My Food Stall Serves SSS-Grade Delicacies!

Marron moved toward the gleaming knives, her mind racing, when inspiration struck. She turned back to the Captain with careful composure.

"Actually," she said, "I still have some duskbeast meat in my coldbox. Gifted to me by the Lord Jackal's son himself. It was slain in its prime

It's properly aged, well-marbled. The flavor profile could complement the sliced golden potatoes than..." she glanced meaningfully at Elena. "butchering fresh meat."

She thought it was a reasonable (and in some cases, most comparable) compromise. However, she witnessed The Captain's face darken, and he made a clicking noise with his borrowed mouth. "That simply won't do, chef. This recipe specifically calls for fresh meat. The fear and adrenaline--that's what gives the meal its potency."

"But it's still good meat," Marron pressed gently. "And the dungeon needs to be fed, doesn't it? Shouldn't we use what we have before..." She let the sentence hang.

"It's not fresh enough," the Captain snapped. "The dungeon requires—"

He stopped mid-sentence as the chamber filled with a low, thrumming sound. The marble walls seemed to pulse with inner light, and at the far end of the kitchen, an opening revealed itself—a passage leading deeper, toward something that glowed like captured starlight.

The dungeon core.

It sat in the heart of the mountain like a gigantic furnace, its structure wrought from black stone and silver veins. At its center burned a bright white fire that cast no shadows, only pure, hungry light. The flames danced and twisted, but made no sound except for that deep, resonant thrum.

Marron held her breath as she waited for the core's reaction to her suggestion.

Are you going to reject my idea too? Do you want Elena to die? Because I don't think that's what you feed off of.

Marron recalled how her cooking changed the dungeon for the better, and she hadn't needed to use human flesh. If anything, this Captain's actions were downright cruel. They all looked toward the furnace with bated breath.

The blinding white fire silently continued to burn, steady and unmoved by their conversation. Marron blinked and stared at the Captain. "Not even a crackle of embers."

I feel so embarrassed for him.

The Captain stared at the core, his face cycling through confusion and frustration. "It should—the fresh meat should—"

She felt the bone shard at her hip pulse. It wasn't a slow, steady rhythm. Instead, it was like a racing heartbeat: quick and urgent pulses that begged for her attention. Marron looked down at it curiously and pressed her hand onto it.

What's up? She thought, knowing the object wouldn't reply to her. It wasn't like her System, and at first she expected it to function like a bell on a cat: just telling the Lieutenant where she was.

That was before she started to experiment with the Stealth Broth, and...the Lieutenant didn't catch wind of her actions. Now she knew it was just as he had said: a symbol that would let the mimics know that she was under his protection.

The Lieutenant saw the gesture and his pale eyes sharpened with sudden understanding. The rapid pulsing—he knew what it meant. His grip on Elena's shoulders shifted, becoming unmistakably protective now rather than restraining.

"Captain," he said quietly. "Perhaps we should consider the chef's suggestion. The core doesn't seem... particular about the source."

"No." The Captain's voice turned sharp with desperation. "You don't understand. The power comes from the fear, from the freshness, from the—"

"From what?" Marron asked, emboldened by the core's indifference and the bone shard's urgent approval. "Because it looks to me like the dungeon just wants to be fed. It doesn't care if it's duskbeast or..." She couldn't bring herself to finish.

Elena was trembling, but now it was with hope rather than terror. She could feel the change in the Lieutenant's touch, the way his hands had become sheltering rather than confining.

The Captain whirled toward the Lieutenant, his ordinary face twisting with rage. He pointed at the bone charm resting on her hip. "You gave her the shard, why? She's supposed to be under your control, is she not?"

The Lieutenant kept his voice even, but Marron could hear the barely controlled rage in his words. "I serve the dungeon, and follow you because we work toward the same goal. But if the dungeon accepts alternative offerings..."

He let the implication hang in the air.

The white fire in the furnace continued to burn, ever patient and ethereal. The room seemed to pulse with a faint heat, but it wasn't demanding the specific protein source the Captain insisted on.

"...were you going to let the mimics know?" The Lieutenant finished, his grip on Elena firmer now. But it wasn't because he didn't want her to escape.

Marron realized he was protecting Elena from the Captain's bloodlust.

She felt the surge of adrenaline and smiled.

There was a peaceful way out after all.

The bone shard's rapid pulsing seemed to echo her heartbeat now, warm and encouraging against her hip. Marron saw a leather journal on Comfort & Crunch's counter, and picked it up. There was only one entry in it so far:

"Steak with pastel peppercorns, blood sausage, and cave mushrooms." Marron's eyes narrowed as she glanced at the instructions. "Perfectly doable. Do you have the pastel peppercorns here, Captain?"

He opened his mouth to protest, but the Lieutenant stepped forward, finally releasing Elena's shoulders. "I was instructed to collect them, chef. I put them in one of the drawers near the chopping station."

Marron glanced at the spot the Lieutenant described and smiled when she saw the beautiful knife set from Whisperwind, wrapped and safe next to a small box. She almost sneezed when she opened it--it was full of pastel-colored pepper.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. I'll cook this recipe for the dungeon, and a meal for us. Both meals won't poison its intended recipients," she said quickly. "I'm a cook after all, not an assassin."

The Captain opened his mouth to protest again, but the Lieutenant stepped forward, finally releasing Elena's shoulders.

"I think," the Lieutenant said quietly, "that will be quite sufficient."

And for the first time since entering this marble tomb, Marron allowed herself to believe they might all walk out of it alive.

We're so close now.

She glanced at Elena, who looked at her and the Lieutenant with gratitude.

Now that the Lieutenant...well, he isn't on the Captain's side anymore. We actually have a chance to make it out of here.

She reached for her knives.

"Please wait a moment, I'll serve our guests soon."

The great furnace crackled in excitement.