By the time the sun had fully set and the moonlight had begun to bathe the city in its silver glow, Rei and Elena were finally stepping out from the Guard Force Guardhouse.
"Guru," a voice purred.
"Good work," Rei said, reaching out to stroke Seto’s head as the gryphon greeted them with a low rumble in its throat.
Elena followed him out, stretching her limbs to work out the stiffness from a long afternoon of sitting. As she arched her back, her ample curves were put on full display, drawing a deep flush from the guard seeing them off. She, however, remained entirely oblivious to the man’s reaction as she addressed Rei.
"Well, that took more time than I anticipated. Shall we head back to the inn for a meal?"
"Sounds good. If you were starving, I’ve got bread on hand, but I’d much prefer the inn’s dining hall."
"Gururu!"
Rei and Elena nodded at Seto’s enthusiastic assertion that it was also hungry, then turned their attention to the guard.
Caught in their combined gaze, the guard finally snapped back to his senses and gave a sharp bow.
"Thank you for resolving the incident. It was a tremendous help. Truly, thank you. The Captain wanted to see you off himself, but..."
"Don't worry about it," Rei interrupted. "If there’s an urgent meeting with the captains of each district, it can’t be helped. We got our reward, anyway."
The guard bowed again, looking slightly awkward.
Rei hadn’t technically been acting on an official adventurer guild request; he had simply offered his cooperation to resolve the hostage crisis voluntarily. Consequently, there was no formal payout. All they had received was two silver coins provided directly from the Captain’s own pocket.
However, Rei was more than satisfied. He had walked away with every single loaf of bread left in the bakery. The owner, deciding he wouldn't be reopening for the day, had insisted Rei take the lot.
When the shopkeeper first offered to give Rei everything after Ratio had taken her share, Rei had initially tried to decline due to the sheer monetary value. But the man had been adamant. He claimed the bread would no longer be sellable after such an ordeal, and he refused to hear otherwise, wanting to reward the people who were fans of his craft and had saved his family.
Normally, such an amount would have been impossible to finish before it went stale. Fortunately, Rei possessed the Misty Ring. Within its enchanted storage, the bread would remain perfectly fresh indefinitely.
Additionally, the Captain of the Guard Force had promised that the belongings and equipment of the three captured men would be liquidated to compensate the bakery—specifically to cover the repairs for the walls and doors Seto had smashed during the breach. Knowing the shop’s repairs were covered made it much easier for Rei to accept the gift.
Rei found himself slightly puzzled by how forcefully Ratio, who also worked as the bakery clerk, had invited them to return. He eventually decided she must have developed a profound fondness for Seto.
"All in all, it’s been a busy day," Rei remarked. "We finally cleared the desert floor. Starting tomorrow, we move from the heat to a much cooler environment."
"...Even if it is cool, I would honestly prefer to avoid a place with such a wretched stench," Elena replied.
Rei recalled the state of B16F and offered a wry smile. The moment they had stepped out of the small room with the magic circle earlier that day, the rank odor of decay had hit them. That rot was a clear indication that zombies and other undead called B16F home.
Rei, Elena, and Seto all shared a common trait: their sense of smell was far sharper than that of a normal human. While usually an advantage for scouting, in an undead den, it was a liability.
"Plus, it’s notoriously difficult to harvest magic stones from the undead," Rei added.
They had faced this issue before at the Altar of Inheritance. When fighting the undead, the fastest and most reliable way to end them was to shatter the magic stone that served as their core. However, doing so meant Rei couldn't collect the stones for his Beast Magic. It was a frustrating dilemma.
And besides...
Rei glanced at Seto. He felt a distinct hesitation at the thought of feeding his partner a magic stone that had been plucked from the center of a zombie—encased in rotting meat and liquefying organs. If it were a matter of simply cutting them down with his Death Scythe, it wouldn't be an issue, but Seto had to swallow the stones directly.
Elena must have been following the same train of thought. She furrowed her brow in visible disgust.
"Phew! Hey there, beautiful! How about it? Why don’t you grab a drink with me? On a hot night like this, we should be out partying!"
A man who was already completely wasted called out to Elena as they passed. Rei and Elena didn’t even glance his way, walking right past him.
The man’s only stroke of luck was that he was so drunk he immediately forgot he’d been ignored. Had he been only halfway sober, he might have realized the slight and tried to get handsy. In that case, whether he had to deal with Elena, Rei, or Seto, there was no doubt he would have spent the next day regretting his life choices.
"Wheeze... hic. Aren't you two cozy..."
The man slumped against a nearby wall and promptly fell asleep. Later that night, he would be picked up by a patrol of guards and guild staff.
After returning to the inn and finishing their dinner, Rei and Elena immediately sat down to discuss their plans for the next day. Despite a man and a woman being alone together in a room at night, the atmosphere remained strictly professional—which was typical for the two of them.
"Undead, then," Elena murmured, her expression sour.
Her senses had always been sharp, but since inheriting the Ancient Dragon magic stone, her sense of smell had reached a superhuman level. She already knew what it was like to smell a zombie’s rot with those heightened senses from her time at the Altar of Inheritance. Today’s brief encounter outside the magic circle room had only confirmed her fears.
Rei reached for a clean piece of cloth sitting on the table and looked at her.
"I think you can manage if you cover your face with this, but... the biggest problem will be when we run into other adventurers."
"...I see your point."
Elena imagined encountering another party in the depths of the dungeon while wearing a cloth mask to hide her face. She would look undeniably suspicious, and in a place like Exgil, she might easily be mistaken for a thief.
With someone currently roaming the dungeon creating anomaly species, tensions were already high. Any adventurer worth their salt would be on high alert. Anyone who wasn't cautious around masked strangers probably wouldn't survive long as an adventurer anyway.
Elena wavered, then her eyes widened as a thought struck her. She turned a hopeful look toward Rei.
"If we are with Seto, surely we won't be suspected? Everyone knows us by now."
"That's a possibility, but I wouldn't count on it being a total pass."
While a gryphon like Seto certainly drew the eye, it wasn't a guarantee against suspicion.
"Besides, covering your face makes it harder to breathe. I wouldn't recommend it once the fighting starts," Rei added. He then pivoted the conversation toward their other companion. "The only reason we didn't take Iero to the desert floor was because he’s still young and couldn't handle the heat. What about tomorrow? B16F is much cooler."
Rei had checked the temperature earlier. Stepping out from the protection of his Dragon Robe, the air had felt pleasantly cool compared to the sweltering streets above. It would have been an ideal place to spend the summer—if one could ignore the overwhelming stench of the undead.
Elena considered the question for a few moments before nodding firmly.
"We shall take him. I was worried the desert heat would stunt Iero’s growth, but the cold won't have such an ill effect. I imagine Iero will hate the smell just as much as we do, but he needs the experience."
Personally, Elena didn't want to bring her small familiar into a literal den of corpses, but she knew it was necessary. Iero was destined to walk many battlefields at her side. He would eventually have to face monsters and humans alike, and that included the undead. It was better for him to grow accustomed to such horrors while he was still young.
"Fair enough," Rei agreed. "If that’s your decision, I’m fine with it. I drag Seto everywhere, so I’m not one to talk. B16F has wide corridors, so he shouldn't be in the way during a fight."
The sixteenth floor looked like a conventional dungeon, with long hallways paved in cobblestone. It looked remarkably similar to the undead floor they had explored together previously.
The Altar of Inheritance, huh... I wonder if Grimm is around?
Rei shook the thought away. It was unlikely he’d run into the lich that often purely by chance. Besides, he had a magic item to contact Grimm if he truly needed him; there was no reason to rely on coincidence.
Then again, finding magic items like that is half the reason I’m in this dungeon. That, and the stones. ...Actually, I should probably put in a request at the Guild soon.
Elena noticed Rei’s distracted expression and reached out to rest a hand on his shoulder.
"Rei? Is something wrong?"
"Hm? Oh, no. It’s just that I’ve got a massive backlog of monster corpses sitting in the Misty Ring. I was trying to decide when to have the Guild handle the dismantling. I was thinking of putting in the request tomorrow and taking the day after off. What do you think?"
Elena pondered this for a moment. "We have been diving every day lately without a break. The last time we rested was when we were preparing for the desert floor. It might be wise to take a day away from the dungeon."
"Sorry to hold us up."
"Not at all. I wouldn't mind a break myself. But you must have quite the collection in there by now, don't you? Especially with all those Kobolds."
"Yeah. An Earth Crab, a Spiral Rabbit, two Desert Lizardmen, and a whole mess of Bloody Diles and Kobolds. The Earth Crab is the big one, though. It’s a high-rank monster, so I’m hoping for a good magic stone. Plus, the meat is supposedly excellent."
Rei pictured the Earth Crab being roasted. It had four massive pincers, and its legs were dozens of times larger than any crab he’d seen before. Compared to the little mountain crabs he used to catch in Japan, this thing was a behemoth.
Elena smiled, seemingly sharing the sentiment. "Yes. Seto has been looking forward to it, and I'm sure Iero will be thrilled as well."
"Crab, huh..." Rei trailed off.
"Rei? What is it?"
"Oh, it's just... there’s this dish called a Crab Cream Croquette. It’s incredibly delicious. Unfortunately, I don't really remember how to make it. I was thinking that if I knew the recipe, I could have the inn’s cook whip some up."
"Crab Cream Croquette? That sounds intriguing. Do you have no clues at all?"
"I think you fry wheat flour to make a cream... or something along those lines..."
Elena tilted her head in confusion. She couldn't begin to imagine how frying flour resulted in cream.
In truth, the recipe required melting butter, whisking in flour to make a roux, and then slowly adding milk—but since Rei had never cooked it himself, he didn't know the specifics. Furthermore, oil was a luxury in Elgin, and deep-frying was a technique reserved for only the most elite establishments. The Crab Cream Croquette was a dish simply too advanced for the current culinary landscape of their world.
"The outside is perfectly crispy," Rei continued, his voice nostalgic. "And when you bite into it, this rich, hot cream spills out, followed by the sweet aroma and flavor of the crab. It's great on its own, but it’s even better when you eat it with bread."
Rei went on describing the wonders of the croquette to Elena, but because he lacked the recipe, it didn't lead to a new culinary breakthrough like his udon had. Instead, it resulted in nothing more than a pointless teasing of Elena’s appetite—and his own.