Zephyr hadn't expected that his casual remark would lead to such a result.
After carefully tasting it just now and confirming that this Spicy Soldier Frog dish had no toxicity issues, he actively called the two girls beside him to come over, "Come and try it. It tastes quite good."
Lefiya carefully examined the dish. Just by smelling the scent, she couldn't help but swallow her saliva.
She picked up a piece of meat soaked in red oil, and put the meat into her mouth.
The moment it entered her mouth, her eyes widened slightly and she fell into an indescribable state of daze.
The flavor profile of this Spicy Soldier Frog before her was a qualitative change compared to the dishes Zephyr had cooked before. Whether it was the control of seasoning, cooking technique, or the timing of heat adjustment, all the details were handled almost perfectly.
Immediately after, Lili also tried it. Her expression gradually became complex, her tone filled with undisguised surprise. "Zephyr... compared to the previous dishes... it feels like someone else cooked this?"
After hearing Lili's evaluation, Zephyr almost couldn't keep a straight face.
'The food I cooked before didn't seem that bad either!'
However, it was very clear that the rewards provided by the system, although seemingly just minor adjustments in details, actually brought about a qualitative level of improvement.
However, he had no intention of explaining too much. He continued to chow down on the food.
After his stomach was full, looking at Lefiya and Lili whose faces were full of satisfaction, Zephyr took the initiative to suggest, "Since we've finished resting, let's return to Orario first. What do you think?"
"No objections."
"We'll leave it to you."
However, before returning, there was one more thing Zephyr needed to do, which was to stuff all the Soldier Frog meat he had just dissected into the backpack.
Leg meat, tenderloin, and so on.
All parts were individually wrapped in oil paper by Lili and then packed.
However, when Zephyr was ready to return, he noticed Lili's extremely strange gaze. She looked at the extremely bloated backpack, her eyes full of suspicion.
Could she carry this thing back to Orario?
"Uh..."
Zephyr thought it was necessary to reduce the burden a little in this regard. Giving all these things to Lili was a bit too cruel.
He said, "There's no danger on the way back to the surface. Leave this thing to me."
"Huh?"
Lili's eyes were filled with a look of surprise.
Zephyr said, "There's so much stuff. If I let you carry it all back, it's obvious that you'd be exhausted. Besides, I used to be a Supporter myself."
Hearing the persistence in Zephyr's tone, Lili fell silent for a moment, ultimately choosing not to refuse. She took the backpack off her shoulders and handed it to Zephyr.
She smiled. 'Although he's a bit of a blockhead, he actually does consider my feelings.'
Lili reined in the small emotions surging within her heart and chose to forget the unpleasant incident from last night.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
Zephyr slung the backpack over his shoulders and didn't feel any significant burden. After all, he was a Level 2 Adventurer.
After the party finished reorganizing, they began the return trip toward the exit.
— — —
When they returned to the surface, it was just around noon.
The moment the party stepped out of Babel and arrived at the Central Plaza, Zephyr felt a wave of sweltering heat rush toward him.
The bustling Adventurers, merchants, and citizens filled the entire plaza with a rich atmosphere of daily life. It was exceptionally lively.
Compared to the cold, gloomy atmosphere of the Dungeon, the noon sunlight of Orario felt distinctly more real.
Zephyr led the two girls beside him, walking along the familiar streets toward the Loki Familia headquarters.
However, just as they arrived in front of the Twilight Manor, he noticed a familiar figure in the distance ahead.
Loki stood before the gate, unlocking it with a toothpick hanging from her mouth.
Judging by her state, she had clearly just finished lunch and was preparing to return to the headquarters to rest for a while.
"Loki-sama." Zephyr took the initiative to greet her.
"Hm?"
Loki turned her head and looked toward the direction of the voice, seeing Zephyr's party, who had clearly finished their Dungeon exploration and were returning to the headquarters.
Upon seeing this scene clearly, Loki felt that something was wrong. After all, whenever Zephyr and his group explored the Dungeon in the past, they usually stayed until evening before returning to the headquarters.
But today, they had returned so early. Most crucially, that massive backpack, usually carried by Lili, was currently hanging on Zephyr's shoulders.
Seeing this, she quickly recalled the off atmosphere she had sensed before Zephyr's party set off for the Dungeon exploration this morning.
Could it be that the conflict between the Familia members had intensified inside the Dungeon?
Conflicts between Familia members—Loki could actually understand such things. After all, with so many members of varying personalities, friction during their time together was quite normal. As long as it didn't hinder the overall pace of the Dungeon exploration, it was fine.
However, judging by the situation currently displayed by this exploration squad of Zephyr's, it was clearly not right. There was no way the main combatant should be carrying the backpack.
'I must find out the specific situation.'
Lokis hid her underlying concern quite well and smiled. "Was today's Dungeon exploration smooth?"
Zephyr considered how to answer. Recalling the Monster Feast, the Soldier Frog, and the joint operation with the Takemikazuchi Familia they encountered today, it was actually hard to say in terms of danger level.
But looking at it as a whole, he believed that this Dungeon exploration had been quite fruitful. They had successfully killed a Gourmet Creature and he had gained a new talent.
"It was worth it."
Just as he was about to report the details of what they encountered today to Loki, she didn't give him a chance to continue speaking.
She waved the hand holding the toothpick, clearly knowing this wasn't the place for a conversation, and interrupted him, "It's been a while since I updated your status. I happen to have some time now."
She pointed toward the interior of the headquarters, and walked inside. "Zephyr, come with me."
"?" Zephyr raised an eyebrow.
Loki's attitude deviated significantly from what he had originally expected, and most importantly, she had taken the initiative to interrupt his report. She hadn't given him a chance to explain. In that case, it was clear that there was something she wanted to ask him about privately.
As for the excuse she found—Updating Status.
It had indeed been a while since that was done, and he had been engaging in high-intensity combat and devouring almost every day in the Dungeon during this time. He could use this opportunity to fully check the changes in his status.
"Alright."
He handed the backpack to Lili and said, "You two take the ingredients to the kitchen first. I'll make dinner."
"Mm."
"Okay."
Lili and Lefiya nodded.
A Familia member being summoned privately by their god to update their status was a perfectly normal procedure.
Lili took the backpack and walked side by side with Lefiya toward the kitchen of the Familia headquarters.
...
Having devoured so many Gourmet Cells, my attributes should have a decent increase, right?
As he followed in Loki's footsteps, Zephyr was filled with anticipation.
The atmosphere on the scene was exceptionally silent compared to Loki's usual lively personality. However, he had no intention of probing. Since she had sought him out, she would surely explain it to him alone.
After arriving at the reception room, Loki took out the items needed to update his status from the cabinet beside the sofa, then turned around and cast her gaze toward Zephyr.
"I'll update your Status first, then there's something I want to ask you."
Loki was actually quite looking forward to updating Zephyr's status. After all, the reason she had taken an interest in him in the first place was because of his talent.
Later on, the way Zephyr broke through the theoretical limits of attributes in an extremely short period made it impossible for her not to care.
"Hurry up and take off your clothes."
Zephyr fell silent for a moment before reaching out to undo the buttons of his shirt.
Although it wasn't his first time updating his status, every time he heard Loki say this sentence in such a natural way, his mood was inevitably a bit subtle.
"Loki-sama."
"Hmm?"
"Can you be a little more subtle whenever you say that?"
"Don't talk such nonsense."
Loki laughed and rubbed her hands together. "We're all from the Loki Familia, what is there to be shy about?"
Zephyr felt he couldn't argue with that. He took off his shirt and sat on the edge of the sofa.
After this period of exploring the Dungeon, he was gradually becoming more robust, his physique steadily filling out.
Loki pricked her middle finger with a silver needle and let her blood drip onto the text on Zephyr's back. Accompanied by a surge of white light, dense divine characters emerged along his skin, and his original stats were rearranged.
Excelia was extracted, and the old values were overwritten.
Once the update was complete, Loki picked up the parchment, imprinted Zephyr's status, and cast her gaze upon the recorded content.