Slayers (Kanzaka)

Stop me if you've heard this one: You're an adventurer, minding your own business, when suddenly the local muckety-mucks decide to rope you into performing a public service. That's basically what happened to me and Gourry, but not five minutes after we agree to help put down an insurrection in Crimson Town, a sorcerer named Aria approaches us and reveals she's got a personal connection to the whole thing. Sheesh! Guess we'll have to tackle this a bit more delicately... Say, is there a delicate way to evade angry fish-demons while riding down a waterfall in a wind bubble? How about dealing with regenerating tree-people? Asking for a friend here!

I don't know what I expected at this point. You'd think the sorcerers' council would be singing my praises after everything I've done for them, but no! All I get is the hairy eyeball and a third-rate job tracking down spawning demidemons in the north. Our journey quickly leads us to a murder, a mysterious "white giant," and our favorite mercenary couple... who've learned about a demonic infiltrator high in the ranks of Gyria. Wait-isn't that the city demons burned down a couple books back (with maybe a tiny bit of my help)? Just how much demon-related trouble can one place get up to?!

Swarms of demons showing up for seemingly no reason? Check. Mounting military aggression between states? Check. Omens of ill tidings to come? You betcha! According to my old pal Milgazia, things are getting hairy on a world-ending scale, which means it's time to... head back to Gyria?! C'mon, we just finished there! I was pretty sure we didn't leave any loose ends, but I guess there's no arguing with hordes of demidemons and a castle gate that's shut tight around the clock... You know what? Fine! But there'd better be a king-sized payoff to all this!

Whew! After settling all that demonic drama in Gyria, Gourry and I stop by Selentia City for a little sightseeing. There's just one question on my mind when we get there... What are swordsmen and assassins doing duking it out in the streets of the so-called City of Temples?! Turns out a recent alleged arson-slash-murder has the local church bigwigs at each other's throats. Men of the cloth, am I right? This is NOT the chill vacation I had in mind, but hey, at least it's nice, normal human politics without a demon Priest or General in sight... Wait, wait, wait! Okay, now I have a second question-what are Luke and Mileena doing here?!

So, a virtuoso sorcerer and a master swordsman walk into a bar... Yeah, you've heard this one before. The locals immediately hit 'em up for a job because they look sooo powerful and the town's just that dang desperate for help. In the case of Atessa, city of blacksmiths, there's apparently some funny business going down in the surrounding woods. Mines are being attacked, caravans raided-the whole shebang. Yup, there's definitely something foul afoot in this forest. Frankly, I don't care to find out what, but if the price is right...

Everyone wants to visit home once in a while, right? Even me, the brave and beautiful sorcerer Lina Inverse! Thus my trusty (if dimwitted) traveling companion and I set off on a meandering journey toward my hometown... Welp, I don't have to tell you it all goes horribly wrong, do I? Pretty soon, we're forced to make the best of ending up somewhere that is decidedly NOT our intended destination. It'd be one thing if we merely needed to get ourselves back on track, but-no surprise-everyone in this new locale wants a piece of little ol' me. So, yeah, we're kinda sorta on the run now...