The next day, Adam woke up early. He took a quick shower and dressed himself before putting on his armor which now showed small signs of battle with some dents and scratches here and there. He looked over to see Aqua still hung over from last night, most of the money spent at the tavern wasn't on food, but on alcohol that Aqua consumed like a black hole.
He had many objectives he wanted to complete to build a foundation for the Aqua Familia. The most needed thing right now was an additional member. Dungeon diving was a dangerous occupation, especially alone. While he could manage if he stayed on the first few floors, he didn't want that. The rarer resources and magic stones were deeper in the dungeon, and if he wanted to go that far, having someone, hopefully multiple people watching his back would make life much easier, plus the number of resources he would bring back would increase with each additional member.
He looked over at Aqua, sleeping in a disheveled state on her bed. He let out a sigh and shook his head. He would speak to her about this later when she was more sober. He left some dried jerky on the table for her, he wasn't really sure what was good for a hangover, but she still needed to eat.
So, he stepped out and left the inn, making his way down the street towards the center of Orario where the entrance to the dungeon was.
As he walked, he passed by the Hostess of Fertility. It was closed, and from what he knew, it was only open from afternoon to late at night, the times when adventurers returned from the dungeon.
"Excuse me!" A voice called out.
He wasn't sure if it was addressed to him or not, but he still turned slightly to see. And there he spotted the familiar gray-haired waitress from last night, it seemed she had recovered from, well whatever happened to her.
"Can I help you?"
"I..." The girl's face flushed red as she presented a box to Adam. "I made this for you! Please accept it!"
He looked at the box in her hands, and could only question, why was she giving this to him? He was sure they had never met before, only seeing her from a distance in the Hostess of Fertility. Was this a confession that she was interested in him? Very likely. He liked this feeling and did what any man would naturally do.
"I refuse!" He boldly declared.
"W-wh huh?!" This isn't going as she envisioned!
"Only a naive fool would accept such a suspicious box!"
"Suspicious?!" she couldn't believe what she was hearing! She was the farthest thing from suspicious! A cute tavern girl, making lunch and giving it to their loved one while lovingly sending them off to work. She was wife material! Name one girl who wasn't your mother who would do this for you!
"Who knows, you can be a reincarnated Bill Cosby! I will not take such a chance!"
Syr was stunned. She didn't even know who that was, yet she felt greatly insulted!
"It's not suspicious! See!" She opened the box, revealing two neat rows of homemade sandwiches. "But fine! If you don't want it, then I won't give it too you!" She closed the box, yet something felt off.
Why does it feel like there is nothing in my hands?
She looked down, only to see that the box was gone!
And when she looked back up, Adam was already walking off, with the box in hand and waving at her! "Thanks for the lunch! I'll be sure to return the box when I can!"
She was stunned. Her jaw, opening and closing, as if trying to say something yet the words wouldn't come out.
"Pffftt!!"
"HAHahaha!"
Syr turned around to see the other workers of the Hostess standing there, laughing at her. Only Ryuu wasn't laughing, yet her expression revealed that she was holding it in.
"Don't laugh at me!"
...
...
Adam walked down the grand stairs of the dungeon, passing by other adventures who were heading back up to the surface.
'Hmm, I'll make the 8th floor my goal for today.'
He didn't idle on any of the lower floors and went straight to the 8th floor. cutting down any monsters on his way and collecting the loot. But his progress started to slow as he encountered War Shadows and Killer Ants.
These monsters were spawning in high numbers at fast rates that he was starting to be overwhelmed.
He gave up on reaching the 8th floor today. He would need to finally update his status if he wanted to reach there. Since getting the falna, he hadn't yet have Aqua update it, mostly because he forgot, but now he was hating his past self.
With the higher number of monsters, he changed his combat technique. Using one hand for his sword while the other hand held the pistol form of the divine key.
The divine key was more than capable of one shotting monsters on this floor, so he used it as a way to prevent himself from being overwhelmed.
Too many monsters showing up? Just gun them down until their numbers are manageable.
When he needed breaks, he simply gunned down all the monsters.
And when he finally had those sandwiches for lunch, he found a quiet corner and sat down. Of course, he had both pistols at the ready for if a monster wandered near him or one spawned out of the walls.
With everything quiet, he opened the box and took out the first sandwich.
"Smells good..." He muttered before taking a bite.
"Tastes good as well!"
He continued his lunch until the box was now empty.
'That was good, maybe I can ask for more. Could I pay her to make more?'
Initially it was just a joke, but the more he thought about it, his face became serious.
'Wait a minute, if her cooking is this good... Could it be that this is how she advertises her cooking? No, she was a waitress so maybe she didn't do the cooking, but the chef cooked it! Then this would actually be an advertisement of the chefs cooking! Making me want to spend more money at the Hostess!'
'And she gave me this for free, making me feel obligated to return a favor or purchase their services again!'
'Truly, what a terrifying tavern girl! I almost underestimated you!'
...
Back on the surface, Syr couldn't help but feel like somewhat was talking behind her back.