Chapter 22: Hot Spring part 1

Beta read by Shigiya, Fluffy Slayer and DOOMRAIDER.

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Ken-

The sounds of horses approaching were overheard by the stationed gate guards. Sol and his men made sure to quickly finish inspecting the regular folks before hastily getting in position to salute what looked like to be the vice leaders of the Kuroinu—Hicks, and Kin.

"Shit, Hicks came back. I'll have to tell my daughter not to leave the house so often now." muttered one of the guards, glaring at the dual wielding mercenary.

"Be careful of your words. With the unexpected death of the Blueborn head and the fire to his mansion, I can say for certain that Hicks won't be happy." Sol said, while also adding, "Try not to mention anything about Shielder. I heard he hung out with Bianca gal every day."

"It's Archer, sir. And he already left Ken with Maia-sama early in the morning. I don't think Hicks will try to find any sort of trouble with him when the Princess Knight is close by."

Sol shook his head.

"You never know with these kinds of people. They take actions without thinking of the consequences first."

Both Kin and Hicks were quite well known across Eostia. Of course, one was a well-respected mage who pioneered in the art of magic and was considered to be one of the best human mages in history. While the other couldn't be said the same, he is quite infamous with his reputation, though in most cases, that got overshadowed by his network of connections with the many nobles who covered for him on many occasions for his heinous actions, thus was never punished by the Princess Knights.

"Stay sharp, men!" Sol shouted to his subordinates as everyone straightened their backs and gave a salute to the approaching Kuroinu, some more reluctant than others.

The figures in the distance started to get closer and closer till a group composed of dozens of Kuroinu men in full battle gear arrived on horseback. With both Kin and Hicks at the front, leading everyone to Ken. The mage's gaze focused on the Kingdom itself, completely blank without a single emotion leaking from his face whatsoever as his glasses glinted from the sunlight. That couldn't be said for his partner, whose smirk could be seen from miles away, while arrogantly looking down on them.

"Kin-sama, Hicks-sama! Glad to have you back in Ken safe and sound."

Sol walked forward and greeted the returning members.

"Hmmm, Kin, you deal with the people here. I have a reservation with a very special girl!"

Hicks didn't even stop his horse and continued to ride inside the city. Neither of the guards tried to stop him or take away his horse, as doing so would be no different than asking to be killed. The regular people made way for him as many did not wish to be trampled by his horse or get the attention of the man in any way, especially the women.

That man's roguish behavior gave Kin a headache. Keeping such people in line was Vault's area of expertise, not his. He'd rather spend most of his days locked inside his research workshop after having to endure staying a few days in Shamuhaza's disgusting insect-filled shithole that they liked to call their 'Sanctum Sanctorum' as well as that fanatical lunatic. This made Kin wonder if those bandages the people of the Insect God cult wore were for masking the foul stench.

"How is Maia-san doing?" he asked, wanting to get updated on any recent news.

"As usual, a few weeks ago, she went to investigate a certain distress call for help from a nearby village called Grünes Bergdorf, which a large number of the Dark Queen's demons managed to infiltrate. She brought along her cavalry forces to the village but found no such demons. She returned and has been spending most of her time in her castle as usual."

Intriguing, so Olga managed to sneak in some of her demons in Eostia. A bit worrying but not that surprising as this happened many times in the past. If Maia was actually competent in her role as a leader like Claudia or even Alicia, then she wouldn't have left such glaring blindspots in her territory unguarded.

"You said that she found nothing there. Was the distressed message a lie, or did the local Knights manage to fend them off?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. We haven't gotten any news on that front from Maia-sama. Merely some rumors floating about, some saying how a rock from the sky fell and killed the demons. Another rumor is that of a passing human mage killing off every one of those demons with a single attack. Of course, finding the truth is kinda hard at this point without Maia-sama's official story."

A wandering mage? Capable of killing Olga's forces with a single attack? That got Kin intrigued quite a bit. At least this version of the story sounded more believable than a random asteroid falling coincidentally on the invaders. To be honest, the possibility of conversing with a fellow mage felt quite enticing to Kin. People capable of wielding weren't rare as one might have thought. Technically every single elf could wield magic with talent surpassing that of the most gifted human mages in history. But this differed with humans as they didn't possess the Elves' gift with magic, and in a population of hundreds of thousands of people, only a handful could have the requirements to become a genuine mage—and that is if they had the needed resources and money.

So hearing about a human mage with that much power was quite surprising.

'That is if the rumors are true, to begin with.'

"And what of Maia-san, is she still in her castle, or has she left for Feoh?" Kin asked.

"I'm afraid she already left just after dawn. You just missed her. Though she did ask me to pass on a message to you, her group will be traveling at a slow pace, and you'll be able to catch up to her before the day ends by taking the western road."

Another headache threatened to take over Kin. With Hicks' need to satisfy his carnal needs with the girl he wouldn't stop talking about—the mage really hoped the man would get done with his business soon so they could get back on track.

'I just hope he won't mess up when he is put in charge to take over Feoh.'

The red gem he carried around his neck for safekeeping emanated a warm sensation over Kin, lightening his worries and giving him peace of mind. With this precious artifact in their grasp, the Kuroinu had nothing to worry about in the first place.

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid I have bad news, Kin-sama," Sol said.

"And that is?"

Did Maia procrastinate with her paperwork and forget to pay the guards again?

"The head of the Blueborn family, Henry Blueborn, died in a fire last night."

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"...What?"

{Break}

Riding his horse across the roads always excited Hicks. Seeing the envious gaze and fear of the normal people always brought him a sense of joy and accomplishment. It made him feel powerful and in control, and these sensations were intoxicating to him.

Especially considering his early life roaming the streets.

He and Maia grew up in the same environment and even knew each other for a long time. They stole food and got beaten up when they got caught, as well as getting spat at by the passing people who viewed them as dirty vermin. The same people who now looked at him like he was a god. Though he hoped the Queen of Mercenaries would join their side if Vault extended his hand. Though he wouldn't admit it, Hicks actually cared for Maia to some level as he saw her as someone who shared the same past. They helped each other out while on the streets many times, covering each other's backs. Heck, Hicks was the one who recommended her to Vault in the first place!

'It would be a shame if she ends up rejecting us… oh well, we'll see. We'll still get to have dinner with her if she says 'no'.'

There was a part of him that grew jealous of her love over Vault. True, Maia wasn't a pure girl whatsoever as she had slept with men in the past, including him. But the more her love grew, the less she continued such activities. And she completely stopped it after becoming a Princess Knight. She barely talked to him, and when she did, it always came to asking about Vault!

'Sometimes, I wished we could return to the good old times when we used to be mercenaries….'

Shaking himself out of the memories of the past, Hicks decided to focus on the matters at hand—especially Bianca. He couldn't wait to taste his long-awaited award and that amazing ass of hers.

As he neared the 'Bards and Bees', he noticed something weird.

"Why haven't I seen any of the men I stationed here?" he said, looking around to see if he could find a trace of them. "Fucking idiots, maybe went off to fuck some girls inside and spend the money I gave them on booze."

He specifically told them to keep watch on Bianca so that the girl wouldn't do something stupid and run away! Not that she would, considering the debt she needed to repay in her father's stead. And he also needed to make sure that a suicidal fool didn't have the balls to take his girl from him.

"Bianca, I have returned my love!" he cried out at the top of his lungs, making sure that everyone heard his voice. Yet without Hicks knowing, many gave him stares of mockery and contempt behind his back, almost as if they were watching a fool create a scene.

Some could barely hold in their laughter at the idiotic display as they hastily left the area, scared the man would hear them and come for their throats. A small number of people decided to watch the event from far away, making sure to not be seen by the man himself.

"..."

As he waited for her answer or for the Matron of the brothel to come and welcome him as usual—nothing happened.

'Weird…'

Something felt off. The premise felt hollow in some sense. Normally, even when he would not pay them a visit, there would always be some girls outside tempting the passing men. There was also not a single sound of music nor melodic singing coming from inside.

He needed to investigate.

Hicks got off his horse and walked straight for the door.

Bam!

Pushing the wooden doors wide open, he expected to find a bustling establishment with the many scantily clad girls all coming to swoon him, trying to catch his attention. A heavily decorated room with lights all around the place and a small bar filled with the most expensive wines Eostia had the offer.

"What?"

But all he found was an empty interior with some of the interior decoration still left in place while all of the expensive items like the wine rack for the guests and chandelier were all gone!

"Did this place get robbed!?" Hicks cried in outrage, scaring the passersby.

He was about to call Kin when the man noticed a parchment nailed on the door he had missed initially.

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'Dear loyal customers of the Bars and Bees,

Unfortunately, due to the passing of Count Henry Blueborn, our establishment found itself without an owner, and many of our girls now having their contracts being terminated, our service could no longer be delivered.

Hence, from this point forward, Bards and Bees' has officially been closed for good in Ken, and we will be continuing to offer our services somewhere outside the Kingdom.

Once again, this loss has been tragic on both sides, and this outcome was inevitable. We hope you can understand our position and pardon us for this decision we have come to.

Sincerely,

Matron Rainwell.'

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Blank

That was the state of Hicks' mind right now.

The closing of the brothel wasn't the fact that shocked him the most. Such places regularly changed ownerships causing many to not be able to continue on and get replaced by another. What stunned Hicks was the apparent death of the Count, someone he frequented nearly every day for years.

The Matron worked for the Count, and most contracts the girls signed would be associated with Henry's name and not Madame Rainwell. After Bianca's family lost their fortune and ended up in debt, the girl willingly decided to work in the establishment owned by the person she needed to repay. Whether that was something she knew about or not was up to debate.

"That fat pig died…?"

He was merely gone for a short amount of time! How could so much change without him getting informed by his men!?

"That's why those fuckers aren't around! The place closed down, and they decided to go around town and have fun. I'll fucking kill them!"

He had other informants. Either then, the local priest would know something about this. He still had time to spare before joining Kin and catching up to Maia, enough time to gather enough information on what happened that he wasn't present in Ken. Maybe he could also find out about what happened with the girl he was planning to sleep with before she went too far.

{Break}

-Western Road-

A few miles away from the Kingdom, Maia's forces continued to make their way toward Feoh.

"So, I guess we'll need to arrive there in a few days," Archer said as he studied the map he got from Maia.

What he found interesting was how the roads and passageway differed completely from what he bought from a story. Some of these paths led through mountains and crossed straight through a large river which seemed to have no indication of a bridge being built there.

"Are you sure we can go with our horses through here?" he asked Maia.

"Yup, fucking officials don't bother updating the maps that often or with detail. What you're holding there is a map dating from a few years ago and will probably only have the main routes redrawn in a few months. What I have is a custom map I drew myself and kept updated every week when I head out for business. You see the line we are taking to through the river? Well, a few months ago, settlers from the different regions decided to set up a small fishing village there and even built a small bridge facilitating our journey and literally saving us days of travel just by taking that shortcut."

She spoke about how most of these changes came from her frequent travels and notes from fellow mercenaries who are still on good terms with Maia. There was another road going right through a mountain on her map, which was apparently made by dwarves working under the rule of Luu-Luu and the path actually allowed them to take another shortcut.

"Why not sell these? Many people would benefit from your changes compared to what is being sold by the official cartographers in Ken and even in other Kingdoms. To miss so many details, are they even taking their jobs seriously?"

Brynn, who got a peek at Maia's map, couldn't help but ask while looking over Archer's shoulder.

She traveled along with Archer rather than her fellow Knights. Not that she could even if she wanted to, as their treatment towards her had gotten a bit hostile lately. True, she still held her recently earned commander title, but even that didn't help from some of the girls nearby to send her a few glares and whispers calling her a filthy traitor.

No one but Maia accepted Archer.

In fact, they were more fearful of him with how he dispatched Maia in their previous duel. Some of them associated him with the likes of a dark mage wielding magic banned and considered evil by the Church. Yet they couldn't act with Maia taking his side and covering for the man—but not Brynn.

Thus, most of their scorn and hate came onto the brunette, who decided to ignore them and keep her head down. There was no use in pulling ranks when the very people she used to think of as friends now saw her as a potential enemy.

It really made Brynn question just how long she would be allowed to keep her title before it would be inevitably taken from her. Maia may be her shield for now, but sooner or later, she would have to serve another member of the Seven Shields and lose that protection.

She wanted to let go of her Knightly duties and embark on a journey with Archer and learn under him. In just such a short amount of time, she learned so much and improved beyond anything she thought possible.

Her stamina had improved as she could hold on in a spar for much longer against her fellow Knights and even emerge triumphant easily against most of them. Though any accumulated ego or pride would get immediately squashed and torn to pieces whenever her teacher would bring in his wooden sword with the little toy cat hanging on the hilt.

This journey wouldn't last forever. And from the looks of it, sooner rather than later they would reach their destination and go their separate ways. At that point, Archer would leave them on the way. Whether he would accept her tagging along with him was something she really couldn't be sure about.

Regrettably, Brynn could only learn as much as she could in such a short time and return to her duties in the end.

"Ha! As if. Listen, girl, sometimes there are advantages one needs to keep for themselves rather than sharing it with the public and it being easily getting in the hands of the enemy."

Archer resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

That was a flawed way of thinking. If leading an army against whatever was invading them, having everyone informed about every route and shortcut in their own territory was crucial, as it would make sure that they were not snuck up on by the enemy. Granted, there were times when secrecy helped, but that kind of scenario only worked with a finely managed army, not whatever Maia had. The sheer number of confusion and deaths which could occur with such lackluster planning and organization made him once again wonder how the Dark Queen kept losing… unless she was just as inept with war as Maia.

The Queen of Mercenaries kept the mentality of fighting alone and taking every advantage of herself, conveniently forgetting that she no longer was a mercenary but rather a leader of the entire kingdom.

'I don't need to correct her ways. After Killing Vault, I'm most likely getting called back by Alaya.' he thought to himself, already accepting the outcome when the job was finished.

That while talking about him having the power to decide when to come back was absolutely fake, in his opinion. There most likely existed a piece of information he overlooked or a twist of words the entity used with him, giving it a perfect excuse to call him back to resume his duty as a Counter Guardian.

"By the way, I know you are waiting for the others to join us, but will they be able to catch up with us in time?"

Maia nodded her head.

"Yes, Hicks may be a bastard who tends to always waste everyone's time when on his own, but with Kin by his side, then they will both join us today for sure. The latter is a sucker of punctuality and hates wasting his time. And besides, don't you like spending more moments like these with me?" Maia teased, making Archer ignore her antics like usual.

"I nursed you back to health, bathed you, and was forced to feed you every day since then all while sitting through your poor attempts at flirting. 'Like' is a pretty strong word, more like fed up with you seems about right."

Archer dodged a rock thrown at him just in time to see an angry Maia. He couldn't resist the urge to push her buttons. She was just too easy… reminded him a lot of Rin in some way.

"Careful now. A stone to the head might make me forget how to cook. We wouldn't want that, would we?" he said, giving a teasing smirk to the redhead, who returned it back.

Though one of the Knights didn't seem to appreciate his remark.

"Why would we care if you forgot to cook or not? Our rations are sufficient enough, and for all we know, you could just poison it in secret." she sneered at him. "A dark mage like you should be behind bars or executed, be grateful for the position you find yourself in."

These girls were still hung up on his magecraft, it seems. Not that he cared, they just hated him and would find any reason to throw any sort of accusations at him. He rather not bother trying to prove them otherwise. It was a simple waste of time and effort.

"Enough, all of you!" Maia barked in anger, making many turn their glares away from Archer and Brynn.

"I know y'all are cranky just because he whooped your sorry asses back in Ken, but don't think you can take some of your anger on him with all of this evil magic bullshit when you were the ones that decided to challenge him! And I specifically told you all it wasn't black magic as well!"

"..."

After that, none of the Knights whispered a word as they continued their journey while the sun reached midday. People were getting hungry, and it showed with Maia's stomach rumbling with a loud noise. The latter didn't even look embarrassed as she laughed it away and demanded Archer's cooking.

"You already have your own food, finish that first, and I'll think about making you something."

"Hehehe, no can do, handsome. I accidentally forgot it back in Ken. Whoopsie~."

There certainly wasn't any 'accidentally' on her part. Maia deliberately left all of that tasteless garbage behind as they couldn't hold a candle to what Archer made for her every day back in the castle. She even started to believe that even the water he brought her tasted fresher than usual—fucking water of all things!

And worst of all, she was holding back her cravings all this time during the trip.

Though one of her mercs failed to read the mood.

"Hey Maia, I have an extra box of dried meat if you—"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, KAL!"

The man nearly fell from his horse with her sudden outburst. Some of his friends snickered at his reaction and inability to read the atmosphere.

"..."

Archer just looked at the grown woman with a skeptical gaze, questioning if she really thought he was an idiot to believe such an obvious lie. Maia somehow managed to decipher it and began pleading with him with a desperate pout. She even reminded him that he agreed to cook for her during the trip, which made Archer give up and accept making something quick for her. Though he gave the condition, she doesn't pull such a trick again.

"Tsk, you're no fun. Anyways, we are also making our first quick stop!"

A quick stop? He wondered why they needed to do so, there were more than enough rations, and the horses weren't even tired.

Already knowing about his confusion, Maia just pointed ahead, a giant smirk growing on her face.

"There is a spring up ahead with natural hot water hot. There is no way in hell I'm missing my chance to take a bath there!"

Just as she mentioned those words, the path in front of them split into two. The one on the left is the largest one, while the other one is covered in even more trees and even looks like it would lead into the middle of the forest.

Though in the distance, many columns of smoke rose into the air, with Archer immediately recognized the closer they approached.

Oh, an Onsen?

{Break}

Archer submerged himself in a pond of heated spring water and let out a sigh of contentment.

The group decided to take a small break and give those who were supposed to join us for the journey enough time to catch up. Not that he minded, of course. In fact, he liked this short break as it made sure that his targets would all be gathered at the same spot and he won't have to track them down later. Maia agreed to only spend a few hours in the area and not the entire day as they were still close to Ken's borders but were still a distance away from reaching Geofu.

From what he had gathered, the Kingdom was under the jurisdiction of Luu Luu, the official blacksmith and the second Princess Knight who wasn't a human. A halfling, capable of forging swords and armors embedded with magical enhancement from regular material. From what he saw from Maia's twin swords before he destroyed them, their craftsmanship was quite exquisite and actually impressed the Faker. Luu Luu was definitely at a grandmaster level for forging weapons, but her armor craftsmanship still needed work. The road leading to Feoh passed through Geofu, and Maia wanted to take this opportunity to have another pair of swords forged for her.

Technically, Archer could just trace a copy of her previous weapon and give it to the redhead, but that didn't serve any purpose and would most likely create more problems for him in the long run. The woman was already pestering him with his regular Magical Spells, god forbid if she ever found out about his Reality Marble.

"Haa, enough of these plaguing thoughts, might as well enjoy my time here. Hn, can't even remember the last time I bathed or let alone a hot spring."

It might have been back when he was still alive, though even then, Archer recalled barely taking any time to look after himself. The war back in his reality would create countless casualties, and he would at many times spend weeks saving as many people as he could without sleeping or even eating. If bullets weren't enough to kill him, then his own stubbornness came pretty close to achieving it.

'Heh, Shirou Emiya died from starvation and exhaustion. That would be quite funny, actually.'

Shaking his head at that hilarious ending, Archer closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles with the head of the water, calming down his nerves and mind. It wasn't too hot but warm enough for him to feel the signs of drowsiness emerge from the recent lack of sleep.

After killing the Count and making sure to leave a small gift for Maia, Archer made sure to help out Bianca and her family. From what he found out, her father owed the debt to none other than the Count. Now with the latter and a few negotiating with Maia, Archer managed to have the Princess Knight herself annul everything the girl had to repay. But of course, with her safety still being in danger with the soon-to-return Hicks, he sent the girl away from Ken and gave Bianca a location he felt would help everyone from her family to herself to live a comfortable life.

Maybe, she could even make a friend.

Clank!

To Archer's surprise, the door leading to his small spring was opened with the sound of someone's bare feet walking closer.

The vapor itself wasn't that thick, so it didn't cover his view from the sign of vibrant red hair showing up in front of him. She lacked any sort of clothing, leaving him open to see her in all of her nude glory. She had soft tanned skin with several scars littering her body from her years as a mercenary. Long tone legs with definition, showing that she valued speed, unlike her upper body, which had a bit of muscle on her arms. The dark pink nipples on a pair of C-cup breasts that showed little sag despite their size, was what had gotten his attention. Distracted by the size of her breasts which ranked quite high compared to some of the women back in his reality. When he took care of her, he specifically made sure to avoid looking at them and even closed his eyes in some instances to not stare at them for too long.

'She's probably bigger than Sakura…'

"—!?"

Shit, where did that thought come from!?

Archer, for all his inference and cool attitude, was still a physically healthy 'young' man with a high amount of vitality and a healthy appreciation of the female gender. No matter how much he wished to not get distracted by such things, he couldn't ignore them for long, especially in this reality. Archer was resistant to Maia's charms, not immune to them, and worst of all, she kept on pushing his limits ever so slightly every single day.

As she walked towards him, her chest bounced slightly with each step, their movement causing the fire inside him to burn hotter before he decided to put a lid over it and calm himself.

With a towel hanging loosely on her shoulders as she didn't even use it to hide her nudity.

"Hey there, handsome. Mind having me join you for a bit~?"

Archer had only one thought going through his mind as he looked down unconsciously.

'...I guess she shaves.'

This woman was going to be the death of him.

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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 2 Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword having 3 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter.

Next update will either be Broly or Eccentric Wizard... or both if I get enough time.