Chapter Twenty-Nine: Appointment

Zhao Tianhe wanted to say, "No, I really like watching you eat," but if he said that, wouldn't Elle's words become unnecessary? Her favorability toward him would surely drop...

With a solemn expression, Zhao Tianhe stood up and countered, "Let me ask you, why is food made?"

"Hmm?" Artoria was taken aback for a moment, then answered calmly, "To eat, of course."

"Exactly." Zhao Tianhe turned and spoke earnestly to Elle. "Cooking is indeed a tiring endeavor, but it's precisely this effort that gives eating its value! Though I complain a bit, as someone who loves cooking, seeing others enjoy my creations, savoring them mouthful after mouthful, is the greatest happiness! Elle, you made these dishes today, so come, experience it for yourself."

Smiling, Zhao Tianhe reached out to Elle, perfectly sidestepping the previous topic.

"Is that so? Hmm..." Elle hesitated, set down her phone, dragged her chair over to sit beside Zhao Tianhe, and looked at Artoria. "Go ahead, eat."

"Uh..." Artoria hesitated briefly, but after taking a bite, she completely ignored the gazes of the other two. Only after finishing a bowl of rice did she speak. "No, it's uncomfortable eating while being watched. You two should eat as well."

She said that, but it had taken her less than two minutes to finish her bowl...

"Yes, it does feel a bit joyful," Elle said, picking up a bowl of rice. "Cooking really is interesting, but tomorrow, we still need to go shopping."

"No problem." Zhao Tianhe laughed, picking up his own bowl.

"Phew... lucky I'm clever enough to have persuaded them..." After washing the dishes, Zhao Tianhe lay on the bed and sighed.

At that moment, his phone's chat app chimed.

"That blond, ahoge king is quite frightening when she's angry—almost reminds me of myself at work." Elle chose to send a private message this time. "She really does eat too much, doesn't she? I know that as a heroic spirit, all that food just turns into magical energy, but still... she can really eat. Makes me recall the past..."

Zhao Tianhe remembered Elle's usual chat style and patiently responded.

Today, Zhao Tianhe didn't need to go to the Shadow Cavern, as nearby dungeons were experiencing issues. After the earthquake, not only had the Slime Cavern leveled up, but even the Shadow Cavern had inexplicably been promoted to a D-rank dungeon. The association was now actively reallocating personnel, and it seemed Rogue Town would no longer serve as a rookie hero training base.

"Guess I’ll get reassigned? Since I’m not level ten yet, I’m still considered a rookie…" Thinking about the familiar faces in town, Zhao Tianhe felt a tinge of reluctance.

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the Slime Cavern, inside a makeshift fortress built with earth magic, the B-rank team that entered the cave last night was giving their report.

"It's confirmed—a C-rank dungeon. The giant lava slime is among the strongest at C-rank, maybe even verging on B-rank. I'd recommend labeling it C+. As for Piltover, besides us, only three other teams are capable of handling this dungeon. The dungeons assigned to our four teams have also undergone slight mutations—they were troublesome to begin with. If we rotated duties here, within a month, two teams would be overextended. My final suggestion is to transfer C-rank teams from elsewhere for long-term stationing."

"I’d like to, but the Northern Frontier is already short-staffed… We can't issue a hero draft just for these mutated dungeons, can we?" The association representative rubbed his forehead, looking troubled. "I can’t pull more people for the next few days. You’ll have to manage for a while. Ugh, not just the Slime Cavern—those newly upgraded D-rank dungeons are giving me headaches too..."

"I have a suggestion," spoke up Bruto, the red-skinned giant. "The original cleaner of the Slime Cavern, Zhao Tianhe, is an outsider heroic spirit, and his talent has just awakened. I think we could initiate the heroic spirit training protocol, have him and the nearby rookies level up in the new D-rank dungeons, and then let him lead the team to handle the lower-ranked dungeons."

"His talent awakened? Hmm... I'll send someone to ask him." The association staff nodded. Even for a newly awakened heroic spirit, a few D-rank dungeons should be simple enough.

He had the authority to let rookies urgently level up and handle low-tier dungeons, and with an awakened heroic spirit leading, safety would be assured. There shouldn’t be any issues.

Thus, that afternoon, Zhao Tianhe and Lainis received a notice from the association.

"Heroic spirit training? I have to go too?!" Lainis was stunned by the notice. "Is manpower really that scarce?!"

"Seems so… All three nearby dungeons are to be entrusted to me? Too bad Uncle Zhao Ming is ill—he’d be the perfect leader otherwise." Zhao Tianhe sighed.

Zhao Ming's illness was psychological, apparently triggered by encountering mutated monsters in a dungeon. He remembered nothing except that all his teammates died, and he himself was repeatedly tormented—leaving a lasting trauma, making it impossible for him to enter dungeons again.

Of course, the first floor of the old Slime Cavern was an exception—it didn’t even make Uncle Zhao Ming feel like he was in a dungeon…

"In any case, the association will send a team leader tomorrow to guide us through the dungeons for a day." Zhao Tianhe tossed the notice onto the table and went to the kitchen. "Let’s rest well today. Tomorrow should be fine, but it’ll get busy after that."

"I see you’re always busy. Why not invest more in your constitution attribute?" Lainis joked. "Artoria sure eats well—so many delicious things vanish before you know it…"

"Want to help out?" Zhao Tianhe grinned, poking his head out.

"No thanks, I’d rather play games..." Lainis grabbed a bag of rice crackers and headed back to her room.

"Hmm, that actually counts as helping me..." Zhao Tianhe raised an eyebrow, suddenly remembering Pixie hadn’t woken up yet. "Strange, she usually pulls all-nighters, but wakes up around noon…"

The next day, Zhao Tianhe, Lainis, and the rookie heroes from town gathered at the Department of Transportation entrance.

There were eleven rookies in Rogue Town: two for E-rank Shadow Cavern, three for E-rank Deep Forest Cellar, and six for E+ rank Lightless Swamp.

Everyone knew Zhao Tianhe would soon be their leader and eagerly chatted with him, until a figure entered the waiting hall.

"Oh, it’s a familiar face…" Zhao Tianhe looked at the newcomer, somewhat surprised.

It was none other than the veteran summoner, Geros.