Hyacine trotted over with quick, small steps like a gust of wind, her face written with concern.
She cleverly squeezed herself between Aiden and Tifa, proceeding to check Tifa's injuries without a word, successfully bailing Aiden out.
Aiden felt like he had been granted amnesty. He hurriedly went with the flow, releasing Tifa and carefully handing her over for Hyacine to support.
As she took Tifa from Aiden's hands, Hyacine playfully and rapidly blinked at him, her eyes seemingly saying, See? You still need to rely on me at the critical moment.
Aiden understood perfectly, secretly giving her a thumbs-up.
This rescue was simply too timely.
However, how could these little stealthy maneuvers they thought were so discreet possibly escape Robin's perception?
"You and Hyacine," Robin's voice floated over faintly from the side, carrying a trace of an elusive sigh, "do you have some kind of misunderstanding about me? In your eyes, am I the kind of woman who loves to be jealous and throw petty tantrums?"
Joy or anger couldn't be heard in her words, but they caused both Aiden and Hyacine's bodies to stiffen simultaneously.
"Of course not."
Aiden's survival instinct maxed out. He shook his head in denial almost reflexively, then launched into an endless stream of praise: "Lady Robin, in my heart, you are peerless in the world, incredibly brilliant, with unparalleled beauty that puts the stars to shame, gentle and kind, tolerant and magnanimous. You are the absolute paragon of a goddess. The words 'jealous' and 'petty' couldn't be further from the truth when describing you."
As he spoke, he frantically shot looks at Hyacine, signaling her to quickly chime in with a few words.
Receiving the signal, Hyacine also hurriedly nodded vigorously: "Right, right, right! Robin-dearis the best. Robin dear is the most magnanimous girlfriend in the world."
Looking at the slightly comical pair singing the same tune before her, Robin finally couldn't hold it back anymore. She let out a pfft of laughter, her eyes curving into beautiful crescents.
She reached out a finger, gently poked Aiden's forehead, and chided playfully, "Smooth talker."
A small disturbance dissipated into thin air amidst this relaxed atmosphere.
Not far away, Astrea, who was being guarded closely by Jeanne, took all of this in.
Her gaze first landed on Tifa, whose face had flushed while being held in Aiden's arms, seeing that maidenly bashfulness and reliance.
Then, her gaze shifted to the composed and elegant Robin, who easily controlled the entire situation with a single sentence, seeing the wisdom and confidence belonging to the official girlfriend.
Next, she looked at Hyacine, who had appeared right on time to bail Aiden out and then playfully blinked at him, seeing the tacit understanding and liveliness of a close partner.
Finally, she even instinctively glanced at Saint Jeanne beside her, who was loyally executing her protection detail, yet whose eyes never strayed far from Aiden. Deep within those clear blue eyes, she seemed to read a barely detectable, intense focus on that figure.
The corners of Astrea's mouth slowly curled into a thoughtful, meaningful smile.
As a goddess who had witnessed countless human tales of love and hate, she seemed to sniff out a hint of something interesting.
"It seems this hero candidate still has a long road ahead of him," she murmured softly to herself.
Robin surveyed her teammates, who were in various conditions, and gently opened her pocket watch to check the time. She said softly:
"Alright, let's call it a day here. It's getting late. We won't rush into the lower floors just yet. Let's find a place to rest properly for the night."
Her proposal was passed unanimously.
Continuous high-intensity combat had pushed everyone's mental and physical stamina near their limits.
They concluded today's exploration and decided to take an extended rest right here in the peril-filled Dungeon.
In other words, they were camping.
The location chosen for their camp had been repeatedly confirmed on the map by Robin and Hyacine.
It was a massive, empty tree hollow located beside a small path branching off the main route of the 24th Floor.
Walking inward from the tree hollow for a bit, the terrain suddenly opened up, forming a "cavern" with a closed-off far end.
This location had long been marked on the Guild's official map, and it had always been one of the few alternative resting spots for adventurers delving this deep.
When setting up camp, the very first thing that must be done is damaging the Dungeon's terrain.
This was common sense known to all veteran adventurers.
Aiden, Tifa, and the others used the hand axes they carried and spare weapons to intentionally carve massive cracks and gashes into the walls and floor of the cavern.
By doing this, the living "will" of the Dungeon would prioritize utilizing its power to repair these "traumas," thereby suppressing monster spawns in the area for a considerable period of time.
By then posting someone to guard the only entrance and exit to the cavern, they could guarantee a night of safety.
While swiftly clearing out a few remaining small monsters in the cavern, they clanged and banged away, carving shocking gashes into the root walls.
The environment of this cavern might be better described as an "atrium beneath a giant tree."
The space was roughly the size of a substantial grand hall. On the interlaced root walls, many unknown small white flowers and emerald green leaves grew luxuriantly, and a few medicinal herbs could occasionally be seen in the crevices.
Looking up at the ceiling, which was about three meters high, one could see countless roots spreading out like the dome of a cathedral.
Their surfaces were densely covered with a layer of "Blue Light Moss" that emitted a jade-green radiance, illuminating the entire cavern so clearly it was as bright as day.
"Even though it was just a spot picked randomly off the map, the environment is actually really nice."
Hyacine set down the massive backpack that was almost as tall as she was and let out a heavy sigh of relief.
Along with Robin, Tifa, and the others, she breathed in the slightly damp, fresh air of this green space with greedy enjoyment.
Although they had taken a brief rest at the safe zone on the 18th Floor, "Town of Rivira," on their way here, that was ultimately just a momentary breather.
Now, having truly decided to spend the night here, the mental string that had been tightly wound finally completely relaxed, and an indescribable sense of exhaustion washed over everyone like a tidal wave.
However, amidst the heavy exhales of "phew," there was also a brimful sense of accomplishment that made one's mood soar.
Since they had to sync with the surface time and spend a full night here, everyone quickly began to divide the labor and cooperate.
Daphne and Cassandra started pulling folding tents out of the luggage, pitching them skillfully.
Tifa walked to a corner of the cavern where there was a relatively flat stone platform. She laid out various ingredients and cooking utensils one by one, preparing to cook a lavish dinner for everyone.
Jeanne was as reliable as ever. Holding her holy banner, she proactively took up position beside the only entrance and exit to the cavern, vigilantly watching the darkness outside, shouldering the duty of a guard.
Robin and Hyacine spread out the parchment map in the center of the camp. Under the light of the Blue Light Moss, they began discussing tomorrow's route and subsequent exploration plans in low voices.
For a team of their size, backpacks were sufficient to carry their luggage, so they didn't need to use massive cargo crates to build a base like large Familias such as the Loki Familia did during expeditions.
But with tents, a campfire, and cooking utensils all readily available, it also presented the standard landscape a camp should have.
Watching his companions each perform their duties, creating a busy yet harmonious scene, Aiden, having nothing to do, walked over to Astrea, who was curiously observing her surroundings.
"Lady Astrea," he asked softly, "can you still sense Miss Alise's location right now?"
This was already the 24th Floor. Further down lay the "lower floors," where the environment and monster strength underwent a qualitative leap.
If Astrea still couldn't sense Alise's exact location after reaching this point, they would have to be prepared for this trip to potentially end in failure.
Hearing Aiden's inquiry, the curiosity on Astrea's face faded, replaced by a hint of helplessness.
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