Chapter 259 – The Trouble With Clothes

The afternoon quickly gave way to evening for John as the whirlwind of craziness seemed to consume the four of them. They went to the open market first and grabbed some kebabs that were grilled fresh in front of them, along with some meat pies and sweet treats for afterwards. He made sure to stuff Megumin with as much food as she could fit inside her little body, and ended up having to carry her on his back afterwards as she could barely move from the food coma she was in. 

Darkness managed to hold her problem mostly in check after he told her that if she was a good girl, he would use his 'Bind' skill on her tonight. After that, she became the prim and proper noble she was supposed to be, helping Luna with securing a few things he wanted to bring back to the castle to the Moonfall clan. 

For her part, Luna almost never let go of his good arm other than to eat, always no more than a couple of steps away when she did. He still wasn't sure what would possess her to just quit her job, but she seemed happy about it, her smile never leaving her lips. They stopped by the room she was renting after they ate and came out in a much more modest cream coloured dress that only showed a hint of her cleavage instead of all of it. 

Afterwards, they started shopping for real. First, they stopped at a small shop that sold pretty jewellery and accessories for commoners, along with other simple things you would find around the home. Darkness and Luna picked out matching red necklaces, while John picked out one with a blue stone he thought would work for Mica. Megumin, who was still clinging to his shoulders, jumped off him in terror when he picked up a black one, which made him laugh and put it back.

Luna, still holding his money, started haggling with the proprietor while Darkness and Megumin moved off to the other side of the store to look at some books the man had for sale. After a couple of minutes of looking over the rest of the stuff the man had, he started to pay attention to the conversation and butted in. "What's the issue?"

"Just trying to get you a better deal, hon, but he doesn't want to drop his price with only three things." She said to him after stepping away from the counter. Apparently, she was already trying to prove her worth to him. It had come up over dinner that she could help his new mercenary company by being his purchasing agent. He laughed at that and agreed. He had no idea how her merchant skill actually worked, but having someone who had them would probably prove beneficial in the long run. 

"Well, how about we add a few more things then? The Moonfall clan have nothing right now, so it's going to a good cause." He said, then grabbed a few hairbrushes, combs, and a couple of other things he could give the Wolfkin to help tide them over until they got on their feet. He also added a different black stone pendant that looked a bit like a cat. Megumin had been looking at it like she wanted it; he was going to stuff it in her pocket and feign ignorance so she didn't take it the wrong way. 

"Is that okay? You do have the money, but I would hate for you to overextend yourself."

"It's fine. They have nothing but rags right now and whatever little things their slavers allowed them to have. I would dress them too, but have no idea how much it would cost to even get them normal clothing, let alone adventuring gear. If I knew I was going to be paid for the lich, I would have brought a few of them with me."

"We could stop by a clothier and see if they could make a special trip out there. We could probably get a bulk discount that way instead of them going in small groups."

"That sounds like a great idea." He said, then gave her a quick kiss. "Now, unless you see something else we need, go buy this stuff and let's move on."

The shopping trip continued afterwards, with most of the locals keeping their distance from them because of Nebula. The Giant Wolf just followed along behind them happily without too many issues, acting as their pack mule, at least until they passed a stall that had some of that cartoonish-looking meat on display. They ended up needing to stop as she swiped a large chunk of it off the counter and started to gobble it up before John could take it from her. He just coughed up the dough for the meat instead of trying to wrestle meat from a wolf's mouth. 

Finally, with the sun setting, they had made their way outside the gate just as the old guard was about to lock it for the night. 

"Are we really going to walk there in the dark? That will take hours. Can we use one of your... machines?" Luna asked as the gate closed behind them.

"What's the rush? It's a beautiful night, and you couldn't be safer from monsters with a Giant wolf at your side. This will be a good time to get to know each other better. Besides, you can ride on the back of Nebula if you want."

"Ride? Do you think she would mind?"

He placed his hand on Nebula's flank, and after a bit of Ki communication, she lay down. "Here, climb on up. She is happy enough to carry you."

"Really! Okay!" She said. With a little assistance, she climbed onto the back of the wolf. Nebula trotted off ahead of them, Luna squawking for a moment before she started laughing. 

"I've been curious. Why did you call her Nebula?" Darkness asked as they set off down the road.

"I didn't. Well, I didn't really. I just translated their names to something that makes sense in our language. They seem to communicate partially through thoughts and pictures rather than spoken language, and I can tap into it. Her name is a picture of a cold pond just as dawn's light begins to brighten the sky, illuminating the icy fog that has built overnight. It seemed rather nebulous to me, so I could have called her Mist or Nebula, and either would be correct."

"Hun, that is amazing. Did you learn that skill from the beast tamer class?"

"No, it was more of an accident that I discovered with my Ki than any sort of skill. The class is open for me now, but I haven't taken it. I don't want to lock myself into an advanced class yet." He replied. With Substance X, he seemed to be gaining skill points without levelling up. He wanted to farm as many points as he could before he started to level, and grab as many things as the adventurer class would allow him to get before he specialized. Once they got the Moonfall clan sorted out, he would invite them all into his party and feed them Substance X. Any training or fighting they did would go to adding more skill points to his group, along with making their stats rise, increasing their overall power. 

One step at a time. Let's make sure they are fed, clothed, and have a place to stay first. 

"John, can you slow down, please. You tall people, are always making me have to run after you." Megumin said, huffing alongside them. 

"Sure. We aren't training yet, but don't expect me to go so easy on you tomorrow." He said, slowing down to allow her to keep up.

"Thank you. I'm still a little weak from casting my magic this morning."

"This morning? That is a long time to be suffering from mana exhaustion. I wonder if we could find a way to increase your regeneration."

"There are some staffs and different accessories you can buy, but I can't afford anything like that. Otherwise, I would need to explore a dungeon and hope to pick up equipment from there."

"I see." He replied. He didn't bother asking if she had been down in a dungeon. He doubted any party would have taken her with her only spell liable to bring the ceiling down on their heads. "How do dungeons even work in this-"

A brilliant blue flash to the south lit up the sky for a moment before they were plunged back into darkness. "What in the world was that?"

"No clue, but I can feel powerful magic coming from that direction," Megumin said, spinning her staff once before planting it in the ground and focusing on something. After a few moments, she opened her eye and spoke. "There are several different types of magic being used, but I can feel a lot of holy and dark magic going off."

Another flash lit the sky, revealing the concerned expressions on his companions' faces. 

"Damn it. I'm an idiot." He said, chastising himself. He whistled loudly and fished Suzy Q out of his pocket. "Darkness, hop on Nebula with Luna and keep her safe. Go to your father or the guild and get as many soldiers and adventurers as you can. Megumin, you're with me. You're getting your first lesson in helping me drive the mech sooner than planned."

"What is it? Is it the Devil King? Are we under attack?" Darkness asked.

"I don't know if it's him, but I killed a lich, remember? I don't quite understand how it all works, but they can be revived. Well, if that Devil King’s General found out his minion was defeated, it leads me to believe that he might come deal with the problem himself. Right where we left Aqua and the rest of the Moonfall clan."

Nebula returned to their side as he was speaking, and he quickly told Luna his plan and passed on to the wolf his wishes, and that he would go to protect her pack while they would go to find more help. She argued with him for a moment, but he passed on an image from HOTD when they were on top of the building, overlooking hordes of zombies. He had no idea what was waiting for them, but that was the largest amount of undead he had encountered so far, and she seemed to understand the urgency to get more help.

The sky flashed yet again, filling him with a sense of dread and urgency.

Damn it. I really need my arm now. I'm not worried about the regular undead, but I have no idea how Suzy Q would hold up to magic like that! 

He activated Suzy Q and started to climb.

Beldia was amused. It looked like he would be able to deal with two problems with one stone tonight.

He wasn't able to open a teleportation circle inside the walls of his new castle since someone had purified the whole place and placed a lot of wards preventing his dark magic from working. However, they missed his other anchor outside of the walls, so he opened a teleportation gate there instead. 

Twenty abreast, his armoured soldiers marched through his gate and formed up in ranks in front of what he intended to be their new base of operations. He brought two thousand with him, with several thousand more on standby back in their territory. He sent a probing force to the gate, but they were caught by the ward and began to burn in holy fires, so he pulled the rest back for now.

Once he was happy with their numbers, he closed the teleporter and started to unravel the ward by the gate. It was powerful, but was simple in its construction, simple even for a Dullahan like him to defeat with a little time.

"Turn Undead!" A shout came from inside the walls as one of his undead lit up in the ranks. A beautiful, blue-haired woman was casting holy magic from the gap, then darting back behind the wall before he could return fire. He caught a glance of her ass from her short dress flirting upwards as she moved, and he was sold. 

"Oooo, nice ass! She doesn't have the biggest breasts around, but that ass... perfect. I think she will be perfect for Duke's new body. He was an angel before; now he can have a priestess's body. Let's deal with this ward and gain my new voyeurism target." He said idly while working on disabling the ward. He was surprised yet again at how much power was behind it, but he wasn't deterred. It was just going to take a little bit of time.