of magic that could fix her, we'll have to find the mad mage and see if we can negotiate with them."

marcille bit her lip, looking off to the side.

she contemplated if she should tell him that she might know a way, but decided against it.

"yeah, that sounds about right."

"she's so badass."

laios muttered with a small blush, staring at the sleeping [name] in fascination.

"she'd probably let me touch her scales, but you guys wouldn't. now how is that fair?"

"it's weird."

"society will say it's weird."

"you are NOT the joker, laios."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"what are we doing carrying all of these?"

"i use 'em to barter with."

even after cooking a whole ton of vegetables to eat, the touden party still had so much in their hands. even [name] was carrying some in her pouch bag that was slung over her shoulders, where her eggs are being carried on.

marcille spent 20 minutes fawning over the hand sown bag by chilchuck, since the half-foot had gone out of his way to make it comfortable by designing it to look like a hood of some sort, which meant the front part covered her chest.

just chilchuck being the girl dad that he is.

speaking of [name], the girl lazily followed them while trying not to make the halls too cramped, partially upset by how small the space is.

"actually, i used to sell 'em from a stand where i'd leave 'em, but that didn't really work out."

"you just left them there?"

laios asked, holding some cabbage in his arms with some carrots stuck in his armour and bedroll.

"honor system. i had a treasure chest there where you dropped off your money, but it kept getting stolen so i stopped doing that."

marcille and chilchuck shared a glance, both thinking the same thing.

'so that's why that treasure chest...'

'...always had money in it.'

[name] mindlessly followed them, holding a few carrots and cabbage in her hands. she kinda just decided that she'll follow them, despite "not really knowing" any of them.

"is this floor the only place you do your bartering on?"

laios asked senshi.

"most of my customers are a few floors down below, but we set up a time to meet, so they won't be there for now. i didn't wanna leave these rotting on the golems, but if we can't trade these then we'll just have to toss 'em away."

"what?! no! that is out of the question! we can't waste these food! after all the work it took to grow, it's all perfect and shiny and delicious!"

marcille argued, holding a cabbage like a precious child.

"veggie lover."

chilchuck rolled his eyes, adjusting his hold on the bag of potatoes he held.

"let's keep going. with any luck, we'll find someone on this floor who wants 'em."

"this will take forever...."

even in a dungeon, there are merchants, no matter how secluded or dangerous the floor is, you'll spot quite a lot of people, criminals or not, coming together to trade or simply just spend their time gambling and drinking alcohol.

unfortunately for the touden party, they had to leave [name] behind. if anyone else saw her, chaos will ensue. it'll only bring her more harm than them.

"don't worry, we'll be right back! we're not leaving you behind. never again..."

marcille clasped her hands together, smiling at the girl sweetly.

"she does not care."

chilchuck deadpanned as [name] turns her back on them, lying on the ground with her tail looped around her eggs, warming them.

"shhh, just let her be."

laios covered chilchuck's mouth with a carrot, to which the half-foot immediately kicked him on the foot for.

they soon entered what seems to be a tavern of some sort, with all kinds of people inside. they didn't look very friendly at all.

a half-foot then approached them, chuckling maliciously as he greetd them.

"welcome, good folk, welcome! will we be dining in or staying the night?"

"we're here to trade."

laios answered, as marcille looks around in suspicion, covering her nose from the strong smell of... a lot of things. mostly alcohol.

"ah, splendid! and what are we trading today?"

the half-foot chuckled once again, getting excited at the mention of 'trading'.

"vegetables."

the half-foot paused, looking at them silently as if waiting for them to say it's a joke or something.

"get out! go on, go!"

he then snaps, shooing the group away.

"but sir, just listen..."

"if you want to trade something, bring gold! gold!! understand?! you know what gold is?? it's round and shiny, and glitters!"

"we don't want gems or anything valuable... just some food and spices from your kitchen."

laios sweatdropped, trying not to drop the veggies he's holding as he was continuously pushed by the half-foot.

"yeah! look at this, isn't this round and shiny too?"

marcille chimes in.

"look, show this here to your cook. they'll want to make something good out of it for sure."

senshi offered out a carrot, only for it to be rudely smacked away.

"that's disgusting! who the hell would want to eat that?!"

they stared at the dropped carrot in shock before glaring at the half-foot.

"you rotten little— if you treat food like that, i swear you'll get your karma in the end!"

marcille huffed, further igniting the half-foot's irritation.

"guards, what are you waiting for?! throw these idiots out already!"

a man grabs marcille's arm and started tugging her towards the door, and laios held her in place.

"let go of her—!"

then, the guard stopped pulling as a spear's blade pierced through his chest, blood immediately soaking his clothes before he dropped to the ground as the spear was pulled out.

"o-orcs!!"

the people in the tavern shouted in horror, scrambling in panick as a group of orcs invaded the tavern, killing off people one by one.

the four hid under the tables, trying not to get spotted by the orcs as they slaughtered everyone in a blood bath.

"first ones to die are the ones with the weapons! go, kill 'em! kill every single one of 'em!"

one of the orcs, who seem to be the leader of the group shouted, and soon enough there was no one left alive other than the four.

"wh-why are orcs here? they're supposed to live on the lower floors!"

laios gasped, and marcille quickly tried to stand up from the ground.

"who cares about that? we need to leave right no—"

she stops dead on her tracks, looking up in dread as the leader of the orcs stood there, glaring down at her.

marcille began sweating in fear, even more when he began reaching down for her.

"marcille!!"

"wait!"

senshi stops laios from pulling kensuke out, as the orc then grabs the cabbage from her hood.

"what are you doing hanging around a dump like this, senshi?"

the orc leader threw the cabbage to senshi, who caught it with ease.

"i was gonna ask you the same thing. you in a party with this lot?"

"that's right."

the orc then scowls at them.

"humans and elves.. ugh."

"wait, don't tell me your usual customers are..."

marcille looks at senshi who nodded, gesturing to the orc leader.

"yep, that's right. it's them."

marcille began sobbing in despair, while laios and chilchuck just stares blankly.

"i figured he did some business with a rough crowd but... orcs? i thought they'd be goblins."

"really? i thought they'd be kobolds."

the orc leader then said something that made the group pause in shock.

"i'd seen the red dragon. that damn thing used to keep to itself. not anymore. he's been showing around near our village, sniffing around and blowing fire everywhere. we got kids and old orcs to take care of, and they can't fight. so we came up to this floor to wait out til' the dragon left."

he explained, narrowing his gaze on laios.

"do you think that could be our dragon?"

marcille gasped in realisation, and laios returned the orc leader's tense gaze.

"please tell me, where did you see this dragon from?"

"do you take me as a fool? you think that i'd tell you, a human, where our village is? fat chance."

laios faltered, sighing in defeat while senshi calmly picks up the fallen vegetables on the floor.

"chief, we're done killing everyone."

one of the orcs says, holding a bloody weapon in hand.

"ah, great. pack up whatever's not nailed down then."

unfortunately for the touden party, they were not left off the hook despite senshi being an acquaintance of the orcs. so they sat there on the ground, lined up like they've been put to time-out by their parents.

"there's milk here. yuck, it's rotten!"

"keep that thing!"

senshi shouted to one of the orcs who held a jar of white fluid.

"them veggies be something you grew, i'm guessing?"

the orc leader asked senshi, his eyes trailing over all the vegetables that the group held.

"we're on a supply run, looking for food. it'd be appreciated if you share it with us."

"sure, i'd be happy to. what you got to trade for it?"

"no trade."

the orc leader's gaze darkened as he says those words.

"the tribe's desperate, we barely got to this floor alive."

he raised his bloody spear threateningly, a silent way of saying their lives depends on their agreement to this condition.

"you've been a good friend and i hate to do this but... hand everything you've got, right now."

a short silence settled in the room as senshi thought about their current circumstances.

"senshi, can't you reason with them...?"

marcille whispered, and the dwarf nodded to himself as if finalising his decisions.

"alright, i'll agree."

"glad to hear that."

"i want to ask you a favour in return though. let me and my party spend the night with your tribe."

they stared at senshi for a while before shouting in disbelief.

"what?!"

"huuuh??"

"seriously?"

"do me that favour and you can have my veggies, my life, hell, everything that you want."

"huh..."

even the orc leader was confused. senshi then points to one of the orcs who held the jar with the fermented something inside of it.

"and you, over there!"

"me?"

"don't you throw that away! that stuff's fermented, not rotten! bring it!"

and so the orcs ended up accepting senshi's conditions, and they were about to leave when suddenly, a few more orcs entered the room.

"boss, we found this."

"what the..."

the orc leader's gaze hardened as he looked outside where a very dizzy [name] is being dragged by her neck, and the touden party all collectively gasped in horror.

"and these too."

another one held the big pouch with [name]'s eggs in it.

"hey, be delicate with that!! those are eggs, don't you just flail them around!"

laios barked (not literally but he'd probably do it too), as marcille points a finger at the orc, suddenly having the balls to shout at an orc.

"put those down!! they're children!"

"huh? children...?"

"looks like you're acquainted with this monster, huh?"

the two shrunk back down when the chief orc looks down at them with that scary gaze of his, before glancing at senshi.

"don't hurt her. she's a friend of mine, too. she won't hurt anyone as long as you do the same."

senshi calmly explained, while marcille flails around while laios held her back.

"they clearly drugged her! aghhh, let me go!"

"...fine. but she is not coming anywhere near the tribe. if she moves even the slightest bit threatening, we'll kill her."

they had no choice but to accept, and come along with the orcs as they led the way to where they were currently camping in, [name] being dragged along by a few orcs.

"she looks so out of it..."

"well, at least they didn't hurt her."

laios sighed, and marcille scoffed.

"still..."

marcille then leans down to senshi's level while they kept walking, a slightly panicked tone in her voice.

"they took all our weapons and stuff away. what do we do now that we're in this position, senshi??"

"if we found out where they set their camp up, we'll never see the light of day ever again."

chilchuck hissed, trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible despite his annoyance.

"surely, you have a plan, right?"

laios added in, and senshi closed his eyes for a second before responding.

"mh-hmm. that jar i told that orc to bring along has yeast in it. yeast is a leavening ingredient. and i don't know if you've noticed, but the orcs also grabbed every sack of flour in the kitchen. you know what that means, don't you?"

from the way senshi spoke, the others thought he had an elaborate plan to create bombs or something. but nope.

"uh... no? what does it mean?"

"we can make bread!"

a moment of silence for the touden party's hopes and dreams please.

"dummy! i thought you...!"

"stupid! what do you mean bread?!"

"wait, so you don't have a plan?!"

meanwhile the orcs just watched them with a sweatdrop, wondering if they should tranquilize them too.

"oi, quiet down!"

upon reaching the camp, the party was immediately ordered to stay in a pen where they aren't allowed to go anywhere else, while also being monitored by orcs.

"you has to stay in this pen."

meanwhile, [name] had to be tied down on a pillar, her wrists bound by a rope. she had a goofy grin on her face, seemingly too high to even realise that she'd been captured. oh well, as long as she's happy.

"what in the world is that thing?"

some orcs gathered around her in bafflement and disbelief, whispering anong themselves.

despite this though, no one can deny that she had something magnetic that pulls their attraction, like bees being drawn to pollen.

"dad, what's that?"

the chief picks up his son in his arms as he points to [name].

"a monster from the outside. this is why you never wander far from the tribe, ye'?"

"hmmm, okay. but she looks happy. look!"

"...she's not."

being stuck in a pen isn't ideal, since the touden party literally look like animals in a petting zoo.

"we won't end up as their ingredients for dinner, right?"

chilchuck sighed, sitting on the floor with his back leaning against the fence, while senshi held onto it, shaking it like a madman.

"what did you do with the jar of leavening agent, huh?! you don't know what it is, you don't know how to use it, so give it to me! c'mon, i can make bread with it!"

the dwarf shouted, having a whole psychotic breakdown over bread.

"bread! bread! bread! bread!"

he was quickly silence as the bag of flour and the jar of yeast was thrown at him by the annoyed orcs.

and so the touden party was once again back in business, making food out of everything they find!

"are you playing with mud?"

marcille perked up as an adorable baby orc spoke, peeking at them from the other side of the fences.

the chief then picks him up, his sharp gaze focused on the group.

"time for a history lesson, kiddo. in the old days, we live up top, not here in the underground like bugs. humans and elves like those ones murdered most of our kins and stole the land we had up there."

laios, chilchuck and marcille awkwardly continued to knead their own doughs as the chief spoke.

"i seem to remember orcs did a whole lot of murdering too."

marcille mumbled with her face scrunched up, and the chief glared at her.

"what's that?"

"now's a good time to add the olive oil."

senshi casually butts in while pouring oil in their bowls as if he doesn't sense the growing tension between the two.

"anyway, they chased us down to the underground, and our tribe found a new home. for a long time, our tribe lived in peace. till their kind found us again. they poured oil in our caves and burned everything we had."

"that's because your people wouldn't stop raiding villages of every other race in the land..."

marcille scoffed, stretching and smacking the rounded dough against her bowl.

"we was doing what we had to do to survive!"

the chief scowled, and marcille stood up to face him properly with a frown on her face.

"all orcs ever did was rob and kill and terrorise everyone! that's why you were chased here!"

the elf girl argued back, smacking her dough on the bowl once again.

"c'mon marcille, don't miss them off! we're their guests—"

"shut your hole, you damn half-foot!"

"get your fingers in there and work that dough!"

"yessir."

chilchuck immediately shuts up and went back to his corner before he could get caught between the crossfire that marcille and the chief had going on, while also getting scolded by senshi at the same time. man, life really gave him the toughest battles.

"give me that, i'll do it!"

the chief stole senshi's dough, facing marcille as he too kneads and smacks the dough against the bowl.

"your kind chased my tribe underground! we found this dungeon and made it our own, then you come here to steal it!"

smack!

"it was the villagers who first discovered this dungeon!"

another smack!

"but us orcs are the first to come down this deep!"

another personal smack! they're pouring this anger out on these poor doughs.

"if that's where you wanna go with it, then zombies were here first!"

another painful smack! pray for the doughs, they will be missed.

"once you get it stretching like this, then it's time for the first poofing!"

thank god for senshi breaking up the fight without even knowing.

they all sat there while waiting for the poor abused doughs to poof while both marcille and the chief tried to catch their breath, panting a bit from their heated argument.

for a while, the chief simply observes the group while senshi instructs the three what to do next with the dough, and his interest seems to be focused on laios.

"why have you been so quiet, tall-man?"

he asked out of the blue, and laios blinks a few times, caught off guard.

"huh?"

"don't you have opinions to say on such things?"

"oh, well... rumors say that if a body defeats the mad mage that built this dungeon, a body gets to rule the castle."

"then you must be here to get to the bottom of the dungeon?"

"oh?

"when you get your kingdom and become king, what do you gonna do then?"

laios was silent for a while, not really knowing how to respond to that question.

"i know all about that rumour too, but i never thought about it that much."

he says, looking down at the dough on the palm of his hand.

"typical adventurer. if i cut down to the bone, you're all the same. a bunch of greedy idiots. all you care about is gold and power. the thought of someone like that ruling over makes my hair stand up all prickly-like."

the chief growled under his breath, and marcille clicked her tongue, getting defensive.

"that's how come we see a surface dweller down here, we kill 'em."

"okay, that does it! if you're so noble, take over the castle yourself! or is stealing stuff the only thing that orcs are good of?!"

marcille points an accusing finger at the chief, who huffs from her