Returning to the restaurant's front hall, Syr saw Mia organizing glasses at the bar.
She looked up, casting an inquiring gaze at Syr. "What happened?"
Syr had no intention of hiding anything. However, she omitted the key information about the 'monster cuisine' and said to Mia with a smile, "Hmm… it's just that Zephyr cooked a dish earlier. And after they tasted it, they were all a bit… speechless."
"So that's how it is."
Mia did not suspect anything. She had a pretty good impression of Zephyr. His personality was steady, he lacked the impulsiveness of other young people his age, and his cooking was even quite good. She had no intention of fighting that bunch of idiots for food.
She smiled and reminded Syr, "Tell that bunch not to hide in the kitchen and slack off."
"Okay."
When Syr returned to the kitchen area, she saw Anya clutching an iron pot and still frantically devouring Zephyr's dish. She was chattering away with Chloe, the atmosphere completely different from when they had just learned the truth.
"So…" Anya's eyes were filled with curiosity.
"Can you really find this kind of monster in the Dungeon, nya?"
Chloe recalled carefully and shook her head. As the place where information spread most widely in Orario, she had already heard rumors about Zephyr's Adventurer information and Level.
She reached up to rub her cheek, beginning to deduce objectively, "Zephyr seems to be a Level 2 Adventurer, and for this period of time, the other members of his Familia have been conducting a Familia expedition in the Dungeon. It's highly likely he's active in the middle floors?"
But as she neared the truth, Chloe frowned. "But if I recall correctly, there aren't any monsters in the middle floors that match that description."
Upon speculating this far, Chloe looked up and noticed Syr's slightly furrowed brow. She keenly realized that her behavior was a bit excessive. She decisively stopped the topic and did not continue to elaborate.
After all, her actions were tantamount to prying into an Adventurer's private information, and furthermore, Zephyr was still her friend. Friends shouldn't do such things.
Chloe quickly changed the subject, "Let's not talk about that for now. With so many ingredients left over, I can't really just throw them all away, right?"
After all, it was Zephyr's kind gesture. She examined the remaining ingredients on the cooking counter once more.
Tender leg meat, muscle fibers with distinct texture.
Even now that she knew the truth, Chloe found it very hard to associate the ingredients before her with those strange-looking monsters.
What's more, the cooked food was actually quite delicious.
Syr recalled the conversation with Zephyr just now.
Hmm… the matter of selling creatures from the Dungeon.
Just thinking about it, she felt it was quite interesting.
She leaned in beside Chloe to explain, "Um… I actually think the dish from earlier really tasted quite good. And after eating it, our bodies didn't have any adverse reactions either."
Chloe's gaze swept over the table. Most of the seasonings that Syr had specifically gone out to buy earlier were still unused.
So, using the same ingredients, could she replicate the same flavor as Zephyr's?
"After all, Zephyr specially brought it over for me. I see that Anya also likes eating it quite a bit, so we can't waste it, right?"
According to the analysis Chloe had given earlier, she couldn't find any species in the Guild's monster encyclopedia for the middle floors that matched it.
But as long as she secretly followed Zephyr to the Dungeon, wouldn't she be able to see the answer with her own eyes?
Thinking of this, Anya suddenly lifted her head.
Following an Adventurer to the Dungeon...
If she were discovered, it would be a bit awkward, but the intense curiosity in her heart at this moment made her overlook these things.
After finishing the entire serving, Anya reached out to wipe the red oil from the corners of her mouth.
'In that case, Anya must go find the answer to this matter herself, nya.'
— — —
Two days later.
Anya looked at the grey-haired girl standing in front of her.
She hadn't been idle over the last two days. Every morning, while the restaurant wasn't busy yet, she would go to the Central Plaza to find a spot to observe Zephyr's routine for heading to the Dungeon.
She had completely figured out Zephyr's daily exploration routine, so the next step was how to sneak away. If she went now, she would definitely be able to run into him.
And then, by sneaking along behind Zephyr, maybe she could figure out what the "Giant Frog Monster" he had mentioned looked like.
Thinking of this, the excitement in her eyes was almost overflowing. In her life working at the restaurant, every day was exactly the same without any changes.
But Zephyr had clearly brought many things she had never seen before.
"How much time do you need?" Syr frowned slightly.
As for Anya's little maneuvers over the last two days, she had seen it all. She ran to the Central Plaza every morning and would be in an exceptionally bright mood when she returned. And now that she was even wearing a cloak to hide her figure, the meaning was very obvious.
She wanted to go to the Dungeon!
The reason didn't seem hard to guess. It had to do with Zephyr. After all, since those monster meats had been eaten up, Anya had been preoccupied with wanting to continue tasting those special creatures.
She added, "If you are gone for a particularly long time, you should know the consequences."
"One day." Anya held up a finger. "Anya will definitely be back by the evening, nya."
After all, Zephyr always returned in the evening. She figured that if she snuck along and followed his exploration, she would be able to discover something by evening.
By then, even if Zephyr encountered danger in the Dungeon, she would be able to provide some support.
Anya was making up excuses for herself in her heart, but she didn't realize that her little scheme had already been figured out.
After finishing, she looked at Syr with hopeful eyes, biting her lower lip.
"No problem, but you must be back by the evening. The restaurant will be very busy then, otherwise Mama Mia will definitely be angry." Syr nodded.
She was also curious inside about what reason allowed Zephyr to encounter those special creatures that had never been recorded before. Through Anya, she could just happen to obtain relevant information.
Moreover, she was actually very clear about the strength that Anya possessed. Even if they encountered an unexpected situation, she would be able to provide some help.
"Yay!" Anya smiled.
She looked up at the slightly brightening sky, waved to Syr, and then set off towards the Central Plaza.
Would she be discovered by Zephyr?
Impossible!
Anya believed in her strength. After all, she was a Level 4 Adventurer, and even though she had retired from the Freya Familia,
she hadn't neglected her daily training. With such a large gap in level, surely she wouldn't actually be discovered by Zephyr, right?
Shortly after, Anya arrived at the Central Plaza. She stood at the entrance of the passage from North Street leading to the Central Plaza, covering her cat ears that would easily expose her identity, and waited patiently.
Shortly after, Anya saw Zephyr, who had come in a group, preparing to explore the Dungeon.
Once Zephyr and the others walked into the entrance of Babel, Anya slowly moved her feet, keeping a sufficiently safe distance to avoid losing Zephyr's trail in the Dungeon.
Over the last two days, Zephyr's life in Orario had not undergone any obvious changes.
Leaving the Familia base, he would bury his head into the Dungeon with Lili and Lefiya, devouring Gourmet Creature meat and fighting to increase his attributes as much as possible.
If there was one real regret, it was that he hadn't encountered any Gourmet Creatures.
Noticing the War Shadows ahead, Zephyr didn't even have the desire to use his weapon, simply activating [Unicorn]. The battle went smoothly, and he easily took care of the monsters.
"Why does it feel like exploring the Dungeon is getting easier and easier?" Lefiya muttered.
Since Zephyr had ranked up to Level 2 a few days ago, the improvement in his overall strength had far exceeded her imagination.
It was the same Dungeon exploration, and the intensity they experienced was the same, but she felt like she was being left behind by Zephyr.
"Isn't that normal? Exploring the Dungeon every day feels just like going home." Zephyr replied casually.
The overall pace was no different from the previous few days. It was just that if he wanted to encounter new Gourmet Creatures, he would have to explore deeper floors of the Dungeon. Otherwise, the probability of encountering them was very low.
That seemed normal. But this kind of thing wasn't something he could control. Every day it was just those familiar Dungeon monsters. Let alone bringing any sense of pressure, he even felt that the exploration process was boring and dull. In the final analysis, the reason was that, limited by the size of the exploration team, the floors they could explore could never break through to the 18th Floor of the Dungeon.
It wasn't that they couldn't reach it. It was purely that to reach the goal, they would have to stay overnight in the Dungeon.