Sensing that the atmosphere in the team was a bit off, Zephyr changed the subject, "Let's not talk about that for now, let's continue exploring the Dungeon. Anya, do you want to come with us?"
"Okay."
Anya's tone was full of excitement as she took off her cloak, revealing a maid outfit underneath.
Seeing Anya dressed like that, Lili hesitated, wanting to say something but stopping herself.
Wearing a maid outfit to explore the Dungeon...
Her thought process really wasn't something a normal person could understand.
But she thought carefully and didn't voice the complaint in her heart.
The incredibly insensitive Anya didn't even realize there was a problem. With her tail held high, she hopped along beside Zephyr, her light steps causing the hem of her maid outfit to sway constantly.
Soon, the party stepped back onto the passage leading to the deeper floors.
'I must let Zephyr know that I am actually a very reliable Adventurer.'
When they reached the 13th floor, Anya silently made a decision.
Since Zephyr had just praised her as a "very impressive Adventurer," she naturally had to show her true skills to prove it.
Although she wasn't very bright, she was exceptionally serious when it came to "showing her true skills."
Immediately after, Anya saw several Hellhounds appear in front of them. The monsters bared their sharp fangs, emitting low growls from their throats. Three of them were charging towards the party.
"Leave these monsters to Anya, nya."
After giving the signal, she immediately charged at the 3 monsters with her bare hands.
Her figure instantly darted forward, hugging the cave floor, her speed so fast that even when Zephyr used his "Dynamic Vision" talent, he only saw a blurred afterimage.
Facing the lunging Hellhound. Anya crouched slightly, using herself as a pivot, and utilizing the strength of her waist and abdomen to spin, lifting her leg to kick the Hellhound directly in the jaw.
Bang!
The monster's body seemed to suffer heavy damage, slamming into the cave wall and losing its breath.
Immediately following was the monster attacking from the side. Anya swept her tail horizontally, the tip of her tail striking the Hellhound's neck with a dull thud, snapping its spine.
As for the last monster, facing such a lopsided gap in strength, it was kicked to death.
Anya didn't even need the help of weapons. Relying solely on her physical strength, she was able to kill these Hellhounds.
This was something Zephyr hadn't expected. His original estimate of Anya was roughly around Lv. 2, but observing the fight just now—the speed, the explosive power, the technique...
At the very least, he believed her strength was definitely not on the same level as his own.
After dealing with the monsters, Anya clapped her hands and held her tail high. She looked just like a young girl waiting for praise.
She turned around with her hands on her hips, just about to claim credit from Zephyr, and said with a grin, "How about that? Anya is very impressive, nya."
However, she didn't get the praise she wanted. Instead, she saw Zephyr approach with a knife.
"Are you going to dig out the Magic Stones or something, nya?"
"That's right. But there is one more thing that needs to be done beforehand."
Hellhound actually had quite a full flavor. The smoky-flavored meat could also provide him with some Gourmet Cells.
Arriving beside the corpses, he crouched down and his short blade sliced through the Hellhound's skin. The blade precisely avoided the fascia structure, found the parts with the fullest muscle texture, and cleanly sliced off the valuable portions.
Standing beside him, witnessing Zephyr cutting the Hellhound meat, Anya's pupils suddenly contracted, and she instantly lost the thought of claiming credit.
"Um... Can this kind of Dungeon creature be eaten, nya?"
"Didn't you eat it before?"
"!!!"
Tasting it and hunting Dungeon creatures herself were two completely different things. At the very least, she still found it a bit hard to accept that the monster she had just killed,
would, in the blink of an eye, be cooked and eaten.
Anya's simple brain gave up on thinking, and she subconsciously took a step back.
Was Zephyr trying to feed her strange things to make her feel sick as punishment for following him without permission?
Anya, who thought she had had a flash of insight and racked her brains to finally guess the "reason" with difficulty, spoke with horror in her voice, "If you just want to take revenge on Anya... you can choose a different way, nya."
"?"
How should he explain that this Hellhound stuff was not only edible, but also quite good in terms of meat quality and flavor?
Zephyr's expression was a bit conflicted.
Zephyr carefully considered his wording. He was just about to explain that everyone actually has the right to choose what food to taste, and if they couldn't accept it, they could just skip it.
After all, he couldn't exactly hold Anya's head down and force her to taste monster cuisine, and whether his strength would be enough to hold her down was an unknown variable.
But before he could speak, Lefiya beat him to it. She walked to Zephyr's side holding her staff.
She carefully recalled the taste she had experienced before and explained to Anya, "I think... Hellhound meat is actually edible."
"Are you serious, nya?"
Hearing Anya's blatant suspicion, her cheeks flushed red, and she felt a bit embarrassed. At the very beginning, she had been much the same as her.
However, Lefiya gathered her courage and nodded seriously. "That's right, the taste is actually quite... good?"
She shouldn't be joking with her. But hearing such words from Lefiya, Anya felt strange no matter how she looked at it, and she widened her eyes, scrutinizing the young girl in front of her.
Through the other party's long ears, her race could be confirmed, but Anya felt that there was a distinct difference between this and the Elf race in her understanding.
Fun fact: Elves all have mysophobia.
Just like Ryuu, who works at the Hostess of Fertility.
Anya remembered clearly—before, when Zephyr was cooking dishes at the restaurant, Ryuu had only ever tasted the fruit cream cake.
The level of pickiness the Elf race had regarding food was almost common knowledge in Orario.
In contrast, Lefiya had a very high acceptance of monster cuisine.
But Anya thought about it again—an elf who could become a partner and friend to Zephyr was not as cold as Ryuu. So, that made sense.
Anya looked again at those Hellhound meat slices that Zephyr had neatly sliced, still stained with bright red blood.
"Then... When you cook later, I'll try it?"
"Of course, no problem." Zephyr nodded.
After processing the Hellhound ingredients, he recalled the strength Anya had displayed during the battle just moments ago.
She didn't need any weapons at all, she just punched these monsters to death with her bare hands. That was definitely stronger than him.
Even with Dynamic Vision, he had to maintain his full concentration just to barely keep up with Anya's movements.
So, what exactly was her strength level?
He wiped his kitchen knife clean and asked, "Anya, are you a Level 3 Adventurer?"
Upon hearing Zephyr's question, Anya turned her head. She didn't seem to immediately understand why Zephyr would suddenly ask about Adventurer levels.
After all, she had been retired for several years. When she worked at the restaurant, no Adventurer had ever asked her that.
Noticing the confusion in her eyes, Zephyr didn't hide his intentions and added, "Well... I just felt that you were very impressive during the fight earlier."
To be honest, in the same situation, it would be quite difficult for him to kill a Hellhound to death with his bare hands. He would have to use his talent or a weapon. Otherwise, relying solely on his Level 2 stats, he might not even be able to withstand a Hellhound's bite.
However, Anya's battle earlier was a complete domination using her stats and her extremely rich close-quarters combat techniques. The entire sequence of moves was smooth and fluid, a pure manifestation of muscle memory and combat experience.