20 Chapter 20: Strange Occurrences
The next day came and so the cycle began again. Megumin and Darkness went to the guild hall to see what new quests were available that they'd be able to. Subaru, Kazuma and Aqua went back to the construction site.
All the workers were gathered into one place with the boss standing in front of all of them. He seemed to be serious so the trio were a little afraid of what was going to happen.
"As we know someone has been stealing and sabotaging equipment around the site. If no one comes out soon to own up to their crimes I will personally investigate every single one of you to see who it was. I'll give you until the end of tomorrow to reveal yourself."
They were confused. Apparently overnight many pieces of equipment had been stolen or sabotaged. However, the work day continued as normal. No one came forward and so everyone was a little on edge in what would happen if no one came forward.
Subaru couldn't help but feel as if something was slowly squeezing his lungs of air the more he walked around the site.
'What the hell is it now? It's even worse today…Please tell me this is the worse of it…'
He was feeling uneasy. With how he felt yesterday and now with the pain in his chest he knew something was coming.
Throughout the day Subaru went around searching for possible clues on who was stealing the equipment but came up with nothing.
"Haa, guess that's a no go. Why would anyone even decide to do this? What's the gain? I just want to go back to adventuring…"
The boss had been extra observant throughout the day and watched everyone. No one had come out by the end of the first day meaning that if no one revealed themselves tomorrow the personal investigations would begin.
The trio returned to the stable with Aqua and Kazuma once again coming up as equal help in both their groups meaning their little argument was still ongoing.
When they arrived at the stable no one was there. The night before Darkness and Megumin had been waiting for them and so the panic ensued inside of Subaru.
'Wait! No! Please tell me nothing happened!'
He turned around and ran out of the stable but shorty after leaving the room full of hay he saw them walking, or rather Darkness carrying Megumin to the stable in the distance.
He sighed but made him realize something.
'Wait…What is the possibility of something happening to them? I've only thought about the construction site…But the outside is equally if not even more dangerous…No…Nothing happened, and besides, no one can hurt them once Megumin sets off her explosion. She could wipe out an entire army if she wanted to.'
The panic calmed and Subaru returned to the stable.
"What was that about? You just suddenly ran away."
"Haha, sorry…Just thought I saw something. It kind of scared me."
"Do you like, get really scared easily or something?"
"No, I just like to be a little cautious of possibilities."
"Oh, and did you see Megumin or Darkness? I'm surprised it took them this long to complete a quest. I would expect this time had Aqua been with them since she'd be the actual difficulty in the quest."
"Why am I being called difficult by a shut in Neet! I am clearly the most valuable member on our team, I am a goddess after all. I know my followers would believe."
"I'm not one of your followers so I don't have to believe you."
"Take that back!"
And so the battle between Aqua and Kazuma continued even in the somewhat not comfortable stable they had called their home…For only about 2 days…
The next day began and so they all went to so the same thing again. Subaru, Kazuma and Aqua went back to the construction site. Darkness and Megumin went to the guild hall to acquire another new quest. The amount of money they had made from the quests would be nearly enough to spend a few nights in an inn instead of a stable.
When Subaru arrived to the site not only his lungs, but his heart felt like they were collapsing in on him. The site was covered in a purple mist that no one seemed to be acknowledging. Even Kazuma and Aqua who wouldn't have known about it didn't mention it all.
Subaru reluctantly walked into the mist covered ground and luckily he was fine. Besides the severe pain he felt in his chest.
The boss was talking about how no one came forward so he was going to start investigating soon into each person.
'So no one came out in the end…We should have until the end of the day though, so why is he starting investigations now?'
The workday began and Subaru was painting the exposed bricks once again. After a few hours it came to be break time and decided to investigate the mist. He saw that all the mist in the area only covered the work site that had been dug into the ground and that it was all flowing out of one point. He followed the mist backwards and found a relatively quiet location being the source. He saw a stone door with a heart engraved into it.
He walked towards the door and when he put his hand to the door he heard a woman's voice, one he had never heard before.
"You can't go there."
It was calm, gentle almost sweet sounding. It made the pain in his chest go away…But for some reason he couldn't feel anything at all. His vision blurred and he fell to the ground as he began to hear many voices around him.
"So she has finally sent one."
"He is the one."
"This makes me rather jealous…"
Subaru couldn't move and couldn't feel his heart beating or the sound of his breathing. Soon after he couldn't see…
He opened his eyes to be greeted with a familiar ceiling. The ceiling of a stable. The ceiling of the stable he had fallen asleep in. The ceiling he had seen the previous day. Time had gone back and Natsuki Subaru…Had died.
