Karl led the team to the entrance of the Dungeon, where the members of Team Two had just exited, along with their researchers.
"Anything good?" Karl called as he led his team toward the entrance.
"Nothing like what you guys pulled out on the first run. We got armour and a skill book, though, so we can't complain about that. It would be nice if the book was a bit more rare than [Fireball], but you take what you get, and fireball is a pretty decent spell." Prince Charles called back.
Well, you couldn't get the sort of first clearance bonuses that they had found on every single run, it would just be ridiculously overpowered as a resource.
"Are we all ready?" Karl asked as he reached the portal.
"As long as you didn't leave the beasts behind, we're good to go." Tessa laughed.
Karl stretched out a hand, and felt it stop as it touched the surface, as if it was solid, and not just a portal to the dungeon.
"It looks like we can't enter yet. The portal surface is solid." Karl explained to the government minister, who was still tagging along behind them.
"Well, that is unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected. We will try again with team one at the twenty-four-hour mark. Your team is free for the remainder of the day as long as there is no emergency."
"Thank you, we will be around if you need us, and I have team members scouting the area to ensure it remains monster free." Karl agreed.
Hawk was actually looking for something that was more tasty than an Irontusk Boar, but there wasn't going to be anything too close, and everything in the dungeon was no good for eating.
Even the Giants tasted like a delicacy compared to the Ogres. [I think I found what we need. It doesn't belong in this area, but it looks tasty.] Hawk informed Karl a few seconds after he turned away from the portal.
[Oh, what did you find?]
[Um, a deer thing with wings and a weird tail, like a dog.] Karl had no idea what that should be called either. [What is it doing now ?] [Picking a fight with farmers. Can I hunt it? It's only Awakened Rank, but it looks tasty.]
[Alright, bring it back here, and we will see what we can do about getting it butchered and roasted.]
Karl could only imagine how terrified the farmers were when what looked like a baby Vermilion Bird swooped down to kill the monster attacking them, and then flew away with it, but he could tell that it only took a few seconds before Hawk had his prize.
He happily dropped the beast next to the cathedral fort for the others to prepare, and Morgana came out to see what the commotion was.
"That is the strangest looking Peryton that I have ever seen. Normally, they look like giant birds with antlers, but this one is almost all stag. Or perhaps it's not a Peryton at all. It is rather weak for one of their species. Where did Hawk find this?" She asked.
"A few minutes flight away, harassing some farmers. He said that it looks good to eat, so we were going to ask the Clerics to make up something good. A special celebration dinner of sorts." Karl explained as he placed an arm over Dana's shoulder.
"There's one more day." Dana reminded him with a smile. "It will take time to get a full deer ready and roasted. But don't worry, I have asked our resident Princesses to assist with the procurement of proper gifts."
"Well, technically Remi isn't a Princess yet, and neither is Morgana, but they're both cooperating on a most wonderful birthday gift for you."
Dana smiled. "And here I thought that you would go straight to Rae to make something."
Hawk laughed, a keening shriek that startled the workers and made the other team members laugh along with him.
"Oh, you did, but you thought it would be a surprise. I get it now."
"I guess I'm a bit too transparent. But Rae is really looking forward to giving you your gift, and we can't let her down."
Rae was very proud of what she had managed to come up with. She had based it on a blend of all of the fighters that she had seen so far, and made what she thought would be the very best outfit for her Dana.
It was turning out to be a masterpiece of fashion, in Rae's opinion, and it would give Dana an extra layer of light armour over her metal armour.
"Why don't we make a shredded meat roast? The sort so tender that it just falls apart with a fork? I can convince Doug to make fresh bread on the tent stove, and we can do a fancy dinner."
"I don't suppose that we have options to make chicken and dumplings, do we?" Dana asked.
Hawk searched his inventory for a while. There weren't any beasts that really tasted like chicken, and the Rocs were the only bird, but they weren't good.
"I can ask the teams if they have chicken. We haven't hunted anything like that so far. Or I could head to town and get a fresh one." Karl offered.
Dana nodded. "If you're going to go that far, get a turkey instead, if they have one. Turkey and dumpling stew is great."
"Alright, let the teams know that I will be back in an hour. I'm just going to head out and get some fresh ingredients."
Dana and Doug walked in as he was making plans, both looking much more relaxed and happy than they had for a while.
"Is there anything else you need me to get for dinner?"
Lotus nodded happily. "If you can get us some heavy cream, I want to make a cake. It doesn't work right with powdered milk."
"Get more butter as well. The stocks here are margarine, and it's not the same." Doug added.
Karl knew that the general store at the mines should have everything that they needed, but as he wanted both cream and butter, it would be best to stop at a farm, if there was one near the mines.
[Yes, the whole kilometre before the mines is farms. There were cows there and more animals I didn't care about. You might get a meat bird.] Hawk informed him.
It wouldn't have the nutritional value of the deer monster, but the nostalgia factor of a childhood favourite recipe couldn't be beat.
Now that he had all their requests, Karl took off through the woods, headed for the mines in the direction that Hawk had informed him he would find a farm. They likely wouldn't have a credit exchange machine, but he could give them coins and gems from the dungeon with an exchange note to take to the bank in town.
The exchange rate might be a bit hard to judge, but he had so much loot in his storage bag right now that it wasn't even funny. They had intended to split it as they did the items, but Karl had never gotten around to dropping it off for the agents to sort today, so he had half a chest full of loot.