I’d originally planned to make quick progress through the dungeon, but we’d spent way too much time in the Farming Village Area. Or rather, I shouldn't say we were stuck—I just got carried away collecting everything in sight, and the time slipped away.
Regardless, to make up for lost time, we stepped onto the Second Floor. It was a strange sort of forest. Even though trees were packed tight, the atmosphere felt remarkably luminous. I figured it was because of the flower fields scattered here and there. I could even see a field of clovers further in. It looked like a floor blessed with a rich natural environment.
Usually, on a floor like this—...
"I knew it! There are so many materials for potions!"
When I looked closely, I realized medicinal herbs of all kinds were sprouting everywhere. I wondered if we might even find a Goldidilla in that clover field over there. For an apothecary, this was a dream environment.
This floor is under the strong influence of Asterion, Garna explained. The flower fields lead to the Fairy Realm.
I see. So this was the Spirit God’s floor. It certainly felt that way... wait, huh?
"Wasn't it supposed to be set up so that no specific god’s influence became too strong?"
When we started remodeling the dungeon, they’d definitely said they would balance it, yet the First Floor was heavily influenced by the Earth God and the Second Floor by the Spirit God. This wasn't what I’d been told.
When I looked at Garna, she blatantly averted her gaze. I scooped her up and stared into her eyes; she made her excuses while her paws batted rhythmically at my hand.
I’m telling you now, it’s not my fault! It’s their own stubbornness that’s to blame!
"What do you mean by that?"
U-um. Originally, their powers were supposed to mix together to create a reasonably well-balanced dungeon, but... their divine egos were far too assertive! They simply wouldn’t blend, and instead, they overlapped like strata—the result being these floors heavily influenced by individual gods!
"That’s a total failure!"
The Spirit God had claimed he would act as the balance adjuster, but apparently, it hadn't gone well. Was this what he meant when he said his power fell short?
"Is there really a problem?"
"The First Floor is great because we can gather so much food, right?"
"This place is a good floor too, since we can gather materials for medicine."
Shiroru, Halfa, and Spira all tilted their heads. It was true that, so far, there hadn't been any particularly negative effects. Even things like the Daikoon and Ninjaan were within an acceptable range. Probably.
"But if the influence of the Luck God or the Destiny God gets too strong, the floor will end up being entirely biased toward luck."
"Yeah, it might turn into something completely different from the dungeon we’re aiming for," Lowell agreed with my concern. This was exactly what the Spirit God had been worried about in the first place.
"So, how's it looking on that front?"
Umu... Well, you’ll understand when you see it. For now, you should just take a look for yourselves.
I tried pressing Garna for more, but she only offered that vague reply. For some reason, I had a bad feeling about this.
I really wanted to take my time gathering materials, but now I was too curious about what was happening from the Third Floor onward. I decided we had to prioritize moving forward.
We walked for about thirty minutes toward the next floor. Suddenly, Halfa voiced a question.
"Come to think of it, there aren't any monsters here, are there?"
She was right. For a dungeon, the encounter rate was incredibly low. It might be a floor where monsters simply didn't appear—or were very rare.
While I didn't mind the lack of combat, if there was even a remote possibility of an encounter, I wanted to fight at least once. Assessing the danger level of each floor was part of our job, after all.
That was when it happened. A white, fluffy shape suddenly materialized before our eyes. It looked like someone had thrown a bedsheet over themselves... actually, that’s exactly what it was.
The sheet floating in mid-air spoke in an incredibly adorable voice.
"If you want to pass through here, hand over the sweets!"
"...Eh?"
"Sweets, I said! Sweets! Soft serve will do."
I blinked and asked for clarification, but it seemed I hadn't misheard. Though, come to think of it, not that many people were supposed to know about soft serve yet.
"Wait, is that Roro-chan?"
"It’s definitely her!"
"Hehehe! If I’ve been found out, then I guess it can’t be helped!"
I hadn't caught on yet, but Halfa and Spira had identified her by her voice. Jumping out from under the sheet was the fairy girl Roro, whom we’d met before in the Aingurna dungeon.
I wondered what she was doing here, then remembered Garna mentioning the flower fields were connected to the Fairy Realm.
"Why are you here, Roro?"
"Since you guys never come to visit, I decided to come to you! Also, we’re going to be working here!"
Roro puffed out her chest with pride. It seemed the "work" she mentioned involved acting as a guide role to teach adventurers about medicinal herbs. This floor was a treasure trove of plants, but most adventurers didn't know the first thing about them. So, Roro and the other fairies would teach them for a fee. Incidentally, the preferred payment was sweet treats.
Setting that aside...
"What was the point of the bedsheet?"
"Eh? I just thought I’d try to scare you a little. It’s more interesting that way."
"I-I see. But you should probably stop doing that."
"Why?"
Roro tilted her head in confusion. If something suddenly appeared in a dungeon, people usually assumed it was a monster. It would be a disaster if she got attacked because of a misunderstanding. One way or another, I had to make sure the adventurers were informed that there were fairies instead of monsters on the Second Floor so they wouldn't attack them on sight.