I love time travel the most!

Her attitude of taking it upon herself to defeat the Demon King's army was completely different from her usual behavior.

Even upon hearing her words, Megumin and Darkness straightened their backs, clearly moved by Aqua's words.

What are these idiots trying to prove?

Kazuma Sato looked down at the cleaning tools in his hands. Their main task was to destroy the evidence, so they brought something that could remove magic circles. However, this tool was completely harmless!

What should I do if I encounter a Demon King's army officer? Should I give it a bath, you idiot!

Despite Aqua's resolute words, Kazuma Sato still guessed what she was really thinking: "You, you're just after the high bounty the kingdom offered to the Demon King's army officers, aren't you? You're only being so proactive so you can stay at home again and satisfy your desire not to work."

"Wh-what are you saying, you idiot Kazuma? That's not it at all! I was just trying to weaken the Demon King's army."

Aqua, whose thoughts had been exposed, didn't dare to look at him. Her eyes darted around, and her words became increasingly hesitant.

call----

Kazuma Sato sighed deeply and turned to Kobayashi, saying, "Are we really going in? We're not prepared at all. What if a battle breaks out..."

He believed in the leader's abilities, but he had even more faith in the troublemakers' capacity to cause chaos. Without thorough preparation, he wouldn't dare to recklessly court disaster.

"No problem, I'm absolutely confident."

"Since Senior Kobayashi has said so..."

Seeing that the team leader was determined to do so, Sato Kazuma had no choice but to believe him.

"So, we can go ahead with it, right?"

"Hey, don't rush in recklessly and risk your life!"

Aqua picked up a stone from the ground and pretended to rush forward, but Kazuma Sato quickly held her back.

Just at this time.

"Mr. Kobayashi...! What are you doing in a place like this? Are you here to investigate the anomalies in the underground city as well?"

Hearing someone call from behind, everyone turned around and saw Sena leading a large group of adventurers. At this moment, she was wearing very light equipment and no armor, but she was holding a talisman with strange patterns drawn on it.

This is bad! The evil spirit has already arrived!

Kazuma Sato was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.

Thinking about it carefully, the dungeon was acting strangely; they were the last adventurers to enter and exit, and there were traces of them deep inside the dungeon—magic circles—plus the appearance of the Demon King's army officers…

This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!

No matter how you look at it, they are the ones colluding with the Demon King's army!

Oh no, I'm going to be beheaded!

Kazuma Sato, who has always been quick-witted, was unable to utter a single word, his body stiff and rigid.

Fortunately, Kobayashi was still there.

He smiled and said, "The appearance of monsters might be an effect caused by us, so we should at least prevent the impact from spreading. Besides, even if it wasn't us, as adventurers, we have a duty to protect the townspeople, don't we?"

"That's it..."

Sena immediately believed their story, after all, they were already there before she even went to them. And unlike the other scumbag, Kobayashi had a good reputation in town, making it quite possible for him to do something like this.

Seeing that Kazuma Sato remained silent, Sena couldn't help but ask curiously, "Mr. Kazuma... what's wrong?"

"It's nothing. He's just a little resentful."

"Is that so? In any case, I sincerely thank Mr. Kobayashi for his help."

As Sena said this, she bowed deeply. This person wasn't holding a grudge against anyone; rather, she was honest and straightforward to the point of being inflexible, simply determined to get to the bottom of every suspect.

To be honest, I feel a little guilty.

Kobayashi took advantage of her.

After all, how can a hero defeat the Demon King's army without qualified witnesses? What if the kingdom doesn't acknowledge it later? Who will pay his bounty then?

Just as Kobayashi was about to say something profound, Sena handed him a talisman.

"this is?"

"The cause of the monster's appearance is still unclear, but the most likely explanation is that someone is deliberately summoning it. If this hypothesis is true, please defeat the summoner and place this on the magic circle."

"This seems to contain powerful sealing magic."

"That's right. As long as you stick this on, even the most powerful magic circle will immediately lose its effect. Some types of magic circles that summon monsters will continue to summon monsters even after the sorcerer is defeated, so please make sure to keep this on you."

"I see."

Kobayashi carefully put it away and expressed her gratitude to the talisman.

But Kazuma Sato suddenly jumped in and said to her, "I don't think we need this at all. Don't worry, I have a great idea! There are so many monsters in the dungeon, and the Demon King's army... cough cough, anyway, there's no need to go into the dungeon. Megumin, are you ready!"

"It's ready a long time ago, leave it to me!"

Responding to his call, and under the puzzled gazes of everyone, Megumin raised her wand and stepped forward.

Sena exclaimed in panic, "W-what's going on? What are you trying to do? Could it be...!"

"Hmph. Got it? That's right, it's about using explosion magic! As long as we block the entrance...!"

Kazuma Sato's smug explanation.

Sena immediately stopped her, saying, "No! Please find out the reason! The monster is obviously not naturally generated. The sorcerer who summoned the monster may have teleportation magic. If you use explosion magic, it may disturb the monster!"

"Tsk."

Sato Kazuma clicked his tongue in displeasure upon hearing this, and then looked at Kobayashi and whispered, "What should we do, Kobayashi-senpai? We all know that the Demon King's army officers are inside. We can't go in on our own, and once we go in, we can't use explosion magic. In this situation, I still suggest blocking the entrance and observing the situation from the outside."

I must say, this method is very good.

Kobayashi also leans towards this.

Just as he was about to agree, Aqua picked up a stone without thinking and prepared to throw it at the masked doll.

Demons and goddesses are inherently incompatible, so it's understandable that Aqua would hate it to the point of physical incompatibility. However, no one expected her to do that; it turns out this demon really did evoke such strong feelings in her.

But the monster, which had previously shown no hostility towards them, suddenly charged at the foolish goddess who was about to throw stones. Instead of attacking, it tightly hugged her knees.

"Wait, wait... what's going on?"

Seeing the cute doll constantly acting cute towards her, Aqua's disgusted expression softened slightly.

But she immediately realized something was wrong.

"Huh? Wait a minute, Kobayashi, this doll seems to be getting a little hot. I should say, I have a very bad feeling about this!"

The idiot goddess swung her legs and yelled. Those who also had a bad feeling instinctively moved away from Aqua.

Then--

boom!

As the explosion rang out, the doll that was tightly hugging Aqua had completely disappeared, leaving only the stupid goddess who had been caught in the explosion, her clothes torn and lying on the ground, unable to get up again.

Kazuma Sato helplessly covered his forehead.

Even though Senior Kobayashi had warned of the risk of an explosion, this idiot still recklessly rushed forward.

How incredibly stupid can someone be?!

At this point, Sena said, "As you can see, this mysterious monster has the habit of sticking to people who are moving and then self-destructing. The Adventurers' Guild doesn't know how to deal with it either."

"I see, this is a bit tricky."

Kazuma Sato looked at the team leader and asked, "What should we do, Kobayashi-senpai?"

Aqua's haori was said to be the strongest armor worn by the gods, possessing terrifying defensive capabilities, yet even it was blasted to the ground. Given the power of that attack, anyone hit would suffer considerable injury.

What a troublesome monster!

"Wait, why are you all so calm? Can't you be a little more worried about me? At least comfort me a little!"

Aqua, scrambling to her feet, screamed. Her protest was surprisingly strong; she didn't seem to be hurt at all. After the explosion, the crybaby goddess, her eyes brimming with tears, nestled into Kobayashi's arms for comfort.

While comforting her by patting her head, I began to think about how to solve the current problem.

"Senior Kobayashi, shall we attack from a distance?"

Kazuma Sato offered some sound advice.

Arrows or threads shouldn't be a problem. But so many monsters have already surfaced; who knows how many are still lurking inside the dungeon? Driving them away one by one in this situation is really...

His concerns are not without merit.

After thinking for a moment, Xiaolin pushed away the goddess who was gushing water from his arms and took the initiative to approach the doll that kept lingering at the entrance.

"Huh? Senior Kobayashi?"

Just as her companions and the surrounding adventurers were thrown into a panic by her actions, the dolls had already stuck to Kobayashi's body. A few seconds later, just like they had done to Aqua earlier, the dolls exploded spectacularly.

Then, after the explosion—

"Hmm, the power is decent. I can withstand an explosion of this magnitude, no problem."

At least it's in LV3 upgrade and retains its state, so a mere explosion is nothing to worry about.

Not only Kobayashi, but Darkness did the same. After the explosion, they still looked perfectly fine, as if the monstrous Crusader, whose hardness was like that of Adamantite ore, was not afraid of the explosion at all.

Just as Sena and the other adventurers were marveling at her hardness—

"Alright, Xiaolin and I will lead the way, and the rest of you can follow behind me."

She delivered a line that exuded a distinctly masculine charm.

The adventurers who had come with Sena were all filled with shame.

However, this time, the dungeon exploration will not be conducted by sneaking in with stealth skills like last time; instead, it will require facing the dungeon head-on with other adventurers.

No, we can't let them come along. If they come with us, they'll easily uncover his plan.

Just then, Huihui tugged at his sleeve and said, "Kobayashi, Kobayashi. I'll only get in the way if I go in. Can I stay here and wait? I'll be ready to unleash explosive magic at the entrance at any time. If we encounter any powerful monsters, we'll escape quickly."

"oh oh……"

Kobayashi remained silent.

Just how little faith does she have in herself?

Aqua excitedly joined in, saying, "I want to go! I want to go too! Take me with you, take me with you too!"