Menu no. 31 - Searching for the coffee beans

“Already gone?” I muttered, staring at the empty crate. “Didn’t we still have plenty yesterday?”

“Nope, nyan~.”

Erinya—no, Erinyan, as she insisted—swished her tail as she leaned against the shelf. “Erinyan searched all across the Dungeon’s ground floor. Not a single coffee bean left.”

I ran a hand through my hair.

That was bad. Very bad.

Coffee had quietly become the backbone of the guild. Not just as a drink, but as morale, routine, even a kind of ritual. Adventurers came back broken, exhausted, half-lost—and left calmer, steadier, sometimes even smiling. And now, the supply was almost completely gone.

I exhaled slowly, forcing my racing thoughts to line up.

Zoya’s words surfaced in my mind, clear and oddly gentle.

There are still many beans on the fifth floor.

At the time, I hadn’t thought much of it. Just another strange remark from a mysterious vampire who added crimson liquid to her coffee without explanation. But now…

“Erina,” I said carefully, turning toward her. “Do you think… we could go to the fifth floor of the Dungeon?”

Her ears flattened instantly.

“No! No! Absolutely not, nyan!” She shook her head so hard her hood almost slipped. “Erinyan hates Dungeon floors, nyan! Too many monsters! Too dark! Too cold! Too many things trying to eat Erinyan!”

“I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important,” I said gently.

She crossed her arms and looked away. “Still no.”

I sighed.

Yeah. That was expected.

I stared at the empty crate again, then at the shelves, then at the brewing tools neatly arranged as if mocking me.

Maybe…

Maybe I didn’t need to go alone.

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“The fifth floor?” Kazuha tilted his head, arms crossed. “Hmm… yeah, that might be doable.”

We were seated near the edge of the first-floor market of Drachenfall. The air buzzed with voices, metal clinking, and the faint scent of monster meat being grilled somewhere nearby.

“At least four days,” Tiara added calmly, adjusting the strap of her pack. “That’s how long it takes to reach the fifth floor safely and return.”

“Four days…” I repeated. Longer than I hoped—but not impossible.

“Actually,” I said, “how many floors does this Dungeon have anyway?”

Tiara thought for a moment.

“According to historical records and old exploration logs, ten floors in total,” she said. “The first floor is basically a Dungeon city now. The second and third floors are populated with weaker monsters. The fourth floor is still dangerous, but manageable.”

She paused.

“But the fifth floor…” her voice trailed off.

“What about it?” I asked.

“Well,” she continued slowly, “it’s considered a dead end.”

“A dead end?”

“Yes. There’s a direct route from the fourth floor to deeper layers, so most adventurers skip the fifth floor entirely. Because of that, it’s rarely explored.”

Kazuha nodded. “Which means—”

“—lots of monsters,” Tiara finished.

“And?” I prompted.

“And large areas that resemble farmland,” she added. “Old records suggest it was once used for cultivation.”

My heart skipped.

“Cultivation… as in plants?”

“Yes. Including several species that no longer exist on the surface.”

Coffee.

It had to be there.

“So,” I said, leaning forward, “is it possible?”

Kazuha exchanged a glance with his party.

“We can escort you,” he said. “Round trip. Our fee is 1,500 reils. Fifty percent upfront, the rest after we return.”

I didn’t hesitate.

“Deal. Can we leave tomorrow?”

Kazuha grinned. “Meet us at the first-floor market of Drachenfall. Early.”

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“You want to go back into the Dungeon?”

Alisa’s voice was calm, but her eyes told a different story.

“Yes,” I said. “The coffee beans on the ground floor are gone. Completely. But I got information that there are still a lot of coffee plants on the fifth floor.”

She rested a hand on her chin, thinking.

“I already asked Kazuha’s party to escort you,” she said. “They’ll protect you.”

“…Kazuha?” I blinked. “Kazuha? That Kazuha?”

She raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with them?”

“I mean—why not Oathbound?” I asked. “Wouldn’t Vanguard be safer?”

Alisa let out a small sigh.

“I did ask them,” she admitted. “But Vanguard and the others just accepted a quest outside the Dungeon. They won’t be back for a while.”

That explained it.

Still, a part of me felt uneasy.

“It’ll be fine,” I said, more to reassure myself than her. “Kazuha and his party were the ones who found me when I first woke up here, after all.”

Alisa smiled faintly. “Exactly.”

That night, I barely slept.

My pack was ready—light, but carefully chosen. Water, preserved food, basic medical supplies, and several tools I couldn’t quite bring myself to leave behind. Coffee tools. Habit, maybe. Or hope.

Morning came faster than I wanted.

The first-floor market of Drachenfall was already alive when I arrived. Kazuha’s party stood near the entrance, checking equipment and chatting casually, as if this were just another stroll.

Erinyan clung to my arm.

“I still don’t like this, nyan,” she muttered.

“I know,” I said softly. “But I promise—we’ll be careful.”

She looked up at me, golden eyes reflecting worry.

“…If Erinyan dies, you owe Erinyan tuna forever, nyan.”

“That’s… a very serious contract.”

Kazuha laughed. “Alright, everyone. Let’s move.”

The descent began.

The deeper we went, the colder the air became. Light from enchanted crystals faded, replaced by shadows that clung to the walls. Sounds changed too—footsteps echoed longer, and distant roars became more frequent.

By the third floor, Erinyan had stopped complaining.

By the fourth, even Kazuha had grown quiet.

“This floor always feels heavier,” he muttered.

Monsters appeared more often—larger, smarter, more aggressive. Tiara moved with frightening precision, while Asuna and the others formed a tight formation around me.

I did my best not to slow them down.

Then, finally—

The fifth floor.

The moment we stepped onto it, the atmosphere shifted.

The cavern opened wide, revealing vast stretches of land beneath an artificial sky formed by glowing crystal veins. Rows of overgrown plants stretched endlessly, vines creeping over broken stone structures that looked suspiciously like old irrigation systems.

“…This place,” I whispered.

“Yeah,” Kazuha said. “Creepy, right?”

I crouched and brushed aside tall grass.

There.

Small, dark red cherries clung to thin branches.

Coffee cherries.

My breath caught.

“They’re here,” I said, voice trembling. “They’re really here.”

Relief washed over me—so strong my legs nearly gave out.

But relief never comes alone in the Dungeon.

A low rumble echoed across the fields.

Tiara’s hand flew to her weapon. “Something’s coming.”

From between the overgrown rows, shapes began to move.

Too many.

“Everyone,” Kazuha said calmly, drawing his blade, “stay sharp.”

I clenched my fists.

If we wanted coffee—

We’d have to earn it.