Adam returned to his mansion.
Aqua was lazily sprawled on the sofa. When she spotted Adam, she jumped up and dashed to his side.
"Adam, Adam! The bounty, how’s the bounty?!"
She was clearly fixated on the bounty. Upon hearing it was as high as ξ500,000,000, her eyes gleamed with greed, likely calculating how much pocket money she might receive.
"I’ve received the 500 million bounty, but most of it’s in the bank now." Adam didn’t let her down, pulling out a deposit ticket worth 1 million from his pocket, "Here’s your reward for helping defeat Hans."
"Haaaa—!!!" Though far less than 500 million, Aqua was ecstatic. She threw her arms around Adam and peppered him with kisses.
"Wait! Your saliva, your saliva!"
While he enjoyed her enthusiasm, they weren’t alone.
Kazuma looked repulsed, Megumin remained indifferent, Yunyun was too embarrassed to watch, and Darkness grew visibly excited, observing them with heavy breaths as she fantasized about something more intimate.
This girl, I’ll definitely have to deal with you properly tonight!... Again!
A subtle glare in Darkness’s direction only heightened her excitement.
After gently pushing Aqua away, Adam shared the news he’d just received at the Adventurers’ Guild.
"According to Luna, the Guild receptionist, an unknown Dungeon has appeared in the neighboring town. She wants to commission us to investigate this mysterious Dungeon."
"Oh? An unknown Dungeon?"
Everyone’s eyes lit up with interest.
Since defeating Hans two days ago, the party had grown overconfident. Despite not contributing much to the victory, they all felt strangely self-assured about their abilities.
Their newfound confidence made sense, though. After all, their Falnas had improved, making them genuinely more capable.
Following the battle with Hans, all members of the 『 Hero 』 Party, including their powerhouse Adam, had leveled up.
Adam was now level 6!
The others had reached level 2, though unlike Adam’s all-SSS attributes, their skill proficiencies had only increased in their specialty areas, just enough to reach the advancement threshold.
"Under normal circumstances, we wouldn’t pay much attention to this, but..." Adam paused to look at Megumin, then explained as she gave him a confused look, "Before our hot spring trip, it seems Megumin’s powerful Explosion Magic bombardment may have exposed the hidden Dungeon at the foot of the mountain."
Everyone turned toward Megumin in unison.
The "Chuunibyou Crimson Demon Clan Arch-Wizard", who regularly caused trouble for the town, felt unfairly accused.
"This isn’t my fault!" She protested anxiously, "Adam clearly told me I could use my magic power freely and cast Explosion Magic at full strength, so I didn’t hold back! That’s what happened."
"But he didn’t tell you to blow up a hidden Dungeon, did he?"
"Are you looking for trouble, you bastard Kazuma!" Megumin snapped, furious at his merciless criticism. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NovelHub(.)net
If Darkness hadn’t restrained her immediately, she might have blasted him with an Explosion right to the face.
"Megumin is right — this is on me. I didn’t anticipate this situation." Adam admitted, taking responsibility as the party leader.
The mountain had always been deserted — not just uninhabited by people, but completely devoid of monsters. Now it seemed clear why: a hidden Dungeon had been lurking at the foot of the mountain all along.
Perhaps the Dungeon itself had been keeping the monsters away?
"This Dungeon connects to the neighboring town and constantly emits a strange mist. Though the mist hasn’t caused any noticeable effects yet, if left unchecked, it might eventually spread to our town as well."
"So we need to go solve it, right?" Darkness asked, barely containing her excitement.
She had always been , getting strangely aroused when faced with unknown dangers... even though she already had me.
Adam nodded, "That’s right, we need to resolve this situation."
"But how should we approach it?" Kazuma spread his hands helplessly, "Even with our improved abilities, an unknown Dungeon is dangerous territory. Without proper information, we’ll be walking into a disaster."
"About that..." Adam turned to Aqua, meeting her curious water-blue eyes, "Do you know anything about a Sage... or any skills — cheat abilities — related to one?"
As he’d mentioned before, this so-called Sage was likely not a native of the Parallel World, but one of the "Heroes" sent over by Aqua herself. It was precisely these cheat abilities that earned them the title of Sage.
Only, Aqua seemed to have completely forgotten about it.
"Hmm?" She tilted her head in confusion, but still tried to think it through, "Well... this Sage thing does exist among my skills — cheat abilities — but it can only see through the essence of things and is practically useless... or rather, as far as I remember, no one has ever chosen this particular skill!"
Seeing Aqua’s confident assertion, Adam fell silent.
He couldn’t shake the strong feeling that this Sage definitely had something to do with her.
"Anyway, we need to explore it." Adam said decisively, "Even if it’s dangerous, with Aqua here, we can always recover our fighting ability."
"That’s right! Just as Adam said, with me — the Water Goddess Aqua — you can fearlessly explore unknown territories!" Aqua boasted, puffing her chest with pride.
She considered herself the perfect logistical support and believed her importance to the team was unmatched.
Adam actually agreed with her assessment. The other party members, however, thought Adam was more indispensable, with Aqua ranking a close second.
Since it was already late and they needed to prepare, no one was in a rush. They scheduled the Dungeon exploration for tomorrow.
"By the way, since we’ve got the bounty, why don’t we have a big feast?" Aqua suggested, waving the million-value deposit ticket in her hand.
With money in her possession, she spoke with newfound confidence.
"Great idea! I want a big feast!" Megumin chimed in enthusiastically.
Though Yunyun and Darkness remained silent, their eager eyes revealed their true feelings.
They looked to him expectantly.
"...Alright, though I was planning to cook at home." Under their hopeful gazes, Adam couldn’t refuse.
He quickly realized they wanted to dine at the Adventurers’ Guild not just for the food, but primarily to show off.
Aqua wanted to attract more followers with her display, while Kazuma hoped — futilely — to erase his embarrassing reputation.
Soon after, everyone headed to the Adventurers’ Guild.
Upon their arrival, Adam, seeking to enhance his own fame, generously treated all the adventurers present.
The night turned extraordinarily lively.
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