x-X-x-X-x

“We're pretty far out, aren't we?"

"Yes. We'll be in the southern corner very soon."

They were still on the seventh floor in search of blue papillon wings.

Following Lili's instructions, the group made their way through a very thin corridor.

They have been on this floor for over two hours. Rather than staying on the path that led to the lower levels, they took one heck of a detour and are headed to the deepest corner of the lower seventh.

Lili had gone deeper into the dungeon than this, but she had not explored the outer rim of any of the levels.

This unfamiliar terrain got the pallum girl’s blood pumping with excitement as she watched Bell quickly dispatch all the monsters that appeared in front of them with the strange-looking lance.

Lili quickly withdrew a magic stone from the killer ant Bell just took down while Shalltear walked without a care, slaying with her hand anything that tried to jump at her.

"Lili, what's waiting for us at the end of this path?" The human boy asked, his gaze stuck on the bright light at the end of the tunnel.

"The dungeon's pantry." She answered without bothering to explain further.

"Pantry?" The moment Bell echoed Lili's words the path in front of the group began to change.

The pale green walls, the lights in the ceiling, the path under their feet — everything started to get uneven. The farther they walked, the less their surroundings looked like the dungeon they had seen so far. It almost felt like they were lost in the belly of a cave.

Suddenly, the luminescent spots on the ceiling started to go dim. Bell’s heart pounded in his chest as a shroud of darkness descended around him.

That light...

There was a soft greenish glow coming from around the rocky corner ahead.

Bell stopped for a moment and turned to face the two girls. They both didn’t say anything, but instead Lili gave him a silent nod. He took a deep breath, faced forward, and turned the corner.

His heart was pounding so fast that he could feel it in his lungs.

He had gotten used to crawling the dungeon, so it had been a long time since he felt like this. Going someplace new, facing the unknown. It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. His inner adventurer felt so alive!

They followed the glow through a few more turns in the cave. The source of the glow was waiting for them at the end of the path.

He was filled with awe the moment he emerged from the rocky path.

It was a very, very big area.

Neither Bell nor Lili had seen a space this big, even in the levels further down in the dungeon. Shalltear scoffed at their surprise. She had already seen the jungle on the sixth floor of Nazarick, which was leagues above this place.

Bell’s eyes instantly locked onto a towering pillar of quartz in the back of the room.

The massive column of powdery green rock stretched from the floor all the way up to the ceiling. The whole thing was jutting out of the back wall. But the surface wasn't smooth, bits and pieces stuck out like tree bark. This whole thing might as well be a tree made of quartz.

A clear white sap drips out from between the breaks in the rock, enough to make a large pool at the base of the ‘tree’. Killer ants and purple moths dotting the surface of the tree and a needle rabbit dipping its tongue into the pool. They were all drinking the sap.

"Is Mr. Bell surprised?" Lili asked with a proud smile.

"Lili, what exactly is this place?”

"This is a pantry, a place the dungeon stores food for monsters to eat.” Clearly enjoying the awed look on Bell’s face, and ignoring the indifference on Shalltear’s, Lili strikes up a conversation and explains what's going on.

Monsters born from the dungeon walls were alive, so it made sense they would get hungry. While they could feast on stray adventurers or other monsters, most of them got their subsistence from their ‘mother’, the dungeon itself.

This wide area was a source of nutrients for the dungeon’s monsters.

“I can see why it's called the dungeon's pantry!” Bell exclaimed in wonder.

“Too long, did not listen~. All we need you to tell us is if we can find the pests here~.”

Lili looked struck by Shalltear’s apathy but kept her composure. "… Well, that’s where Lili was getting at… Rather than bumbling around in the dungeon for who knows how long, Lili thinks our chances of finding blue papillons are better if we wait here."

“I agree.” Bell nodded.

Lili then went on to explain that there are two or three pantries on every level of the dungeon except for the first two. As long as they stake out one of them and keep their eyes open, a hungry blue papillon should show up sooner or later. After that, they could make their move.

Set up a trap and ambush their prey.

"Don't just stand there, mister and miss adventurers. We must hide ourselves. Lili doesn't want to think about what will happen if the monsters see us."

Shalltear smirked. “I’d like to see them try~.”

"Ah... Yes, let's hide." Bell smiled sheepishly, dragging Shalltear out of the entrance and off toward one of the sides.

Taking another look around the room, there were many entrances to the pantry.

Even now, monsters were streaming in from ten, twenty in other places. Bell knew that if even one of them realized they were here, either Shalltear would force Bell to fight every last one of them despite not being able to or she’d blow up the place, scaring off the blue papillons they were after. Bell didn’t want to think about that.

The three adventurers made their way into a corner of the room.

"Well, then, excuse me." Lili set her backpack down and withdrew a large piece of cloth from it.

The whole thing was a mossy green color and matched the dungeon walls on this floor almost exactly.

Lili whips the fabric around through the air like a massive cape and wraps the three of them from head to toe in a green cocoon.

"So that's why you bought this... You were very prepared.” Bell whispered in astonishment.

"That's right. None of the monsters on the lower seventh has a good sense of smell, so as long as we're quiet and stay out of sight, we will be fine.”

Their camouflage seemed to be working. None of the monsters had noticed them; even the ones that looked in their direction thought they were simply part of the dungeon’s wall and went back to their meal.

"W-w-wait a second. Aren't we a bit close to each other?" Bell whispered to Shalltear, face red in embarrassment.

“But this cloth can only hide so much~. We have no choice but to stick closer~." She breathed, her lips brushing against his ears. Lili, in front of the group, was oblivious to what was going on due to her huge backpack separating her from the others in the back.

Bell could feel his captain’s body up against his, making him flinch.

Shalltear snuck around bell’s right arm and squeezed. A soft pressure brushes against his ribs through his inner shirt. Bell’s face felt like it was on fire.

He understood that she had to stick to him because the cloth was too small... But if he didn't know better, he would’ve thought his captain had been enjoying this. It had to be his imagination; she was too cold hearted for this sort of stuff.

Unbeknownst to him, Shalltear was having fun getting a reaction out of him.

They walked until they reach a corner, sitting down in a comfortable position.

“H-hey, I have a question. You know how there are items that can draw in monsters, right? If there's a place like this where they can eat as much as they want, why do those items work...?" He started a conversation to get his mind off Shalltear’s body comfortably rubbing against his.

Keeping her gaze on the cavern’s many entrances, Lili answered his question right away. "Isn't it boring to eat the same food all the time, Mr. Bell?” She then quietly giggled. “That's why. Monsters like a little variety, too.”

Bell kept on becoming a little bit smarter every time he asked Lili about something that didn't make sense. So, he kept the questions coming while they were waiting for their prey to show up.

First, he asked her why adventurers completely ignored this really good hunting spot. She explained that this place is too far out of the main path. In fact, every single dungeon pantry is so far removed from the usual route that it would take hours to get to one of them. Even if you managed to find one—and are strong enough to survive fighting everything in here at once—it's more efficient to collect the magic stones that are worth more from monsters farther down.

But the most important reason is that if you made even one mistake, the danger of being overwhelmed by sheer numbers was very real.

These were the reasons why most adventurers tried to avoid turning these places into their battlefield. It could also be that they didn’t want to ruin such a beautiful place.

At least that's how he felt, looking out across this tranquil scenery from under our camouflaged cloth.

A wide cavern bathed in soft green light. The clear crystals emerging from the tree were absolutely breathtaking. Light reflected off the pond beneath it like the moon off a still lake at night. The pond's white flowers with blue stems were blooming in bunches all around the lake.

Every so often a needle rabbit poked its head out from between them. Purple moths flew through the flowers and landed on the crystals above, resting their wings.

Soft splashes filled the air as a small group of killer ants made their way through the pond toward the quartz tree on the back wall.

The green light made everything look calm, almost gentle. It wasn’t hard to believe that monsters that should be violent and horrifying could look this beautiful.

Looking across the cavern, taking in the light, the monsters, everything… Bell couldn't help but feel excited by the natural vista before his eyes despite his captain making his blood pressure boil.

“Mister and miss adventurers!!!” Lili stiffened as she points somewhere in front of us.

Bell’s mind comes back to his body as both he and Shalltear sat up and followed Lilly's eyes to the pond at the base of the tree. They saw them immediately.

Butterflies with blue wings fluttering gracefully among the flowers. A group of four blue papillon, the target of their quest, it has appeared in the pantry.

“Finally~!” The captain yawned.

"It was worth coming all the way down here." Bell smiled in excitement.

"Y-yes." Lili admitted, her gaze stuck on the blue papillons in wonder.

They all got up, preparing to leave at any moment.

The butterflies' elegance and refinement matched the cavern perfectly. Each one of their bodies were much more delicate than a purple moth's, their two sets of wings flowing like water. The light blue trails they left behind were beautiful.

While the blue papillon posed no threat in combat, the scales that flaked off their wings healed the injured monsters around them. The reason that Naaza wanted blue papillon drop items must’ve been because they would make an excellent ingredient for healing potions.

"We mustn't make a scene in here. Let's watch them and then follow them out of the pantry." Lili warned the two adventurers, making sure they wouldn’t rush at them and get their group in trouble.

"Okay, got it." Bell gave a nod before going back to question mode with Lili. He was still trying to ignore his captain’s tickling on his body.

The three waited for a chance to spring their trap.

x-X-x-X-x