I love time travel the most!

"I'd like to ask Him for a favor."

"What's the deal?"

"Can you purify me? If you were the owner who created this necklace, you should be able to do it."

Kiel said calmly.

Everyone has their own pillars for survival, and when those pillars collapse, the will to live is lost.

Gil's pillar of support is the young lady, for whom he is willing to give up his human form and become a lich.

To be honest, he's kind of handsome.

And this Kiel, having lost his support after the young lady's death, willingly fell into a deep sleep, waiting for his own decay.

Xiaolin had no reason to refuse.

"Sato-kun, could you please help me bring Aqua down?"

“…Okay, I understand.”

Sato Kazuma nodded.

It seems he was also moved by Kiel's story and sincerity, so he was willing to help him with a small favor within his ability.

Kazuma Sato turned and left.

Gil took the hand of the young lady, who had turned into bones, and gazed at her with deep affection, while Kobayashi watched Gil with the same deep affection.

Seemingly sensing the gaze, Kiel said in a low voice, "How is she? Isn't she beautiful? Especially her collarbone, the lines are so beautiful."

"……what."

"That time was truly perilous. Severely wounded, she had no choice but to become a lich, embarking on a great escape across the world, fighting against the kingdom, and finally breathing her last in this underground city. But even in such an inconvenient escape, she never complained, and always had a happy smile on her face."

"……what."

"Click click click click, that was the happiest time of my life. Can you feel it? That kind of happiness."

"……what."

Xiaolin dislikes tragic love stories because he always finds himself unconsciously immersed in them, no matter how many times he hears them. So the best solution is to simply not listen to them.

However, he was eventually infected.

Unconsciously, he grasped Liu Zi's hand.

"Master Xiaolin..."

Feeling immense grip, Ryuko's hands gently enveloped his right hand, as if to say that she would always be by Kobayashi's side.

After waiting for a while, Kazuma Sato and Aqua arrived at the bottom level, but both of them looked disheveled and covered in dust.

It seems they've been through a lot.

There's no time to ask now, so I'll just briefly tell Aqua what happened and ask her for help.

The high priestess, who also served as the goddess of water, readily agreed to the request, as helping others (purifying liches) was her duty.

Then, she inscribed a magic circle in the room.

Logically speaking, the magic circle only needed to be large enough to purify Gil, since the young lady had already ascended to heaven. However, Aqua still put in all her effort, as if to prove something, and enveloped the entire room, including the young lady's remains.

After completing her preparations, she chanted the spell, as if chewing on a sage's words. A soft blue light emerged, illuminating the entire room.

Kiel murmured, "I wonder if I've truly brought happiness to the young lady..."

Yes! You've already made her very happy!

Xiaolin affirmed his abilities.

The same goes for Kazuma Sato.

Even Aqua wore a gentle expression they had never seen before, revealing an incredibly bright and goddess-like smile.

No, who are you?

Under Kobayashi's dumbfounded gaze, she spoke to Gil in a gentle voice: "Gil, who defied the will of heaven and willingly became a lich. In the name of the water goddess Aqua, I forgive your sins... When you open your eyes again, there should be a goddess named Eris with unnaturally protruding breasts before you. If you don't mind the age difference, and even if it's not a romantic relationship, and you're willing to stay by her side in any form... then pray to her to see that young lady again, and she will surely grant your wish."

Seriously, who is this?!

Is she a goddess?

Has a goddess descended?

Kobayashi and Sato Kazuma exchanged a glance, both seeing the disbelief in each other's eyes.

While the two were acting foolishly, Gil bowed deeply to Aqua in the room filled with light.

When the light faded, the room returned to complete darkness. The lich archmage named Gil was no more, and for some unknown reason, the young lady's remains had also vanished.

The four of them fell into a silence amidst an indescribable atmosphere.

a long time.

Kobayashi calmly said, "...Let's go back."

On the way back to the surface, Kazuma Sato seemed somewhat resentful about Gil's fate, disregarding the possibility of being discovered by monsters, and kept asking Aqua about what happened to Gil afterward. After learning that Eris would try to help, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Kobayashi, carrying the treasure he had obtained from Gil, followed silently behind the two.

"Lord Kobayashi, you don't look well."

"...I'm fine."

He just hasn't gotten out of the story yet, but he has a strong ability to manage his emotions and can quickly return to normal.

However, he still sensed the influence of the theory of lifespan.

The so-called theory of lifespan is a future where profound emotions appear pale and regrettable in the face of the relentless passage of time.

I felt anxious and sad because I thought of Ryuu and Aqua.

He even developed a radical idea.

Just as one cannot resonate with tragic love stories without listening to them, one will not care about lifespan theories as long as one does not get entangled with them. If that's the case...

"Lord Kobayashi, you should work on your courage."

"Um???"

“I know you’re afraid of the dark, which is why you’re holding my hand so tightly. But if you keep being so timid, not only will others laugh at you, but it will also lower my opinion of you.”

"Feel sorry."

Kobayashi pretended to let go of her hand.

Instead, Liu Zi quickly grabbed his hand, and after holding it back, she said calmly yet firmly, as if making a vow or a statement: "It's alright, Lord Kobayashi. I will stay by your side until the day the gears stop turning."

"...Thank you, Ryuu."

Xiaolin felt a slight warmth in her heart.

Aqua said cheerfully, "Don't worry, Kobayashi. I'm a goddess! Whether it's a zombie, a lich, or any other undead, none of them are a problem for me! And even if you die, I can resurrect you! A hundred times, a thousand times, it doesn't matter!"

"...No, forget about that. Nobody wants to die hundreds or thousands of times."

Xiaolin couldn't help but complain.

The goddess's comfort was unexpected and touching, but her promises were a bit off-putting; Kobayashi was reluctant to accept anything like death.

"What are you saying, you idiot Aqua!" Seeing the atmosphere getting lively, Kazuma Sato also joined in.

"Huh? Why are you calling me an idiot!"

"Because you're an idiot! Don't you think anyone would want to die so many times? Besides, you're always causing trouble for others, how can you be of any help?!"

"What did you say?!"

"Don't you admit it?"

Seeing that Aqua still didn't know what she had done wrong, Sato and Mami said in a low voice, "You don't know yet, do you? Before you came down, Gil said that he woke up because of an extraordinary divine power, and in the end, he found that the source was the necklace on Kobayashi-senpai's chest. That's right, the sapphire necklace you gave him."

"What do you want to say?"

"So, the reason we encountered undead monsters so easily when we went into the dungeon later was because you were there! Because Kobayashi-senpai and I never encountered such situations!"

"——!!!"

Upon hearing Kazuma Sato's question, Aqua involuntarily trembled and stood frozen in place.

After a long pause, she finally managed to squeeze out a voice, then gave an incredibly ambiguous reply: "H-how could that be? There's no such thing!... It should be..."

"Speaking of which, it was the same when we were fighting the Headless Horseman. Those undead seemed to particularly like to gather around you."

Seeing Aqua shudder again, Kazuma Sato silently distanced himself from her.

Just then, a roar came from the darkness of the dungeon, probably attracted by the lingering energy on Aqua's body.

—Infiltrating.

Without any hesitation, Kazuma Sato used his skill and quickly disappeared.

"wait wait wait!"

Aqua reached out her hand but didn't stop Kazuma Sato. Then, after a pause, she turned her head and looked at her proud follower with teary eyes.

"Xiaolin, don't abandon me..."

She was crying and looking like a baby, completely lacking the demeanor of a goddess.

Seriously, who was that just now?

Chapter 176 The Unconventional Narrator

Kobayashi did not exchange the treasure he received from Gil for money directly at the guild counter.

While exchanging loot for money at the guild is simple and convenient, something most adventurers do, the guild actually takes a small cut as commission to keep it running. Therefore, Kobayashi, who had access to purchasing resources, ended up in a different place.

The rest of the team were fine, but Aqua, upon hearing that Kobayashi was coming, desperately insisted on coming along.

I had absolutely no idea what she was planning, and no matter what I said, I couldn't dissuade her.

Left with no other choice, I had to take her with me.

After winding through the town's alleyways, we soon arrived at this shop tucked away in a secluded alley, with few customers, that specialized in selling small magical items.