I love time travel the most!

"Alright, since you're all so excited, let's go do the mission."

"Oh————!!!" xN

The group walked out of the mansion.

Upon arriving at the guild, they found that there weren't as many people as they had imagined. Not only were there adventurers preparing for quests, but even Dust, who had always been a loafer who hung around the guild to freeload, wasn't there.

Aqua spoke first: "How strange, why is nobody here?"

Huihui asked, "Is there some kind of event today?"

Youyou chimed in, "A festival?"

“No, I haven’t heard of that. Besides, a festival shouldn’t be quiet; it should be lively.” Darkness chimed in.

The group chatted amongst themselves, speculating wildly in the center of the guild. They were like master detectives in an unfamiliar place, trying to uncover the truth from the smallest clues.

Only Sato Kazuma, who either dislikes using his brain or is the quickest thinker, pointed out: "Instead of wasting time thinking here, why don't you go to the counter and ask Miss Luna? Right, Kobayashi-senpai?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Senior Kobayashi, could it be..."

"No, no, I just thought this would encourage divergent thinking and develop everyone's abilities. That's all!"

"Yes, you'll definitely get some training!"

Kazuma Sato completely ignored Kobayashi's lame excuse, or rather, he was aware of it but chose to ignore it, and gave a thumbs up in firm agreement with Kobayashi's words.

“Kazuma?”

"Idiot Kazuma."

"Mr. Kazuma..."

Aqua and the others were extremely disappointed in Kazuma Sato, who was trying to curry favor with Kobayashi, and chose to distance themselves from him, which almost made the man lose his temper.

Then we went to the counter.

The guild's most popular female employee greeted them warmly upon seeing them.

"Welcome, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Miss Luna, why is the guild so quiet today? Did something happen?"

"Ah, well..."

As she slowly explained, everyone finally understood what had happened.

Simply put, the lord of the neighboring town lost a priceless treasure and, in a fit of rage, issued a quest: whoever catches the thief will be rewarded with a large sum of money and will also have the opportunity to meet his daughter in a blind date.

Where there's a good reward, there's a reason to be brave. So, the energetic adventurers all rushed to the neighboring town to catch the thieves.

"So, Mr. Kobayashi, would you like to accept this mission? If it's your team, there shouldn't be any problem, right?"

Luna was happy to let them take on the mission, since it would increase the guild's reputation.

Upon hearing this, Aqua and the others also commented:

"Those guys are really idiots. They're just a bunch of newbies trying to catch thieves."

"They're the ones who overestimate their abilities."

"There's no other way, we'll just have to go ourselves."

"Ah, let them see the strength of Axel's strongest squad!"

"Huh, huh?!?!"

These idiots, I don't know whether to call them confident or arrogant, became blindly excited after hearing about the generous rewards, just like the other adventurers.

"No, we're not going."

Kobayashi refused the task.

This naturally displeased them, but they still held back and asked for the reason.

"It's simple. If you bunch of idiots go there, who knows whether you'll help or cause trouble. Sato-kun, think about it carefully. If Aqua and the others cause chaos, and in the end, the money you earned isn't even enough to cover the losses..."

“——?!!!”

Kobayashi didn't finish speaking, but Sato Kazuma already understood. After all, every time they did a mission, there was a huge risk of losing their reward.

It happened when he was fighting the Headless Horseman, when he was intercepting the mobile fortress, and when he was escorting the Flashing Runner Lizard. Moreover, the higher the bounty, the higher the amount and probability of the compensation. He had PTSD from doing this every time.

Just like that, Xiaolin managed to turn one person to their side with just a few words.

"No, that's right! You guys, we absolutely cannot do that mission, understand?!"

“Eh——!!!”

As soon as Kazuma Sato finished speaking, Aqua let out a long, disdainful sound.

Huihui then provoked him, saying, "Kazuma, are you scared? If you are, the rest of us can go too."

"No way, you idiot!" Kazuma Sato yelled. "You should know why we're not going! Anyway, you problem children absolutely cannot go!"

Darkness, who was most willing to make the sacrifice, said, "Forget it. Everyone, we found out about this too late. The others have already set off. By the time we get there, the thieves might have already been caught. It's possible that we'll have wasted our time."

“Yes, yes…”

"Since Darkness has said so..."

"There's nothing I can do. It's a real shame that the people from the neighboring town didn't get to witness my magic."

"That won't be necessary!"

Thus, persuaded by the female knight, everyone gave up the idea.

"Speaking of that...!"

Darkness suddenly turned red-faced and gasped for breath, saying, "Everyone, let's hurry up and get on the mission! I can barely contain my power anymore; I'm about to unleash my full potential!"

"Are you suffering from chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) too?!"

Kazuma Sato couldn't help but complain, but he still readily accepted the quest. Because the adventurers had left, many quests were unattended, so they could choose whatever they wanted.

However, in the end, Huihui's request to do a high-difficulty mission was rejected, and instead a lower-level hunting mission—the Forest Wolf—was chosen.

Before leaving, Kobayashi asked, "Miss Luna, do you know if Chris is back?"

“Chris?” Luna was taken aback for a moment, but quickly flipped through the information and said, “No, Miss Chris hasn’t returned yet. She’s currently on a mission… What a coincidence, Miss Chris is in the next town.”

"Yeah, I know."

Kobayashi nodded.

Although it's uncertain, the only one capable of causing such a stir in the news, especially with the loss of such a priceless treasure, must be the goddess Chris, who is actually Eris.

You've really had a tough time cleaning up the mess Aqua left behind, Goddess.

With a sense of apology, Kobayashi said to the troubled children, "Okay, let's go. Let me see how you've grown over this time."

"Oh!"xN

Then everyone set off.

On their way to the plains, the group chatted as they walked.

Kobayashi was the first to ask, "Have any of you guys increased your levels or stats recently?"

Leaving Aqua aside, Darkness, Megumin, Yuuyu, and Kazuma Sato all received the "Grace," and they absolutely cannot become stronger without putting in some effort.

"Well..."

Kazuma Sato hesitated, a clear hint of embarrassment on his face.

Clearly, there hasn't been much progress.

"Don't be discouraged, Sato-kun," Kobayashi comforted him, while giving an example: "It's okay if you don't grow much. Even Ais took a year to advance from LV1 to LV2, and you only received the [Blessing] a month ago."

"Is that so?"

"However, it took Bell a month to advance from LV1 to LV2, and I think it would be better if you knew that."

"Damn it! That orthodox harem protagonist!"

Sato Kazuma's expression, which had initially eased his frustration, instantly turned into jealousy, and he secretly gritted his teeth, feeling that God was being unfair.

Your jealous expression is so ugly, Sato-kun.

"But this is strange." Kobayashi asked curiously, "Sato-kun, don't you have the short sword I gave you? It has the property of killing with one hit, so it should be easy for you."

"No, I don't actually use it very often."

"Huh? Is it not working properly?"

"It's so useful."

Kazuma Sato wore a blissfully troubled expression.

Then he explained his reasons.

His ability to kill with a single blow is indeed outrageous. As long as he creates an opening in the opponent's defenses, he will immediately kill them with a curse. Combined with his sixth brother's abilities, he is incredibly powerful.

However, this is where the problem lies.

This short sword seems to be tainted by some kind of curse. Whenever he uses it, he will always be inexplicably cut and die from the curse, without exception.

In the end, he became a little hesitant to use the short sword.

Kobayashi asked, "Is it possible that we've really been tainted by a curse?"

Aqua, who was standing nearby, was displeased and shouted, "Impossible! If it were a curse, I would have purified it long ago!"

No, what I mean is you are the biggest curse (eyebrow pencil).

Even without seeing it, given Aqua's incredibly low luck, she could guess why Kazuma Sato always died tragically, and why he was so afraid to use his short sword.

To be honest, for Kazuma Sato, the chances of survival with a goddess who can be resurrected by his side are far greater than the chances of survival without a goddess by his side.

If he had to choose one, he would rather choose not to have a goddess.

"Everyone, a monster has appeared!"

Darkness's voice drew everyone's attention.

At the same time, not far in front of them, two huge figures crawled out of the ground.