We get back to the inn right around dinner time.
After eating in the dining hall, we go take a bath and rest.
Maybe I had a lot of exhaustion piled up, but I wake up at noon.
At first I think I overslept, but Hikari and the others are still sleeping. And when I go to the dining hall, they tell me Argo’s party hasn’t been there either.
A lot of people have a broken sleep schedule when they return from the dungeon, so people here in the inn tend to leave them alone the day after they return.
But if it continues for two or three days? They say they go check on them.
“How about a meal?”
“I’ll wait a little more.”
I’m a little hungry, but I’d rather not eat alone, so I just ask for fruit juice.
The fruit juice is nice and cool, which makes sense considering this is an expensive inn. If it was a cheap one, it’d be at room temperature.
I start drinking, and see people coming in to eat.
Meals are expensive just like the rooms, but providing nicely prepared food means they secured themselves some regular customers.
A lot of them seem to be merchants or regular townspeople, but I see some adventurers too.
Adventurers tend to value quantity over quality, so if there’s a place that serves twice the food for the same price, most will go there. But they say more adventurers have been coming here, and it might be because they started serving new meals recently. It’s what Mia and the others have been teaching them when they borrow the kitchen.
“Master, I’m hungry.”
As I watch people eat, Hikari and the others come down.
Everyone’s awake, and I see Argo’s party behind Sera too. But their timing is bad, as the place is full and there aren’t enough seats for everyone.
“Sorry. Normally guests would take precedence, but…”
“It’s okay. So now what, should we go outside?”
“H-hum, how about we bring it to our room?”
“Can we?”
“Of course. But it will take a little longer to be done.”
The innkeeper says to Argo.
“…What do you think?”
Argo asks us.
“We’ll wait.”
Says Hikari for everyone, and we go back to our room.
The rooms are big, but we can’t all eat together, so we split up.
The innkeeper said she would bring us the food, but it takes a surprisingly short amount of time. Not to mention that it’s nicely arranged and feels professional.
But having skipped a meal means I take more food out of the Item Box.
Ah, but it’s not like everyone had more.
After we eat, we rest, and an employee collects the tableware, while also telling us that private booths in the dining hall opened up.
I asked to be told this before, so we meet up with Argo’s party and head there to discuss our plans going forward.
“We went north last time, so I think it would be more effective to go southeast.”
I say, remembering what I saw on Map before leaving.
Some kijin hang around in the same place, but most walk around the dungeon. But most of those have something like a defined territory, and come and go in the same area.
There are exceptions, but the arrangement doesn’t really change.
“But we’ll need to go there three more times, right? Of course, we might hit the quota next time if we keep going deeper.”
That would mean staying in the dungeon for a long time. Probably over two weeks if we’re including the trip back. I guess it depends on your point of view if this is a long time or not.
“Let’s not take risks, even if it takes longer. At the very least, we have the tenth floor to ourselves.”
At least for now, says Argo.
He says that once people start hearing that newbies like us are hunting on the tenth floor, the veterans might be inspired to challenge it too.
“So they’ll take a risk to save face?”
“Yes, Rurika. It would be one thing if there were multiple high rank clans, but there are only Jetblack and small scale clans. The ones who still want to make a name for themselves will be especially antsy.”
Not to mention that Jetblack pulled out of the tenth floor, adds Argo.
As someone who’s been there, I agree with Jetblack. But who knows what people who don’t know what it’s like think. They might think they’re cowards, even if no one says it.
“Well, that might happen, but let’s discuss this some more. And… We could wait and see for two or three days.”
Argo agrees, and the others also nod.
Thanks for the update 😎👍
Thanks for the treat.