let it flow downstream without being noticed requires long-term effort. Judging by the timeline, this operation was already underway before the new Demon King appeared—it has nothing to do with him!"
Even if toxins were released nonstop, contaminating all the hot springs without detection would still be a slow, meticulous process.
Hans had been in Alcanretia for at least several months. He had already begun destroying the hot spring sources before Eiji even arrived in this world.
"That's true."
Darkness's expression softened slightly.
"Darkness, you're actually relieved for the Demon King? Could it be you've really fallen for him?"
Megumin suddenly shouted, throwing a provocative glance at Eiji.
See that?
Even if you've got her body, her heart belongs to someone else!
Serves you right for messing with us earlier!
Eiji gave Megumin a benevolent smile.
Little girl, you're ten thousand years too early to play mind games with me.
"N-no! I just think that if this is just the rogue actions of a subordinate, we won't have to wage an all-out war against the Demon Lord Army!"
Darkness's face flushed red as she retorted.
"Then why are you blushing?"
"The Demon King is my ideal!"
"Shut up, I don't want to hear about your ideals!"
Megumin retreated in defeat without Eiji even needing to intervene.
Amidst the laughter and banter, the group of six soon arrived at the mountainside of the back hills.
"There's a checkpoint here too?"
Several fences appeared halfway up the mountain, forming a gate-like structure. Two fully armed soldiers stood guard at the entrance, sternly watching their approach.
"After all, this is the economic lifeline of the entire town. It's only normal to have guards."
"Leave it to me!"
Aqua volunteered and ran forward, using magic to reveal a holy glow behind her.
"Poor lambs working the night shift! This must all be Eris's fault. I am the clever and benevolent goddess Aqua! If you're willing to open the mountain gate, I'll grant you the honor of joining the Axis Cult! How about it? Tempting, right?"
At first glance, it seemed quite impressive—if you ignored what she was saying.
"...But we're followers of the Eris Church."
One guard stared expressionlessly as she slandered the goddess he worshipped.
"And although we work the night shift, our pay is double that of the day shift. The benefits are excellent, so we don't need your pity."
The other guard wore a subtly disdainful expression.
"Besides, followers of the Axis Cult are all crazy. We don't want to catch whatever they have!"
To think joining the Axis Cult was an honor?
Was this woman an idiot?
She might be pretty, but the moment she opened her mouth—good grief, all desire vanished!
"Whyyy?!"
Aqua ran back crying, throwing herself into Darkness's arms and sobbing.
"Look at this."
Eiji watched Aqua rush out and get shot down without showing any reaction.
He took out the royal crest and showed it to the two guards.
"Th-this is...!"
The guards' expressions changed dramatically, and they quickly knelt respectfully.
"We suspect someone is planning to poison the hot spring source up the mountain. Open the gate immediately. I've already discussed this with the guild—you can verify it yourselves."
Under Eiji's orders, they didn't dare refuse and obediently opened the gate.
"Surprising that those guards recognized the royal insignia..."
"They're high-level Crusaders from the Eris Church assigned to night shifts. It's normal for them to know."
After passing through the gate, the group hurried toward the mountaintop without delay.
"Hey, could you stop casually pulling out the royal crest like that?"
Darkness quietly approached Eiji, looking displeased.
"That's a symbol of royal status. Very few people in the entire Belzerg Kingdom possess one. It's extremely precious—don't misuse it in places like this!"
"I command you with the royal crest, Darkness: shut up."
"Mmm~!"
Darkness let out a soft moan, her face flushing red, and retreated in defeat.
Mountaintop.
A few minutes later, the group arrived. The area was pitch black, with torches unable to illuminate the surroundings.
"Aqua, shine some light!"
"Why does my holy light have to be used for this?!"
Aqua bristled instantly.
Kazuma offered to cover ten percent of her debt, and Aqua eagerly released an intensely blinding holy light, illuminating most of the mountaintop.
"Who are you people? What are you doing here?"
An elderly man with a weathered face emerged, looking curiously at the group.
He had golden hair, dense wrinkles suggesting he was at least in his sixties or seventies, and wore an expensive robe like a nobleman.
"And who are you? What are you doing here?"
Kazuma leaped out with bold and spirited vigor.
With the boss backing him, he feared no one!
He was always ready to borrow power from the mighty!
"I'm the hot spring manager, responsible for ensuring the hot spring's hygiene," the old man said with a kind smile.
"Is that so? Well, we're adventurers who just arrived today, and we came here to—"
Seeing how approachable the other party was, Kazuma half-believed him.
"Hold on."
But then, a cold voice suddenly rang out.
"Hans, have you eaten people?"