Breakfast

"Good morning!" The goddess and Xin Mu washed up and got dressed upstairs before coming down to greet Zhang Ruofeng, who was lost in thought. Xin Mu was wearing one of the goddess's light blue dresses, which made her look much gentler and cuter, softening her usual cool air. She was taller than the goddess, though, and kept tugging at the hem of the dress, which was a little short on her. Zhang Ruofeng stared, somewhat dazed. Xin Mu usually didn't pay much attention to her appearance. As far as he could remember, he'd never seen her wear makeup outside of her spy work, let alone a dress.

"Ahem. Fura, Xin Mu, you two look just like sisters in those outfits today." Zhang Ruofeng quickly pulled himself together. If he hadn't been feeling so low, and thus less prone to emotional swings, he would probably have spaced out again. He hurriedly cleared his throat, tried to shake off the feeling, then went back to the kitchen to continue his experiment.

"That smells wonderful. What are you making, Ruofeng?" Fura watched Zhang Ruofeng's embarrassed expression and laughed happily. Xin Mu seemed to be in a pretty good mood, too, no longer surrounded by the gloom she'd carried since waking up. She hurriedly asked, "My stomach's growling."

"All right, all right." Zhang Ruofeng had just taken the food out of the frying pan. He set it beside the eggs and bread he'd already fried, then carried everything to the table.

"That smells amazing! What is it this time?" Fura looked at the pork belly on the plate. It was prepared very differently from the pork belly dishes in this world, and the fried meat gave off a delicious aroma. Xin Mu recognized the smell immediately. It was pepper.

"Well, I crushed and dried Red Nut and Mane Ear Grass together. The flavor they make when mixed is very close to pepper. The last time I passed a restaurant, I caught a whiff of the smell there and thought it was similar. I finally managed to recreate it. I personally like this flavor. It's a little sweeter than pepper, and milder."

"Delicious!" Fura ate the breakfast Zhang Ruofeng had made, nearly moved to tears by how good it was. Even Fura herself thought her own cooking tasted awful, so she hadn't had a decent breakfast in ages. Since Zhang Ruofeng and Xin Mu had joined the Familia, the two newcomers had been relying on her for support, and their meals had naturally been rather plain. The only time Fura had eaten a carefully prepared meal like this was the braised pork Zhang Ruofeng had made on their first night together.

"Ruofeng, you should buy yourself some clothes, too," Xin Mu said quietly before eating, looking him over. Zhang Ruofeng looked little better than a beggar. He was shirtless, and one leg of his jeans ended below the knee while the other stopped halfway down his calf. If he hadn't been so clean and had such well-proportioned muscles, ninety-nine out of a hundred people on the street would probably have thought he was a beggar.

"Mm." Zhang Ruofeng knew his appearance was pretty awful. Fortunately, this place was full of strange sights and peculiar people. Some adventurers even went into the Dungeon without shirts, so nobody had said anything when he went out to buy food.

"Right, right! I'm not opening the shop today, either. Let's go shopping together." The goddess said happily. She hadn't been shopping in ages. Most of her time was spent running the flower shop or going outside the city to buy flowers from farmers, so she was looking forward to it.

"Mm." Zhang Ruofeng's expression darkened a little. Shopping was something he hated, and the budget he'd worked out in his head probably wouldn't cover the expenses for three people.

"I saw the letter just now. Aren't there still two Star-shaped Fruits? You don't need to save one for me. I've had one before." The goddess had read the letter Perman left behind, so she knew Zhang Ruofeng's financial situation. Besides, the two Star-shaped Fruits were sitting right there on a plate. "I've eaten this rare fruit before. Why not leave one for Xin Mu to try? You can exchange the one meant for me for some Faris."

"I don't need one, either." Xin Mu shook her head, showing she wasn't particularly attached to the fruit. The women around her seemed to love them, but at the thought of what Perman had told her yesterday, her expression darkened.

"These fruits seem pretty rare. Why don't you two try them?" Zhang Ruofeng hadn't expected both women to turn down the Star-shaped Fruits. He'd heard that their tough outer skins and soft, juicy flesh made them excellent for beauty treatments, and that women—whether adventurers or merchants from other countries—never passed them up.

"Forget it." Xin Mu looked up at Zhang Ruofeng, her resolve so firm that he backed down at once. He could only shrug. With another four thousand Faris in the budget, he should be able to buy Xin Mu a set of armor. He could even get himself a leather cuirass, so he wouldn't have to come out of the Dungeon half-naked every time.

"Then once we've finished eating, let's update your statuses." The goddess clapped her hands as she looked at the two who had finished their meal. "You were both unconscious yesterday when someone carried you back, and it gave me quite a scare. I didn't get a chance to update your statuses then. You've had enough rest now, so let's do it."

"No problem." Zhang Ruofeng knew that this had been another life-or-death adventure, and their abilities had surely improved a lot. He'd survived in large part thanks to his skill, Boiling Dragon Blood, and his stamina, which had already reached B rank. Otherwise, the pain and blood loss might have left him unable to fight, and both he and Xin Mu could have been in grave danger. That was why he was so eager to improve his strength. Even Zhang Ruofeng was growing dissatisfied with a life where he had to carefully budget just to afford a decent breakfast.

After they cleared away the dishes, they went together to Fura's room to update their ability values. Zhang Ruofeng went first, as usual. As Fura's blood seeped into his back, his Divine Grace changed once again.

"Huh?" The goddess was surprised. She knew the two of them must have fought hard, given the state they'd been in, but she hadn't expected Zhang Ruofeng to make such tremendous progress after a single adventure. "Congratulations, Ruofeng. Your strength has reached 60."