The last few days had gone by in a flash, with Marvin busy in the garden, Fiona off on a sudden quest, and the slimes and me in the kitchen cooking up a storm for all the adventurers stopping by. It felt like there were a lot more people on this floor than usual, but who was I to complain? They were making my new upgrade quests all the easier and I couldn't be happier.

[Cafe Expansion Quest - 18/50 customers served, 0/25 wood, 10/10 stone]

[Second Floor Quest - 18/100 customers served, 0/25 wood, 10/10 stone]

After picking up a few similar quests, I realized that I could use the same completion criteria for more than one at a time. So, of course, I grabbed every single one that included serving customers! Having the same customers count for multiple quests was brilliant and I was so grateful to Sweet Potato for allowing me to do it. It was giving me such a good boost! I assumed the wood and stone would only count for the first one I completed, but that was fine, I could always gather more.

I should probably visit the Living Trees again soon for more wood. Plus, it would be nice to see how they were doing. I could make some tasty fertilizer in advance this time, but not anything that would boost growth. I had a feeling I'd already done that enough last time.

Matcha slurped up the last of his tea and hopped out of his tea pot, letting me wash it with the last of the other dishes. I hummed as the bubbles coated my hands, enjoying the simple act of washing dishes after a good meal. This was the life I wanted, not one full of fighting my way through the dungeon. I'd still level up, but on my own terms, making sure to enjoy the quiet moments like this. My cafe was starting to be well known around here, thanks in large part to Fiona and Velda spreading the word, and it filled me with such a sense of joy.

The Slime Serenitea Cafe was not only open, but it was thriving too.

"We're going to be okay," I told Matcha. "Every dish I cook gets us one step closer to getting out of here." He chirped, bouncing onto my shoulder to nuzzle against my cheek. "Aww, thank you. I'm glad you're here with me."

Matcha cooed as I held him close. I'd been so lucky finding him on my first day here. Something nudged my leg. Spark was staring up at me with big puppy dog eyes.

"I'm glad you're here too." I laughed, kneeling down to pet him. "I'm glad you're all here."

Spark cheered, as if calling out for the other slimes to join in on his little wiggly dance, but most of them were playing outside. Since there weren't any customers here right now, maybe it was time for a well-deserved slime break. I picked up Spark and carried him and Matcha through the dining area, pausing before going outside. There was a group of four people heading our way with the one in front skipping while she sang about an adorable little cafe in the woods full of monsters.

Wait, was she singing about my cafe?

I flung the door open, spotting Fiona with them too. She waved, her armor covered in dirt and scratches.

"Are you okay?" I asked, hurrying outside.

She nodded. "Yeah, these adventurers bailed me out. I thought I'd bring them by to eat some of your delicious food as a thank you."

Fiona was usually the one who bailed other people out, so what kind of trouble had she gotten into on that quest of hers? Was she on another floor? I'd have to ask her later, because the group was eying my cafe up like it was going to eat them for dinner. The big burly man in front had a sword almost as tall as me and the mage behind him was tiny, but her staff was giant. Then there was the singing blonde woman, who was leaning over the slime's firepit so far that she almost fell in with them. The slimes and her laughed together, making me a bit less worried until the mage moved closer, frowning at the cafe.

"So this floor not only has abnormally strong tree monsters, but a bizarre slime cafe too, huh?" She clicked her tongue against her teeth in disapproval.

"I wouldn't call it bizarre," I started, but froze as I noticed their levels. They were all level 30 and above. If anything was bizarre, it was them. "What are you doing on such a low-level floor, if you don't mind me asking?"

Fiona winced, but the big guy in front is the one who spoke up. "Dungeon extermination quest. They happen from time to time when monsters get out of control."

"Buttttt," the woman with long blonde hair said, "I thought we should get some food first. Adventuring on an empty stomach is terrible for morale. When little Fiona here mentioned your cafe, I just had to see it!"

"Little Fiona?" I raised an eyebrow at her, but she just shrugged her very broad shoulders. Yup, this group was definitely bizarre. "Well, come on in then. I'm more than happy to cook anything you want. If I've got the ingredients, of course."

The big guy in front grunted. "It's not like food tastes good, so I'll have whatever. Name's Garrik, by the way."

"And I'm Dahlia," the blonde woman said, pushing Garrik inside. "Don't mind him. He's always grumpy."

"It's fine." I smiled, waiting for all of them to file into the cafe before joining them. "Welcome to the Slime Serenitea Cafe. What can I get you to drink?"

Dahlia smiled at Matcha, who was still sitting on my shoulder. "Is he the slime on your sign? How adorable! I'd love some tea then to really get into the right vibe here."

The others nodded, saying they'd take the same as they sat down. Matcha hopped off my shoulder, slowly bouncing over by Dahlia. They stared at each other for a moment before Matcha leapt right into her lap, wiggling into a cozy position like he'd known her all his life. Her eyes widened, but she started giggling instead of screaming, so it seemed fine. She wiggled along with Matcha while the other people in her party just sighed, as if she was always doing weird things like that.

"Mind taking care of him while I make the tea?" I asked Dahlia, who shook her head adamantly. "I'll be right back then."

Matcha was so good at putting customers at ease with his carefree attitude. Some people really seemed to get attached to him, while others had watched him with suspicion the entire meal. He was doing his best though, winning over whoever he could. I'd have to make him an extra treat later. Maybe add something to his tea? Or make baked goods with tea as the main ingredient? That could be tasty.

Spark and I went into the kitchen to boil the water, grabbing four mugs. I'd have to get more of these soon if we were going to keep getting so many customers at once. I opened a canister of tea, inhaling the beautifully earthy scent of the freshly picked leaves. The fire slimes had helped me dry them out quickly and the tea tasted delicious, so hopefully they enjoyed it. While the tea steeped, I went back into the dining area to take their orders.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Dahlia was balancing Matcha on her head, holding her hands out on each side to catch him if he fell. Matcha had the biggest grin on his face, giggling up a storm.

"I see you two are getting along well," I said with a smile. "I'm glad."

Garrik sighed. "Don't encourage her. She's the reason we had to go back to the first floor to begin with. Her and her weird antics keep getting us killed."

"Oh hush." She waved a hand at him. "You know it's more entertaining traveling with me than without. And you'd never have gotten that good quest if we hadn't."

"Good quest?" I raised an eyebrow, turning to Fiona. "It sounded like you'd gotten a good quest too recently. Were they related?"

She rested her arms on her knees, staring at the ground. "It was to exterminate the Living Trees you befriended. The system is offering an even bigger reward than last time, pulling in adventurers from higher floors to deal with them."

No, no, no. I gripped the edge of my apron tight. Had I really caused all of this? Forced the dungeon to make a quest to exterminate those trees just because I'd interfered? Those poor trees. They hadn't done anything to deserve that! It was my fault...

"Did she just say," Garrik paused, squinting at me, "that you befriended the trees? Slimes I can see, okay, they're weak and kind of adorable–"

Dahlia patted Matcha. "See, even Grumpy Garrik thinks you're adorable."

"Let him finish, Dahlia," the mage said, grabbing her staff from where it was leaning against the wall. "We might be in danger here. Those trees are not normal. If this woman's a mage, she could have messed with them. And if she did that, what else could she do? And what evil plan does she have for those trees?"

They all turned to me, even Matcha, who was currently upside-down in Dahlia's lap like he'd tumbled off her head. Fiona stood up, hand reaching back for her hammer, but she didn't draw it. The tension in this room had suddenly skyrocketed and I didn't like it one bit.

"Let's just calm down and order some food, okay?" I smiled. "I am a mage, but I'm a culinary mage. As in, I make food, not evil monster plans."

Dahlia nodded. "You're overthinking it, Camellya. Let's eat." She turned to me, setting Matcha right-side up. "I'll have some fried rice." She rummaged around in her item box, pulling out a massive bag of rice. "Will this be enough?"

My eyes widened as I took the rice from her, almost dropping it. It had to be almost 50 pounds! "More than enough. I could make you all heaping plates of it if you wanted."

"And poison us?" Camellya asked. "No thank you."

I plastered a smile on my face. I'd dealt with customers like her before and I could do it again. I just needed to keep smiling and cook the food, because nobody could resist once they smelled it. Delicious-smelling food was a powerful magic all its own.

"Ignore my sister," Dahlia whispered. "She loves fried rice and will eat it."

The two glared at each other with a bit of warmth like only sisters who fought often but still loved each other could. This was the first time I'd seen relatives in the dungeon, and now that I thought about it, that was really strange. Unless I just hadn't asked anyone about it maybe? I mean, they were both blonde and had flower-inspired names, so it probably should have been obvious.

Camellya leaned forward. "Are you going to cook the food or keep staring at us?"

I smiled one last time and escaped to the kitchen where there weren't any judgmental adventurers. I enjoyed getting to know new people, but it was always weird in the beginning until we got past their distrust of a slime cafe. I was looking forward to having repeat customers who already knew the cozy vibes here and didn't question it. Or me.

"Okay, Spark, time to get cooking."

I dropped the bag of rice with a thunk and filled a pot with water. Fried rice usually needed leftover rice, not freshly cooked, so hopefully my Perfect Timing skill could work here. I opened the bag of rice, scooping out enough to make a meal for everyone with some leftovers, then started washing the rice. My body seemed to remember doing this as I went through the motions with ease, washing and straining, putting the water on to boil, waiting for the rice to cook and then letting it steam. It all felt natural.

Once it was done, I held my hand over the pot of rice. "Perfect Timing!"

The steam disappeared and the rice clumped together a bit, as if it had been sitting in the fridge for a while. Perfect. I gathered a few eggs, vegetables, oil, and everything else I needed and got to work. Fiona was keeping the adventurers chatting in the other room, diverting the conversation every time they got too focused on slimes being monsters or talking about how to kill the trees.

My chest ached as I stirred the fried rice and not even the nutty scent of it could lighten my mood. What was I going to do about those trees? I couldn't let them get slaughtered because of me, but I also couldn't just leave them there. They were way too strong for this floor and obviously causing some chaos. If my food could make them grow, then maybe it could make them shrink back to normal too? I had no idea how that would work though or if the system would even cancel the extermination quest if it did.

What were my other options here?

I plated up enough fried rice for everyone and carried them out to the dining area two by two. Dahlia beamed, leaning over the plate to smell the food with an over-exaggerated inhale, but before she could take a bite, Garrik pulled her plate away.

"Let Camellya try it first," he said. "You know she's got better poison resistance than you."

Dahlia pouted. "But it's going to get cold! And it looks perfectly edible."

"It really is," I promised, being bold and taking a bite off Garrik's plate. I chewed it slowly, swallowing it with a smile. "See? All good."

He grunted, waited a moment to see if I'd collapse or something probably, then nudged Dahlia's plate back at her. She dug into it with gusto, making happy noises as she ate. She even fed some to Matcha, who was circling her plate like he was ravenous. The slime cooed happily, so she fed him even more. Dahlia really did seem like a nice person and her cheerful spirit was rubbing off on the others as they dug in too. Camellya's eyes widened at her first bite. She quickly forced a frown on her face, as if she was trying to keep up the suspicious pretense, but the way she was wolfing down that food told the real story. She loved it.

Maybe now was a good time to bring up the Living Trees again, now that everyone was in a good mood with food in their bellies.

"So, about that extermination quest," I said. Fiona stopped eating, raising an eyebrow at me. I took a deep breath. "Do you mind if I come with you?"

Dahlia shrugged. "Sure, why no–"

"No," Camellya said. "Why would we bring a rookie like you along?"

Fiona leaned closer to me. "It was pretty dangerous. The trees are drawing in other monsters, so you'd have to get through them before even making it there."

"That makes me want to go even more," I whispered. "This is my fault. I should be the one to fix it."

Garrik finished the last of his rice and leaned back in his chair, staring at me. He glanced at Matcha and Spark, who was peeking out of the kitchen to see who was here, and grunted. He stood up and the others followed. I glanced at Fiona. Was that a grunt of approval or disdain? I couldn't tell. The man was a mystery.

Dahlia hugged Matcha tight before setting him on the table. "I'll be back later. I promise. We'll eat so much good food you won't know how to get rid of me."

The little slime chirped with a smile, but I still wasn't sure what to do. Fiona sighed, grabbing me by the arm and dragging me outside with them.

She glared at Garrik. "She's coming."

"I was hoping she would." He motioned for us to lead. "A good adventurer always takes responsibility for their actions. If she really caused all of this, then it's her job to fix it."

Wait. Had that been a test to see if I was a good adventurer or not? I glanced at Dahlia, who just smiled and linked her arm through mine.

"We'll take care of you, so don't worry." She patted my arm. "Let's go see these trees of yours."

I waved to Matcha and the other slimes in front of the cafe. "I'll be back soon. Keep the place running for me, okay?"

Camellya rolled her eyes, pushing past us to lead the way herself with Dahlia, Fiona, and me following behind. Garrik took up the rear, his heavy footsteps grounding me. I had a feeling he was the cornerstone of this group, keeping everyone safe and sound. I'd never adventured in a party like this before, but it felt kind of nice being surrounded by people as we headed out. Like a real team.