Hero194: Aw. They're only doing weekly training sessions now.

  Popcorn5: It was crazy they did it nearly everyday.

  OutsiderFan71: Well, the lessons were apparently for Nais.

  OutsiderFan71: People just kind of followed along.

  OutsiderFan71: But they say she'll be one of the instructors going forward.

  OutsiderFan71: So I think this is a huge win, personally.

  Popcorn5: Yes, police, I'd like to report this person right above me.

  OutsiderFan71: What even for!

  Hero194: Yeah, I know...

  ***

  The lessons were a bit more chaotic now that the focus was helping Lilac rather than trying to get me a sword Skill.

  But only a bit.

  What the other instructors had done was just teach their own personal specialties.

  Apparently, once they decided to do that, the guild even announced what the lectures would be about.

  Well... their announcement was just a calendar they put at the information kiosk outside the portal.

  They didn't even put it online, since they didn't want an overwhelming reception of people to show up just to learn from a high ranking adventurer.

  Though most of the instructors weren't high ranking adventurers.

  There was me, of course. I had recently become a C ranker, which was about the start of where it shifted from a hobby or volunteer effort to an actual job.

  I could possibly even make more adventuring now than I did tutoring Savi, though the added travel time would cut into my research, so I didn't really consider it.

  But most of the other instructors were junior members too. Van was the only senior who regularly came to the dungeon, since it was basically his responsibility.

  And he actually didn't volunteer to teach, just attend others' lessons.

  However, that didn't make it easier for me to decide what to teach.

  As someone who lived more lives than I could ever possibly count, I didn't really have a specialty.

  And so, my entry on the calendar struck an ominous tone.

  All it just said was "Lecture by dungeon boss Nais".

  I guess what was how they resolved to write Na?s. Well, it was an alien name, after all.

  Should I start calling myself Nais instead? If only I could tell what psychic message people got when they saw me.

  'What is that message even called, anyway...?'

  I decided to ask Zaitenmodi.

  

  

  'Oh, that's what it's called... wait, what?'

  

  

  

  

  'This man speaks of centuries so casually.'

  Even an immortal, I didn't think a century was a short amount of time.

  Although a century compared to my whole lifespan was perhaps like comparing a drop of water to an ocean, I still experienced every single minute.

  I wondered if he was just trying to boast, or if time really held no meaning for him.

  If it was the latter, it seemed likely to me that the Demon King of Naraka could be suffering in a way most people couldn't imagine.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Of course, I had personal experience with that sort of thing, so I could sympathize with him, but it was still a problem.

  Then again, could someone who replied so quickly to me really view time as meaningless?

  'He's probably just bored.'

  I couldn't just brush his offer off, though.

  Living alone in the mountains suited me. It was basically my ideal lifestyle.

  But Lilac wasn't me.

  She could probably benefit from proper schooling. The only reason I kept her here was because nobody in Terra could understand her.

  

  

  'A hub world...?'

  Looking it up with my phone, apparently it meant any dungeon that had multiple portals.

  Hub dungeon was another term for it.

  

  I decided to respond even though I hadn't made a decision yet, since I found it pretty easy to imagine him on the edge of his seat waiting for my answer.

  

  ***

  It was difficult to reject Zaitenmodi's offer.

  He was uniquely trustworthy in a way most people weren't.

  After all, if he had wanted to kidnap me, he could have. I didn't think anyone alive could stop him.

  Perhaps there were dungeon bosses even stronger than he was, but since most bosses were monsters or other inhuman entities, they were unlikely to reach very far outside their own dungeons.

  He was also my senior as a dungeon boss, so he could almost certainly teach me a lot of useful things.

  But more importantly, Lilac could have something more resembling a proper childhood than if she just stayed here.

  I wondered what she and Savi thought about it, especially Savi, since she had come here to study the Lost.

  Or perhaps it was to study me?

  Either way, she could probably have more interference if she came with me.

  Unlike Lilac and I, she was mortal. Her days were precious and finite. She definitely deserved a say in how they'd be spent.

  Not that Lilac and I didn't, but mine at least were far cheaper.

  Outcomes matter more than the time it took to reach them, at least if you will never run out of time no matter how much of it you spend.

  Well... my time in this world was still finite, so it's not like I had an unlimited amount of it either, but that was only because the world itself was finite.

  So I decided to ask them.

  ***

  "(Do you remember the man who brought me here, Zaitenmodi?)"

  Lilac paused to think, before nodding.

  I continued, "(He's invited us to live with him for a while. He said he's willing to tutor us. How would you like that?)"

  She seemed to consider my words with a quiet but anxious expression, as if trying to figure out what answer I was hoping to hear.

  Finally, she said, "(I'll go wherever you go!)"

  I wasn't sure what else I'd expected her to say, aside from that...

  But she had an oddly determined look in her eyes when she said it.

  So it was hard to write it off as her avoiding making a decision.

  It was a bit questionable that her decision was to go with whatever I wanted, but if that was her choice, I wasn't going to try to belittle it.

  After all, if I started telling her that her choices were wrong, then it wouldn't really be her making them...

  Of course, it'd be totally different if I really thought she was doing something foolish. I mean, of course I scold her when she does that. Immortal or not, she was basically a kid, after all.

  'Huh... is this how others think of me, though?'

  I sure hoped not...

  ***

  "And so, you're considering moving to Naraka for a few years?"

  For some reason, Savi summarized my whole explanation down to a single sentence. Well, they say it takes a genius to simplify complex topics, but I still thought she left a bit out, like my reasons for wanting to go in the first place.

  Nevertheless, I nodded.

  "That's right. You can come too, you can stay here, or you can go back to Terra."

  "Well, of course I'm going. Who'd pass up living in a palace for a few years?"

  "Alright."

  ***

  

  

  'Huh, tomorrow? I guess we don't, though.'

  

  

  We didn't really have a whole lot to pack up, but we nevertheless did our best to pack everything that night.

  "Are we going to the portal? What time do we have to leave?"

  Savi had a bunch of questions, but I didn't really have many answers.

  "They should be coming here, since he said he'll bring my garden too. He didn't tell me a time, he still had to arrange things."

  I also let the guild know.

  In particular, although I could probably get back on my own to teach the lesson, I wasn't sure if I'd realistically be able to do so, since Zaitenmodi's palace was supposedly quite far from the portal linking Terra and Naraka.

  Since I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to contact them while in Naraka, I said my goodbyes that night.

  They were pretty confused, but it wasn't like this was the first time I'd gone on a trip for a few years. I'd even done it before since first arriving in the Lost.

  Although... the guild in charge of the Lost had changed while I was away last time. It was possible it'd change again.

  But it wasn't like I had too much say over that to begin with.

  If the imperial government decided to put a different guild in charge, who could I even complain to if I disagreed? The new guild?

  I guess technically I could go to the CORA office.

  The Imperial Coexistence and Outsider Relations Administration.

  'Well, maybe Zaitenmodi can teach me how to deal with stuff like that.'

  My only power as a dungeon boss was being better than the potential alternatives, and yet everyone spoke about them with a sense of awe.

  But it was a bit odd...

  I didn't really care that I was imposing upon him.

  Usually, that bothered me a lot, since I hated making connections.

  It was difficult being afraid of him, for some reason.

  ***

  The next morning, Zaitenmodi himself showed up with a bunch of strange-looking guys.

  They were all outsiders from a Terran perspective, though I had to assume they were Narakans.

  They also brought a bunch of push carts, upon which they loaded all of our stuff.

  Well, except the bricks. I kind of just stowed those in the cave for the time being. I'd have to turn them into an oven another day.

  But they did get all the pots and plants.

  I thought they were just ordinary carts, but one of the men explained that they were actually magical devices that preserved their contents.

  The guy who explained that was more finely dressed than most of them, so he gave an impression that he was the subordinate in charge of everything.

  I wondered how the carts worked.

  Not just how they worked on a physical level, but...

  'What do they even preserve? How does it preserve anything at all, when the cart's open like that? Also, they're constantly putting stuff in them... does it have health side effects...?'

  I really didn't get it.