I like crossing the most

Chapter 1055 The Last Routine 234
Kobayashi's team went on a mission as usual, but they looked slightly different than usual...

"The weather is so nice..." Kobayashi, dressed in a cloak like an adventurer ready to set off, put his hand on his forehead and looked into the distance, exclaiming, "It's as if even the sun is blessing our journey."

"I didn't expect Kobayashi to say he wanted to do a high-difficulty mission." Darkness looked at Kobayashi leading the way with satisfaction, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Has he finally remembered his duty as an adventurer?"

"No, it seems it's because we've run out of money..."

Huihui's words caused Xiaolin to clutch her chest in obvious pain, recalling what had happened before—

-

"What?! This amount?!"

"Because there's no way to encounter the spirits, after discussing it with the people in the city, we hope you can pay half... I think that's how it is."

"No, not at all! Half? That would mean all our savings would be gone!"

Kobayashi clutched his head in anguish. It was all that Jizo's fault. If that guy hadn't caused such a huge commotion in Axel, he wouldn't have been so desperate for money, and wouldn't have had to come out on a mission... Where could he find the comfort of life at home?

"—So you're hoping to turn the tide with a high-difficulty mission, huh?" Huihui couldn't help but sigh. This kind of thing happens to almost every adventurer, who fantasizes about getting rich quick or something.

“I see…” Darkness withdrew his relieved look from Kobayashi, but also shook his head and said, “Indeed, the Jizo incident is a real headache.”

"Hehe, isn't this great?" Aqua said with a smile, "We've all forgotten about our goal of defeating the Demon King lately. From now on, our real adventure begins!"

"Hmph, full of energy!" Huihui also raised her head with high spirits and said, "I didn't expect that even the equipment would be completely renewed."

Darkness wore white-trimmed armor, Megumin wore a mage's cloak, and even Aqua wore a priest's robe, making them look very different from the other adventurers and full of distinct personalities.

Aqua fantasized: "Think about it, Megumin. If we defeat the Demon King, we'll be turned into bronze statues and celebrated for a thousand years! In that case, we'll at least have some gorgeous equipment, right!?"

"Hehe, that's so Aqua's style." Darkness smiled, but at the same time nodded seriously and said, "Yes, I will make good use of the equipment that Aqua made for me."

That's right, Aqua prepared all this equipment for them, and for some reason, Aqua was particularly excited.

"Enough of this small talk..." Kobayashi called to them, then said loudly, "Let's go, Kobayashi's companions! Let's create a legend together!"

"Yes, yes! Let's defeat the Demon King and build a bronze statue!!"

"Hoo hoo hoo, ahahaha—" x2
The two laughed heartily, seemingly already imagining the praise they would receive after defeating the Demon King. However—

In the suburban mansion of Axel.

Kobayashi lay lazily on the sofa and said to the silly goddess beside him, "Aqua, make another cup of black tea."

"Okay, okay..." Aqua walked over quickly, but then stopped abruptly, glaring at the lazy Kobayashi with some displeasure, and complained, "Wait a minute! Where did all your enthusiasm go?!"

"As a result, very few tasks were completed," Darkness sighed. Although she said she hadn't had high hopes, the fact that things were no different from before was still a bit of a headache.

Huihui also shouted, "What's wrong with creating legends?! Are we going to defeat the Demon King?!"

"Hey, hey, don't say such dangerous things." Kobayashi picked up the steaming cup of black tea that Aqua had brewed, took a sip with a relaxed expression and a happy mood, and complained, "Won't this hard-won black tea taste bad?"

“The black tea you’re drinking is really good…” Darkness could tell from the aroma that it was a rare and high-quality tea. Then she crossed her arms and said, “You’re out of savings, aren’t you? That’s why you’re so motivated to do missions.”

"Hmph... Come on, take a look at this." Kobayashi smiled smugly, tossing a piece of parchment in front of them while calmly continuing to drink his tea.

Aqua raised an eyebrow, picked up the parchment, and said, "This is... the performance schedule for the Axel Theater?"

"It's fully booked every day, even for the kingdom's ceremonies and banquet performances for the nobles...!" Megumin exclaimed in surprise, completely unaware that Kobayashi had quietly taken control of the kingdom and its nobles through the Axel Theater.

Kobayashi proudly spread his arms wide and shouted, "The activities so far have been fruitful! People are coming in from all over to inquire! That means that for the next year, as the producer, I will be extremely busy! That's right, I won't even have time to go on adventures!"

He calls adventure "leisure time"—I really don't know if he's still an adventurer.

“I see… I understand now.” Darkness rolled his eyes and said, “So, this income has made you rich again, right?”

"Wait! I haven't heard anything about any of this!" Aqua shouted unwillingly, "Didn't we split the bill for yesterday's meal?!"

“Of course.” Kobayashi said this matter-of-factly, which made Aqua subconsciously take aback. He pursed his lips and said, “You are adventurers’ partners, and the Axel Theater is my personal business. We should keep public and private matters separate!”

"Is that alright?" Huihui raised her eyebrows provocatively and said, "If you spend all your time being a producer, you might forget how to fight altogether one day. An adventurer who can't wield a sword will be a laughing stock."

"So what?" Kobayashi remained unmoved, retorting, "Making big money without being an adventurer, isn't that the best thing?... Hmm, that's right, let's do it that way. I've decided, I'm not going to be an adventurer anymore!"

"Ah——————?!" x3

Upon hearing this, Aqua, Darkness, and Megumin shouted excitedly. Although similar things had happened before, they felt that Kobayashi was serious this time, and that he might really be giving up being an adventurer.

In the evening, the group arrived at the Adventurers' Guild.

In the corner, Aqua spoke up excitedly, "Hey Kobayashi, are you really not going to be an adventurer anymore? Are you kidding me? You haven't forgotten your mission as a chosen one, have you?" She was the last person who wanted to see Kobayashi give up being an adventurer, after all, this silly goddess still hoped to take this opportunity to return to the Celestial Realm.

"Didn't I tell you?" Kobayashi was very insistent on one thing, and he said, "Being a producer allows you to earn a safe living. You don't have to work so hard every day and take risks."

"What about my Burst Walk?" Huihui asked.

Kobayashi shrugged and casually said, "Why don't we just go find some other idle guys?" Then, the indignant Megumin seized his fate by the throat.

Darkness looked at him with disappointment and said, "Kobayashi, you've used our bodies to your heart's content... and now you're planning to abandon us?! You truly are the man I chose!!"

"Don't put it so harshly!" Kobayashi retorted loudly, complaining, "Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that I'm the one being used? I've been cleaning up your messes the whole time!"

That's right, it's always been Kobayashi who gets hurt. These guys are completely oblivious, which is why they keep saying they don't want to be adventurers!

"In short!" Aqua slammed her hand on the table and shouted, "Without Kobayashi, we can't even handle ordinary missions, let alone defeat the Demon King!"

"Goddess! You want to defeat the Demon King, right? Then team up with me, Mitsurugi Hibiki!!" Before she could finish speaking, the sycophant beside her rushed over, saying this with a face full of loyalty.

After looking at him, Aqua spoke again: "In short! Without Kobayashi, we can't even do ordinary missions, let alone defeat the Demon King!"

"Strange, Goddess?" Mikami Hibiki smirked, feeling ignored, and said, "Didn't you hear me? If you want to defeat the Demon King, I'll accompany you!"

He kept professing his loyalty, but Aqua didn't even glance at him, completely ignoring this demon swordsman.

"This is a real headache..." Huihui sighed and said to everyone, "If we can't do missions like this, our savings will run out very quickly. We won't have enough to eat and we won't grow up."

Hey, it's hereditary that you don't grow in that area. Don't look at me so pitifully, okay?

"Ah, that Kobayashi guy...!" Darkness squirmed excitedly, shouting, "Is he planning to just leave us to die? As expected of Kobayashi! I knew I hadn't misjudged him!"

"Um, Ms. Megumin, Ms. Darkness?" Mitsurugi Kyouya raised her hand and cautiously asked, "We just made eye contact, didn't we?" Unfortunately, in this world, making eye contact doesn't necessarily mean fighting or becoming allies.

"Sigh...!" Aqua sighed deeply, leaning on the table and speaking to Megumin and Darkness, "In that case, why don't we team up with the people from Axel's Little Theater? That way, Kobayashi won't have anyone to team up with, and we can get our revenge, right?"

What is this guy talking about? What does he mean by saying that if he teams up with Kobayashi's partner, he won't have a partner anymore? If you guys can steal someone's partner so easily, how am I supposed to stay in Axel?

"That's strange. My sister's Axel Theater...didn't it disband?"

"A 'mixed bag'?...Wait a minute, what did you say, a fake sword!?"

When Mikage Hibiki suddenly uttered this unexpected sentence, Kobayashi and the others were immediately astonished and opened their mouths wide. After all, neither Kobayashi nor Aqua had expected this.

"Yeah, yeah, what happened to the disbandment of the Axel Theater, people of the Demon Sword!" Aqua shouted in a panic. She liked the group too, but she never thought they would disband.

"No, no... I've only heard about it, I don't know the specifics..." Mikage Hibiki waved his hand awkwardly, seemingly based on hearsay, but this kind of situation always made people nervous, with a bad feeling. "Also, my name is Mikage!" Never mind, it doesn't matter what your name is.

Darkness frowned with equal unease and said, "Even if it's just a rumor, disbanding doesn't seem like a safe bet. Is it really going to happen?"

"This is quite intriguing." Huihui looked at Mitsurugi Hibiki and asked, "Where exactly is this coming from...?"

"No, as I just said, I have no way of knowing the specifics either. I only heard it from other people... Wait a minute, Ms. Huihui, even if you look at me with that useless look of disgust, I still can't tell you the reason."

Yu Jianxiang waved his hand repeatedly in the night.

"This can't go on!" Xiaolin clenched his fist and shouted at the crowd, "No, I have to ask them directly!" This concerns his survival for the next year. If they disband on the spot, then they will disband on the spot too!

"Ah, wait a minute, Kobayashi!"

Kobayashi rushed out in a hurry, ignoring even Aqua's calls. As he ran quickly to the street, he happened to see Lia passing by.

"...Disband? What are you talking about?"

"No, I've just heard such rumors."

"If that's the case, we should talk to you about this first, Kobayashi."

"that's true."

Kobayashi completely relaxed, letting out a long sigh of relief as he realized how easily he had been startled and lacked composure.

Aqua breathed a sigh of relief, then jokingly said, "What? If that's the case, then the rumors are complete nonsense. I thought some big theater had sent talent scouts." Just like in her previous life, whenever an underground idol became a sensation, people from big companies would come to poach them.

"Hey, stop talking nonsense! You know how to set up a chess piece, right?!" Kobayashi roared at the clueless Aqua, then asked curiously, "But where did this rumor about disbanding come from?" Although it won't have any real impact, it's still making some viewers very nervous, which is really going too far.

"Perhaps the rumors originated from the decision to demolish the small theater, which had been aging for a long time."

"It's going to be demolished!?... What a pity."

Buildings are often in disrepair, but they're not some century-old mansion that's maintained every day. Demolishing a small theater like this wouldn't make anyone feel bad.

"Ah, it's so lonely to lose a place full of memories... But we plan to continue our activities and we won't disband."

"I see, I understand. I'm relieved to hear that. I'll leave things to you from now on!"

Kobayashi gave her a thumbs-up as encouragement, but in his heart he thought darkly: if the group suddenly disbands, my rosy life plan will be ruined.

(End of this chapter)