The little angel's (Tiona) concern always had its own way, hitting right where it mattered.
"Of course, I'm starving already."
-------------------------------------
After Tiona brought the food, Fron discovered it wasn't the dry rations they had brought from the surface, but rather a delicacy unique to the dungeon.
"This is… crystal candy?"
Beautiful, teardrop-shaped fruit that emitted a bluish-white glow, refreshing in taste.
With curiosity in his eyes, he picked up the supposedly very expensive candy and examined it carefully.
"This must sell for a fortune on the surface, right?"
Tiona grinned proudly. "Mm-hm, rich people are crazy about this stuff. Because it looks beautiful and tastes amazing, it's a must-have luxury dessert at banquets. Just a small piece costs fifty thousand valis! This is for us to eat, but if exported, it's packaged in expensive crystal bottles."
Crystal candy was a rare fruit that only grew on the 18th floor.
For ordinary adventurers, collecting such a precious fruit meant carefully searching among countless crystal clusters, and with luck, they might find one or two pieces.
The chances were no higher than digging rare metals like "Adamantine" or "Orichalcum" from the dungeon walls.
It was said that in Rivira, certain groups ran adventurer squads specializing in this trade on the 18th floor, and they were doing quite well.
It could be concluded that this single commodity alone fed countless people.
"Mm…" Fron didn't hesitate, picked up a piece, and tasted it. "Pretty sweet, really good. No wonder one piece costs tens of thousands of valis."
Though stingy in some areas, like balancing the cost and profit of dungeon expeditions, or in equipment and potion expenses, Fron was far more generous with food, clothing, shelter, and other comforts.
Why become an adventurer in the first place? Wasn't it to gain knowledge and enjoy life?
As he ate seriously, Fron's thoughts drifted, completely unaware of the change in the room's atmosphere.
Ais, now calmed down, sat quietly by his side, saying nothing, just staring intently at him as he ate. Slowly… an air of awkwardness filled the room.
--?
Coming back to himself, Fron caught this subtle feeling out of the corner of his eye.
"Ahem, Ais… don't stare at me like that, it's kind of awkward."
Tiona, "…"
"… "
"Yes, sorry."
"?" Fron paused, set down his spoon, and tilted his head.
"Why apologize?"
"B-Because… if I hadn't taken the initiative to attack the monster back then, if… I hadn't become like that, then you wouldn't have…"
"Stop!" He raised his hand to cut off the troubled girl and sighed.
"That wasn't your fault, it was all the Jewel fetus's doing. And that woman… even if the two of us worked together, we couldn't have beaten her anyway…"
At this point, a trace of dread flashed across Fron's face. If he hadn't resolved to use that in the end, they would surely be dead.
"We're coming in!" Finn and the others, already at the door, knocked lightly and greeted Fron with a smile.
"Captain, you're here!" Tiona greeted them cheerfully, clearly already aware of their visit.
"Fron, how's your condition? Any serious problems?"
"Don't worry, Finn, nothing serious. Just some lingering headaches and mental fatigue."
"That's good. By the way… about that woman, what do you know?"
As expected, Finn also found Revis suspicious. "That woman… in terms of strength, she's very powerful. I'd estimate she's at least Level 6."
"…"
The room fell into dead silence. Level 6, that level alone was terrifying! In all of Orario, they could be counted on two hands.
The Loki Familia's Three Leaders; the Freya Familia's Two Elves and their vice captain, former captain Mia… seven in total.
And now, out of nowhere, appeared an unknown, nameless powerhouse? Unthinkable.
"Level 6, huh…" Finn and Riveria frowned and shook their heads.
"Even we've never heard of her, let alone you…"
"Anything else?"
Fron nodded.
"She's not just strong. Something else bothers me, her body's defenses didn't feel human at all. You all know my stats. But when I kicked her, it was like kicking a steel plate, it hurt like hell, my leg almost broke. Blunt weapons barely worked, and sharp weapons? Even if you cut her, her wounds healed instantly."
"Among adventurers, even those with the 'Healing' development ability could never recover that fast. I've only ever seen such recovery in one thing."
"Monsters!" Several voices shouted the horrifying answer in unison.
"Ah, haha, come on, don't joke like that…" Even Tiona, dense as she could be, sensed something was wrong.
"That can't be right. Aside from her constitution, she's exactly like us, rational, intelligent, even human in form. The scariest part is, she's a beast tamer."
"Yeah, we noticed too. The monsters attacking the town behaved oddly, purposeful, retreating when needed, even showing tactical awareness. I wondered about it, but now it makes sense. She's the tamer."
"Mm." Finn muttered softly, "A remarkable incident indeed."
…
After resting in Rivira overnight, the group spent the next week returning to their money-making routine. The monster invasion incident was, of course, reported to the Guild by the town's adventurers.
As for the red-haired tamer's identity and the suspicions about her, the Loki Familia kept it secret, warning the only outsider witness, Lulune, not to spread the news.
Mishandling it could cause unnecessary panic in Orario.
Humanoid monsters… even the thought was chilling.
Deep floors, 37th floor.
The elite squad explored downward along the main route, defeating monsters and collecting magic stones.
When Fron's and Lefiya's packs were full, they would return to Rivira, sell them for money, then repeat.
With their strength, their earning speed would shock ordinary adventurers. In just one week, excluding drop items, they earned 30 million valis from magic stones alone.
…
Occasionally, luck brought them rare ores when monsters respawned from the walls, like "Adamantine."
Carrying her dual blades, Tiona walked at the front, bored.
"Hey Fron, it's just adamantine, do you really have to keep fiddling with it? You like it that much?"
Her words made Ais, walking beside Fron, curious as well. She turned her pretty face toward him, silent.
"Che, you reckless brute wouldn't understand a blacksmith's obsession with adamantine. This ore can even tempt high-ranking adventurers."
Saying so, Fron quickly brushed the dust off the ore and looked at Tiona warily.
"Bleh, it's just a piece of scrap metal."
"…"
Chatting, they climbed the stairs and continued along the vast passageway.
"Come to think of it, nothing major's happened since the 18th floor monster invasion. We're already at the 37th floor of the deep floors, and it feels no different from our usual dungeon dives."
…
Finn, walking in the middle, stroked his chin.
"True. We've seen nothing unusual. No new species, no Violas, just the standard monsters we have records of. Maybe we were overthinking."
Standing in the "Beasts' Circle" corridor, they chatted.
Riveria, beside Lefiya, looked at the heavy backpack on the girl's shoulders and sighed.
"Finn, our supplies are almost out. We've made good gains, but if we want to continue, we should return to Rivira, restock, and exchange the magic stones for money."
Continuous expeditions, the Monster Pheria incident, and now further dungeon exploration, even Fron was weary. He also needed time to digest the experience he had accumulated.
"The magic stones and drop items should fetch around twenty million. Just a drop in the bucket…"
"No choice. Everyone's in debt after our last expedition. The losses were too great."
Fron rubbed his nose, recalling the 51st-floor disaster, and grimaced.
Their main members' weapons had melted away, each worth over a hundred million. Calling it a bloodbath was an understatement.
"If there's nothing else to find, let's head back."
"Home time!"
"W-Wait."
Ais, silent until now, stopped them. "I want to stay here. Is that okay?"
The others cried out in surprise, not knowing what she meant.
Only Finn and Riveria seemed thoughtful.
Come to think of it… it had already been three years since Ais reached Level 5. With Fron's magical tool support, had her abilities finally reached their limit?
As veterans, they understood that restless feeling.
She had already hit a bottleneck, but Fron's sudden rise in the Familia only added fuel to the fire, giving everyone a sense of urgency.
And after Revis' appearance, being protected by Fron and seeing him injured, it all exploded inside her.
She realized her weakness. She wasn't strong enough yet.
Ais had decided to take an "adventure."