I love time travel the most!

Indeed, this matter has nothing to do with Luna. As a receptionist, she is at most conveying the verdict.

However, I seem to have heard an interesting name.

Lord? Aldap?

Aqua pressed on relentlessly, "So even a lord can't demand so much compensation, can he? There has to be a reason, right?"

"actually……"

Luna provided an explanation for this.

—It has damaged the ecological environment and hindered Axel's development plans.

The plains where Kobayashi and his companions were doing their mission weren't just inhabited by snow spirits. Beneath the snow-covered plains, there were also many hibernating monsters. The high temperatures generated by hundreds of spells melted the snow on the plains, causing many monsters to awaken prematurely.

Because it was winter, most adventurers were recuperating, which allowed monsters to run rampant. Many villagers' pastures were attacked, and most of the cattle and sheep were devoured.

"Therefore, the villagers should be compensated for their losses, right?"

Yes, that's it.

This compensation is reasonable and justified.

Because he acted rashly and arrogantly, wanting to kill General Dong, he neglected his duties and caused the villagers' property to be damaged. He should be the one to compensate for the loss.

"But we don't need that many!"

Aqua calmed down slightly after hearing this, but she was still so angry that she gestured wildly and shouted, "1.5 million! 1.5 million! Do you know how much high-end sparkling wine that can buy? Do you know?!"

This guy doesn't care about the lives of others at all; he's just doing it for his own pleasure and doesn't want to pay hefty compensation.

She doesn't look like a goddess at all.

Kobayashi sighed, just about to reprimand her, when he heard another receptionist, wearing the same uniform but with short hair and freckles on her face, chime in.

"Actually, we don't need that many."

"Deborah!"

Luna's expression changed slightly, as if she wanted to stop her colleague from continuing.

"What does it matter? It was that utterly wicked and disgusting lord who demanded the kingdom increase the compensation." Deborah looked at Lord Aldap with great contempt.

It must be said that Aldap was a complete failure as the lord of Axel. Not only did the guards and adventurers secretly belittle him, but even the receptionists were resentful of him.

Kobayashi turned his gaze over.

“Miss Luna, we went through so much trouble to defeat the powerful monster, only to lose money instead of getting paid. That's not fair.”

"Not suitable."

"It's inappropriate for you to speak well of that lord whom everyone hates."

"...Inappropriate."

"Then tell me, what exactly happened?"

Under Kobayashi's patient persuasion, Luna didn't struggle much and quickly told the truth.

Originally, only compensation for the damage to the ecological environment was needed, which could have been covered by the bounty issued by the kingdom for defeating General Winter. However, Aldap appealed to his superiors, saying that the trade route he was preparing to build had been destroyed. He used the excuse of "hindering the development of Axel" to increase the compensation amount by 1.5 million.

If it were truly about destroying trade routes to hinder development, that would be one thing, but in reality, they all knew it was just an excuse from the greedy lord.

"I see, that's it."

Xiaolin nodded expressionlessly after hearing this.

As expected of an unpopular lord, the things he did were quite disgusting.

"Aldap, right? Let's go find that guy and reason with him. We'll make him pay!" Aqua was furious and rolled up her sleeves, ready to rush to the lord's mansion to fight.

Xiaolin grabbed her and said, "It's no use. They're in the right now. Going to them would just be pointless and give them an excuse to manipulate us."

Darkness chimed in, “Aldap’s reputation is indeed bad. Going there rashly will be pointless. However, we can report this to a higher-ranking noble. If we can find evidence, we should be able to make him pay the price.”

She was referring to her own family.

The Dustinis family, known as the "Kingdom's Blade," owns a territory that includes several surrounding starting villages, including Axel, as a major noble family in the kingdom.

Especially since Dustinis's family is still in Axel, how could he offend the daughter of a noble family without paying a price?

I will remember this grudge!

"hateful!"

Aqua shed tears of resentment.

She really cried, sobbing uncontrollably in Kobayashi's arms because of the huge financial loss, completely unlike the goddess she should be.

Meanwhile, Duster, who had been watching the whole thing unfold, jumped out to kick Kobayashi when he saw that Kobayashi was going to have to pay a huge debt.

"Hey, Kobayashi, I heard you're going to pay over a hundred million in compensation?"

"...Weren't you watching the whole thing?"

"Hahaha, I never thought you'd end up like this! How about it, broke now? Been broke just like us!"

This guy—!

However, he doesn't seem to know he's very rich, so we can take advantage of that to play a trick on him.

Xiaolin's lips curled up slightly, then quickly disappeared, and she said in feigned pain, "Ah, indeed, I have no money left."

"Hmph, then I'll..."

"Now there are only 80 million Eris left."

“Gah—?!”

Duster's eyes widened like those of a giant toad.

He always felt that Kobayashi was in Versailles.

What's even more outrageous is that Kobayashi deliberately sighed loudly, "What am I going to do? From now on, I'll only be able to have rare ingredients at every meal, and the limited-edition sparkling wine will be reduced from three bottles a day to one. Ah, what am I going to do?!"

"You, you...!"

Duster couldn't say a word.

Axel, that despicable scoundrel everyone hates, deserves this opportunity to be slapped in the face.

Duster, you did a good job.

I'm giving you a five-star review.

Xiaolin's affected manner made the other members of the guild grit their teeth in hatred, silently thinking to themselves.

—I really want to punch him!

Chapter 174 The Long-Awaited Lord of the Dungeon

Eighty million Eris sounds like a lot, but it wouldn't actually allow them to live a wealthy and happy life. After the battle with General Winter, the squad needed to replenish many of their belongings.

For example, the magic crystals that Huihui squandered were worth 100,000 Eris each; buying another 100 would instantly deplete one-eighth of her savings. Not to mention, there were also the two weapons that Kobayashi and Darkness destroyed.

"Therefore, we need to go into the underground city."

"I do not want!"

Kobayashi's suggestion was immediately rejected by Megumin, so Megumin prepared to run away, but was quickly caught and brought back.

This little explosive loli, I've already accompanied her to unleash explosive magic, but she's so resistant to going to the dungeon. It really breaks Kobayashi's heart.

Ke Huihui also had her own ideas.

"No, no! After all, I have absolutely no value in a place like a dungeon! Explosion magic would cause the dungeon to collapse, making it unusable. I'm really just an ordinary person!"

Haven't you destroyed enough dungeons already?

Besides, who was it that said they would ask you to do anything, whether it was carrying luggage or anything else, as long as they wouldn't abandon you?

Xiaolin thought to himself, "This is ridiculous."

At that moment, Darkness suddenly turned around and said, "Um, wait a minute. My greatsword was broken, and I'll need some time to get new equipment. If we're counting my current combat strength..."

"Don't misunderstand, this mission only involves 'us,' not you." Kobayashi pointed to himself and Ryuzu, indicating that it was just the two of them going to the dungeon this time.

"—!"

Darkness's eyes welled up with tears, her face flushed, her feelings a mixture of excitement and hurt. Well, if half of it was excitement, she wouldn't bother with her.

Let the perverted knight entertain himself.

"What? Is that so?"

Huihui looked relieved after hearing this.

To be honest, I suddenly had the urge to teach her a lesson.

Aqua, lounging lazily on the table, asked curiously, "But why did you suddenly say you wanted to go to the dungeon? If you're going to the dungeon, your party definitely needs a rogue. And Chris, I haven't seen her in the guild lately."

"Chris's been really busy lately because some unreliable, idiotic senior colleague dumped a huge problem on her." Kobayashi looked at her with a meaningful gaze.

The silly goddess seemed to sense a malice and couldn't help but rub her shoulders.

"Kobayashi, why are you looking at me like that?"

"fine."

Kobayashi gave her a perfunctory response.

Then, he said to everyone, "Don't worry, I've already learned how to detect and disarm traps for exploring dungeons. Plus, I have Ryuji as my bodyguard this time. We're unlikely to encounter any danger in dungeons where the monsters don't change with the seasons."

He planned to go to the dungeon of the lich archmage Gil, to fulfill Gil's last wish and acquire the treasure he left behind.

Originally, she had planned to go there when she first transmigrated, but at that time, Kobayashi did not have enough strength to act alone in the dungeon, nor was she able to purify the other party to complete the quest.

Later, he forgot about it because he received a large bounty for defeating the Demon King's army officers. Now that the team is short of money, he has no reason not to go.

“In that case, I’ll go too.” Kazuma Sato volunteered. “I’ve learned the skills and such. Unlike these hopeless problem children, I should be able to help in the dungeon.”

"Would it be good to have someone to look after me?...Alright, Sato-kun, come along too."

Kobayashi agreed, then turned to the hunched-over, seemingly sneaky goddess who was trying to escape and said, "Aqua, you have to come along this time too. I have a feeling I'll need your help."

"Eh----"