"Hey, don't you think Aqua's been gone for way too long?" Darkness asked with a hint of concern.
However, her two companions seemed completely absorbed in whatever they were talking about.
"Did you hear that? The Destroyer is getting closer and closer to the city! I can't wait to hit it with my Explosion magic!" Megumin's crimson eyes sparkled with excitement.
"For the nth time, what the hell is the Destroyer?!" Kazuma complained. But the Arch Wizard was so hyped up that she completely ignored him, gripping her staff with such determination that for a second Darkness thought she was going to cast Explosion right there in the middle of the guild.
The walking fortress known as the Destroyer.
The mere idea of facing it definitely appealed to Darkness. And not just that — the thought of being mercilessly crushed and trampled by that giant mechanical beast made her whole body tremble with excitement.
But first things first.
"Aqua?" Kazuma turned toward her and shrugged. "I don't know. She's probably off drinking somewhere. You know how she is."
"But Kazuma—" Darkness insisted, glad that at least one of them was paying attention. "Aren't you worried something might have happened to her?"
"What are you talking about? What could possibly happen to her inside the guild?"
"I don't know… She could have run into some degenerate adventurer who invited her for drinks to get her drunk and… then take her somewhere private to do all kinds of perverted things to her!"
As she said that, Darkness didn't notice how her heart started beating faster.
Kazuma stared at her.
"Aren't those your fantasies?"
She held his gaze, unsure what to say. The silence clearly gave her away.
"I knew it! You're a hopeless pervert!"
"I-I am not!" Darkness protested, trying to convince both him and herself.
"Besides," Kazuma continued, "even if something did happen to her, I'm not getting involved in anything dangerous. Since when am I the babysitter for that useless goddess?"
"K-Kazuma!" Darkness was stunned in her seat.
Sometimes she forgot just how cruel their party leader could be. And that made Darkness feel…
Ah! Why doesn't he treat me like that too?
…envy.
The blush on her cheeks must have been too obvious, because Kazuma immediately gave her another suspicious look.
"Hm? What's wrong? Don't tell me you're already thinking about perverted stuff again."
"O-Of course not!" she lied.
"Kazuma, you really are an expert at humiliating women, you know that?" Megumin chimed in.
"What?! Now I'm the pervert?!"
Finally, Darkness stood up from her chair.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to look for Aqua. It's getting pretty late, don't you think? Knowing her, she might get lost if she drinks too much."
Her two companions exchanged glances but didn't try to stop her.
Darkness walked through the guild toward the stairs leading to the private rooms.
She hadn't said anything, but she had seen Aqua go upstairs with a young man earlier.
At first, the situation seemed rather suspicious. But then she remembered that her companion had been taking extra missions with a young adventurer to earn extra money in order to pay off her debts.
So maybe it was the same person. Maybe they needed to plan their next mission properly and had gone somewhere quieter to talk.
As a noble, Lalatina — no, Darkness — had no intention of spying on their conversation. That would be very rude. She would simply knock on the door and tell Aqua they were heading back to the mansion.
The problem was she had no idea which room the two of them were in.
Just as she was thinking that, a noise caught her attention.
"Hm? What is that?"
Ah… ah… ah… ah…
It sounded like someone was complaining.
No. More than complaints… they sounded like… moans?
And what was most unsettling was that the voice sounded strangely familiar to Darkness.
What's going on?
The young woman walked down the narrow hallway, turning her head from side to side, trying to locate the source of those strange sounds.
She walked a little further until she stopped in front of one of the rooms. Room 2. The cries seemed to be coming from there, louder than ever.
She knew spying was wrong, but she needed to clear her doubts. With some embarrassment, Darkness leaned toward the door and gently pressed her ear against the wood.
And then she heard it clearly:
"AH! AH! AH! YES! YES! FUCK ME HARDER! FUCK MY PUSSY!"
"No way… Aqua?"
With extreme care, the crusader turned the doorknob and opened the door just enough to peek inside.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Inside, on the bed, a completely naked young woman was on top of a man. Her legs were wrapped around his waist as she rode him.
Even though she was facing away, Darkness instantly recognized that long blue hair, swaying wildly with every bounce on her partner's cock. The man was gripping her waist, guiding her movements.
The blonde quickly covered her mouth with her hand and looked away, unable to process what she was seeing.
Aqua was having sex with a complete stranger.
Of the three of them, the archpriest had always seemed the least interested in those kinds of things. But somehow this man had managed to get her into bed.
What if he's forcing her? What if he's raping her?
Feeling terrible shame, Darkness looked back inside and immediately discarded the idea.
Because even though she couldn't see her face, all she had to do was listen to those indecent moans and screams of pleasure echoing into the hallway to realize just how much her companion was enjoying herself.
And here I thought I was the pervert…
Even though either of them could look toward the door and spot her at any moment, Darkness couldn't stop watching. Her cheeks flushed red, her heart racing faster than when she got beaten by hordes of enemies.
And she was smiling.
She was so focused on the scene that she didn't realize her lips had once again curved into that lewd, perverted smile she always made when she got turned on.
Meanwhile, her companion's cries of pleasure grew even louder.
"Ah! Mmmh! Ah—!"
This is too much… What do I do? Should I go in? Ask if I can join them? No, no! What am I thinking?! Lalatina, get a hold of yourself!
"Ah, I should go back… But on the other hand, maybe I should stay a little longer, just to make sure Aqua is okay and that guy isn't overpowering her with his huge pen—" She couldn't even finish the word. It was too indecent. Even for her.
She looked away again and covered her face with both hands in embarrassment.
"I have to go back," she decided at last. It took her a while to regain her composure.
As she walked down the stairs, her mind was filled with conflicted thoughts.
Ah, Goddess Eris… Please! Forgive this lowly crusader for having such improper thoughts!
When she returned to Kazuma and Megumin, the three of them decided to head back to the mansion.
Darkness didn't say a single word about what she had seen.
She spent the rest of the night locked in her room, fingering herself and feeling a deep (but healthy) envy toward her companion.