Avorn and Camellia were a bit confused when they were to submit their juniper berries and they ended up needing thirty-four less than they had expected. They had deliberately counted out an entire one hundred of them and then tried to submit the entire amount to their system screen yet they had extra. So, they decided to just leave the rest as a separate tribute for Violet inside the dungeon. As such, Violet would end up finding she had another 134 DP, which would certainly be helpful when she began to work on her next floor.

Avorn and Camellia weren't quite ready for sleep just yet, so they started their night off by fishing from the koi pond. While they did so, Avorn noticed the now familiar kodama spirit scurry past and he offered it a nod in acknowledgement. He wouldn't bother the poor creature, but this was hardly the first time he had seen it in this dungeon or even the first of its kind he had seen in his lifetime. He couldn't help but feel bad for the poor creature.

As an elf, the artificial nature of dungeons was always a bit unsettling. However, Avorn could only imagine just how much worse it would be for such a precious nature spirit. None of the other dungeons he and his wife had been to had ever had kodama spirits, nor had they heard any stories of them being spotted by other adventurers. Of course, human and dwarves tended to be a bit oblivious to such creatures, but it wasn't entirely uncommon for elves to become adventurers.

Sure, many of his kind did prefer to stay in their forests and live a peaceful life, but many also craved adventure. Some would give up early on due to how uncomfortable it was to be in a dungeon while others would simply grow bored after a decade or two and end up coming back home. Then some really took to a life of adventuring. Since elves had such long lives, it gave them plenty of time to hone their skills and become truly talented, making S-rank not such a far-fetched dream as it might be for other races.

Of course, Avorn had had an additional motive to continue to adventure. After he had met Camellia, he had fallen in love with her and now he couldn't stand the idea of being apart. Of course, he was likely to outlive her, but he would happily follow her anywhere for as long as she lived. Even if that meant he had to spend a hundred years away from his home tribe, then he would happily do so just so he could allow her to live her own life without any regrets.

Of course, while elven tribes tended to be made up of primarily elves, they didn't turn away the spouses of their brethren. His wife was free to come with him to meet his family and they could even settle down in his home forest and have half-elf children together. Camellia would be expected to treat the forest with the same respect the elves did and Avorn would have to take responsibility for his spouse's actions, but they would otherwise be welcomed with open arms.

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After catching half a dozen koi fish, the two decided to call it a night. They'd wake up early so they could gather some other resources to sell, but right now they just needed enough for dinner. The two worked together to get their tents set up and a campfire going before putting the fish to roast. Freshly cut wood didn't make for good firewood, so they had to purchase and bring their own firewood to the dungeon. However, that didn't stop Avorn from picking some grass and leaves that he could dry by the fire for the next night. He did want to be as self-sufficient as he could, after all.

"Should I make us some tea tonight as well?"

Camellia asked, Avorn nodded with a slight smile. Camellia quite enjoyed the luxury of the tea they had purchased and the sweetness of the honey just made it that much better. It was almost too good to believe that they could afford such luxuries while still being able to earn enough to buy new equipment when springtime came along.

"I'm really glad that we get to stay here at night. It's a bit strange to have a slime so close by without having to worry about being attacked."

Avorn rubbed his chin thoughtfully before replying

"It's certainly different from what we have become accustomed to. Since we don't have to worry about staying at an inn, we'll likely be able to afford a lot better equipment than we were expecting."

Camellia nodded enthusiastically as she said

"Yeah, a silver per night just to share a room would be most of the income we could earn in a single day. However, since we won't have to spend that much, we should be able to save almost an entire gold piece's worth of income. It's not quite enough for anything as fancy as a magic bag, but it would be nice to get some better daggers and a less worn and frayed backpack. Although, maybe we should consider a better tent first?"

Avorn just shrugged his shoulders as he replied

"I don't know, we'll have to see how much the equipment costs when the time comes and then consider our options. There aren't any local craftsmen who can make the equipment and this dungeon doesn't have those [Items] for challenge rewards, so we might have to try the next city over. Although, it might be good to see what sorts of [Items] the Dungeon Master has for sale by that time as well."

Camellia's eyes lit up as she lightly bumped shoulders with her husband, teasing

"You should probably try not to be so terrified of her first before you start making plans to socialize with her more."

The two continued their friendly banter for a while longer before turning in for the night. They may have been married for a few years already, but they were still happily married and couldn't be any happier than they were in each other's company.