I love time travel the most!

After listening, Kobayashi remained silent for a moment, then clicked his tongue loudly and said unhappily, "Speak, what is the mission?"

"I hope you can investigate the 24th floor, the incident of a large number of monsters appearing there. Moreover, according to the intelligence you have, the red-haired woman and the monster orb you encountered in Rivera Town (the safe floor) are likely related to those events."

"I see, because I've already gotten involved, is that right?"

"No, it's just that you have free time."

Uranus's calm words struck a chord with Kobayashi.

Listen, is this human talk?

Oh, he's a god. Then it's alright.

Kobayashi accepted the commission anyway.

This was part of the original agreement, and there's no going back on it. Since that's the case, let's just resolve it cleanly and decisively.

"Let's go, Liu Zi, it's time to work."

"Yes, Master Xiaolin."

Kobayashi strode confidently into the depths of the underground, but he was dumbfounded after only a few steps because it was too dark to find any passage connecting to the underground city.

Why not just add more torches...?

"Why not add more torches to make the light here better?"

"Eh?"

Kobayashi was surprised that Ryuji had spoken his thoughts first.

Liu Zi even remarked sarcastically, "How can a deity reside in such a dark and claustrophobic space? Shouldn't it be brightly lit and bustling with activity? The eerie atmosphere is just like that of a villain, isn't it?"

"Hey, hey, hey, don't say that. The God of the Sky is only putting himself through this for the sake of the Labyrinth City. Ah, poor God, what if he gets claustrophobia?"

Kobayashi followed suit with his sarcastic remarks.

It wasn't just to vent my anger at him for making me do more work, but also to get revenge for not receiving any reward despite his obvious attempts to take credit.

He also knew that the high seat where Uranus stood was an altar, and the purpose of sealing himself away was to quell the anger of the underground city.

Since it's an altar and offerings, you can't exactly dance here.

What's the difference between that and provocation?

...Wait a minute! If it were some blue-haired, idiotic goddess, she might actually be throwing a party here!

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

"I accidentally thought of some idiot and this is what happened."

"I bet it must be Lady Aqua."

"Liu Zi, sometimes being too smart isn't a good thing."

When Kobayashi realized that Uranus wouldn't budge despite his subtle hints, he understood that his attempt to fleece Uranus had failed. So he took Ryuzu and entered the dungeon from below the guild.

After he left, a figure emerged from the shadows, and Uranus called out, "Fels."

Fels watched Kobayashi's retreating figure and said calmly, "It seems he knows something, but as long as he doesn't say anything, he can easily get away with it."

"I know."

"But is it really okay to entrust the task to him?"

“We are short-handed, so we have no choice but to entrust the task to him. And Fels, why did you take it upon yourself to assign the task to Sword Maiden?”

Uranus looked at Fels.

The words contained questioning and blame, but the tone was completely different.

It seems that the gods trust Fels very much.

Fels explained, "As I said before, don't make enemies of the Loki Familia. She's the right person to resolve the current situation."

"Something bad will happen."

"It's okay, they're involved too, they can't be completely unrelated. Besides, didn't that man go along with them?"

"If only that were true."

Uranus only summoned Kobayashi because he sensed something was wrong, hoping to bring the situation back on track before it spiraled out of control.

But can things really turn out as he wishes?

On the other side, Kobayashi and Ryuji successfully entered the underground city through the passage.

The 18th security layer.

A riot had occurred here, affecting the entire floor. Fortunately, the dungeon has a self-repairing function, and the adventurers were able to rebuild the town quite quickly. When they returned, it had been restored to its original state. And most importantly, with the culprit no longer at large, the atmosphere had improved considerably.

"Lord Kobayashi, what should we do now?"

"Of course, we should go straight to the 24th floor to investigate... Although I really want to say that, the mission requirements are to go to Rivera Town to meet the collaborator first, right?"

Was it because you were afraid of getting into danger that you sought help?

If only that were true.

Kobayashi had already guessed Uranus's thoughts. He was already hoping that the person he was going to meet would be a collaborator, or at least not a useless coward.

I really want to investigate it myself!

Fuming, Kobayashi arrived at a tavern, pushed open the door, and went inside.

The tavern was full of adventurers, drinking even in the daytime. They showed no signs of the panic and vigilance that had preceded the riots that had occurred there before. The group of fearless tavern owners had the air of ignorant adventurers.

Ignoring these small fry, I quickly went to the counter and spoke the code to the owner who was wiping the glasses.

"Fried potato balls, matcha cream flavor."

"……Um."

The boss nodded almost imperceptibly, indicating that Xiaolin could enter the secret room he was guarding.

This process has a secret contact feel to it, but the code word is a bit strange.

With doubts in my mind, I pushed open the door.

The room was brightly lit, and many people were sitting at the table, among whom was a familiar figure.

"Miss Ais...?"

"Xiao Lin?"

It was only then that Kobayashi realized where that strange code came from.

Not only Fiora, but there was another familiar figure, but Fiora's presence was so strong that it overshadowed her.

This person was the same dog-man race member they had met in the safe zone.

"Lulune?"

"Big brother?!"

When Lulune of the dog-human race saw Kobayashi, her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open in disbelief.

The mission that can get Kobayashi and Sword Princess to join must be incredibly difficult; it must be the kind of extremely difficult mission where one wrong move could lead to death!

Or we should just run away now.

Having witnessed just how strong Kobayashi was, she now felt a strong sense of regret.

"It seems the last reinforcement has arrived."

A mature and steady female voice came from behind me.

Kobayashi turned his head and saw a woman whose entire body was covered by a gray-black cloak, but whose face was exposed. She had light blue seaweed hair, wore glasses, and had a beautiful face.

"You are……"

"Asphi, Asphi Al Andromeda. I apologize for the late introduction. I am the leader of the Hermes Familia."

"Hello, I am Kobayashi. And the lady beside me is my waitress, and also my most trusted and closest partner, Ryuu."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Kobayashi, Ms. Ryuu."

Asif extended her right hand as a sign of politeness.

Perhaps due to his "omnipotent vision," Kobayashi was particularly sensitive to gazes. The scrutinizing and probing look was too obvious, making him slightly uncomfortable.

But it’s understandable.

Unlike the renowned Sword Princess Ais, Kobayashi is an unknown figure, so it's understandable that she'd be scrutinized without knowing her strength. After all, Asphie is the leader of her familia and should consider the well-being of her members.

Look around.

They were all unfamiliar faces, but their movements and micro-expressions made Kobayashi realize that the people here were all members of the Hermes Familia.

"So, the mission was accepted by your noble family?"

"……You can say that."

"what happened?"

Asifi's face was full of conflicted expression, clearly indicating that there was something she was hiding. And for the sake of future cooperation, she naturally had to be honest and explain the mission and its reasons.

The commission they received from the men in black (Fels) was to investigate the reason for the large number of monsters appearing on the 24th floor.

The same thing had only happened on the 30th floor, and the victim, Hassanal Dorria, who was killed in the safe floor, had taken the gem from the 30th floor.

"You really are something. After what happened, you still dare to take on questionable cases."

"I'm sorry, please let me go."

Asphi's blame led Lulune to sincerely apologize.

This is a classic example of the "be greedy when others are fearful" mentality. Especially since Lulune's mouth wasn't sealed tightly, it's not surprising that she would lose her life because of it one day.

"I understand the specifics now. What do we need to do?"

"...Although the security layer is quite expensive, we have no choice but to spend more money in order to conduct the investigation as soon as possible."

"What do you mean?"

"We need to wipe out all the traps and obstacles in the safety layer!"

It was obvious that Asifi had her own ideas, and had even decided how to do it before Kobayashi arrived.