Hawthorn happily stood on the balcony of his new home. It had been kind of Miss Violet to gift him and his wife, Aster, such a lovely home. They hadn't, honestly, been expecting such a thing when they had been contracted to join the dungeon. They had actually expected it to take far longer to be accepted as part of a dungeon in the first place.
Hawthorn had met others of his kind who had tried to join dungeons before and been quickly dismissed. Their contracts with dungeons ensured that they too would die with the dungeon if it should ever fall. However, so long as they weren't around long enough to die and the dungeon still remained, the Dungeon Masters could always dismiss them. They would then be sent back to wherever they had been before the contract was made. There was always the option to re-sign up for the contract program in hopes of joining a new dungeon, but there was no guarantee one would be kept around.
Hawthorn and Aster had never had any reason to join a dungeon before. Their particular pixie village enjoyed a rather peaceful existence and was rarely disturbed. At least, that had been the case when he was younger. [Monsters] didn't exactly suffer from the same diseases species like Humans did when there was too much aether in the air. Their tribe used to be hidden in a mountainside forest where there was too much aether for anyone to venture through the area.
That had all changed when he was a teenager and a new dungeon appeared a distance away. As the dungeon had grown, adding more and more floors, the aether became more bearable for the races of this world. Their pixie village had to deal with adventurers coming through the area more and more as the aether levels decreased and now their forest wasn't a danger at all. With how old Hawthorn and Aster had become, they no longer wanted to deal with the stress.
A dungeon was hardly meant to be the perfect sanctuary for their kind. They could quite easily die at the hands of adventurers. Still, it wasn't exactly guaranteed that they'd die permanently either. Some Dungeon Masters did get frustrated by their kind being considered useless for combat and would only let them stay with the condition that they wouldn't be able to respawn if they died. They'd be assigned jobs foraging outside of the dungeon, luring adventurers into [Traps], or distracting them while more dangerous [Critters] and [Monsters] ambushed them.
That had been what they expected when they came to this dungeon. Yet, they had, somehow, found a miracle waiting for them instead. Miss Violet was a deeply troubled yet optimistic Dungeon Master. She enjoyed the company of his kind and she did all that she could to ensure they lived happy lives. They even now had this lovely home to rest in when they weren't needed for their assigned duties.
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The younger pixies were even excited for springtime. Hawthorn was glad to see the youngsters weren't going to shirk their duties. He did worry that might change when they discovered just how hard the work would be. It wasn't like they could open the doors and it would be difficult to make it outside of the dungeon, even with them flying as fast as they could. Hawthorn wouldn't be surprised if some of them ended up with a broken wing or two should they time things poorly.
"Darling, breakfast is ready."
Aster said, coming up to stand beside him. He wrapped his arms around her, smiling down at her.
"Alright, let's go."
Hawthorn said before the two flew downstairs. At the small wooden table, there were two small flower-themed tea cups filled with fresh water from the stream. On plates, they had leftover sweets from the night before. Violet had included basic dishware and even the materials they might need to cook things. However, while they had already collected grasses and small sticks to dry, it would take a while for them to dry sufficiently. It was also difficult to carry the larger [Items] and there wasn't much they could cook.
Before Miss Violet went to sleep each night, she always ensured she saw to it everyone made it home safely. She'd even carry whatever sweets they wanted to keep and help with tasks like fetching water for them. She couldn't exactly reach the top of the trees, though, so they often had to do the rest of the work. Still, at least they never had to worry about the doors keeping them from going home.
Aster was a bit weaker than Hawthorn, so he always tried to ensure he was the one to carry the bigger [Items] back to their home. He had been one of the ones responsible for foraging goods for their tribes when they were younger. Meanwhile, she used to be a seamstress who created beautiful clothes for the entire village to enjoy, alongside a few others. Hawthorn was happy to continue to provide for the two of them and he couldn't complain when his wife seemed happy to keep their home clean and prepare meals for them.
Things were much quieter now than they used to be in their village, but they were also much more peaceful now too. Hawthorn did worry how that might change when adventurers started to visit this floor. His job was to talk to them as part of the challenge for the room they were in. He was supposed to entertain any questions they might have and keep them company, but Miss Violet had reassured him that he didn't have to accept any abuse from the adventurers. While he wasn't sure her hopes of convincing adventurers to get along with his kind would work, he was willing to play along.
Hawthorn knew that many of his kind harbored a hatred towards adventurers. He couldn't exactly blame them since some of them had to deal with the atrocities committed against their kind for their entire lives. Watching their families killed and their homes destroyed wasn't exactly an easy thing for anyone. Even if most of it wasn't intentional, it didn't change how much harm was caused. Still, even if he could understand, he would do whatever Miss Violet asked of him. He owed that much to her after all that she had already done for them.