The Dungeon Inn - English

B1C04 - The first delivery

The adventurers made themselves comfortable in the main cave and also kept watch at the cave entrance for safety. We couldn't trust each other yet. Which applied to both sides. I stayed awake all night, keeping my selfmade spear close at hand. Karl slept at the entrance to the side cave and woke up every time, when the adventurers changed their guard.

The next morning the guests said goodbye and that they would come back in the next few days. Her boss asked me to keep a portion ready for him.

When they were gone, I felt the tension drop. Not only was I tense the whole time, but the crystal was on high alert, whenever they were in the cave and made me feel it. He would have preferred it, that i grab the spear and drive them away. But we both knew the chances of success were slim, if not zero. So I spent the day recovering from exhaustion and only prepared Karl's meal. Apparently, unlike me, he needed something to eat every now and then.

"Oi boss, will we hunt slimes before lunch from now on?"

"Don't make fun of me, if you don't even have the courage to try it first. Who knows, maybe the love for it will flare up in you too."

"Never. But why did you offer, to help him set it up? As far out as it is, it's going to be a lot of work."

"It will be work, but it will be worth it. You know, how we spend the night outside, every time we have something to do in the forest. Now imagine the inn is up, wouldn't you prefer good food and a bed?"

"Absolutely, but do you think that's really going to happen?"

"I would doubt it for anyone else. Most people are rightly afraid of the monsters and would never think of it. But it's different with this one. He found a good hiding place, how many times have we been there and never seen the cave. Of course it can still fail, but I think it's worth a try."

The next day I was again in good shape. To not say particularly good. Apparently the adventurers' visit wasn't just to the disadvantage of the crystal. It seems, he has gained additional mana from the adventurers, which allowed me to expand the dungeon. I decided to expand the main cave with an additional side cave. If the adventurers came back, they could then sleep there and not have to be in the main cave. This would give us a guest room, if we have other guests. The inn is slowly taking shape.

While I waited for the adventurers to return, I tried out different types of slime as an ingredient on the rabbits. Her boss seemed to really like it and would definitely be happy to try other flavors. Although I'm not entirely sure, what to think about the fact, that the slimes, I use for this, are ones I summoned myself. They are actually intended to serve the dungeon and not as an ingredient for our actual enemies, the adventurers. The fact that they didn't fight back, because of their loyalty to me didn't make it any easier.

Then finally the day came when they returned. After a short greeting, they showed me what they had brought with them.

"Here are some wooden plates, bowls and cups. Don't worry about the number, they don't cost much."

"Thank you."

"Ah and here comes the highlight. A large pot and pan were expensive as expected, but I hope you make some free food for it."

"Ah, I'll probably reward you with a big mushroom soup today."

"As long as there aren't any poisonous ones, we're happy to take it. We brought some more bedding, because there was still so much space on the cart."

"I hope, I didn't cause you any trouble."

"Eh, we're supposed to bring a monster corpse back to the city, so we took advantage of that, so we didn't bring in an empty cart."

"I seem to have been lucky then. You can put the bedding in the side cave there."

"Hmmm? It wasn't there the other day."

"I discovered it by accident. When I threw a stone at the wall, it made a hollow sound and then when I hammered harder on it, the entrance opened."

"Hah, we have a really lucky guy here. Just found a guest room. Not that we have a problem sleeping here in the main cave."

While the adventurers prepared the side cave for the night. I started by cooking the mushroom soup. Of course, the secret ingredient couldn't be missing. I used a different slime than I had used back then for the rabbits, as the basic tenor wasn't supposed to be rabbit meat. So that the adventurers got enough energy from the food, I fried a rabbit in the pan, which I then wanted to add in pieces. However, as I reached for my sharpened stone, the boss, attracted by the smell, intervened.

"Ah, almost forgot. This is another little extra from us. No offense, but a chef with a stone knife isn't exactly my thing."

He handed me a small knife. I thanked him and immediately used it on the rabbit.

"Oi guys, food is ready."

"Ugh, I saw him using slimes again. I pass."

"So? If you don't eat it, you'll have to do an extra training session with me today."

"B-but boss, you can't ask for that!"

"Do you want to resist?"

"N-no of course not."

With a look of disgust, the adventurer picked up a bowl and let himself be served. He examined closely the mass, that swayed back and forth in his bowl, as he walked. He carefully lifted it to his mouth and did a little taste test.

"Oh, that really tastes good!"

"As I said, but no one believes me."

The soup was quickly used up and night had already fallen, so the adventurers quickly went to rest in the cave, after they had brought the draft animal into the main cave.

"Ah, good morning... What was your name anyway?"

"Oh, I never introduced myself, my name is Marco, at your service."

"So it's Marco. I don't think we've introduced ourselves as well yet. I'm Aaron. That's Kevin there, next to him is Dirk and the remaining one is called Fritz."

"Here's to many more visits."

"Gladly, but tell me, could you make the flambéed rabbit for me again. Nothing against your soup, but it can't compete."

"No problem."

"What, there is no soup? I would have liked to have it again..."

"Haha, don't worry. I can prepare both for you."

"That would be great!"

"We have to go straight after dinner. If we transport the corpse, it will attract monsters, so we'll head back to town, as quickly as we can."

"So just a quick visit again."

"Haha, I'm sorry, that we don't have a vacation in the forest. Maybe next time when there's a good job, that takes longer."

"You are always welcome here."

But what should I serve them next time?