This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 396, Section 395: The Profitability of Puji House (Supplement)
"Respect for life!"

In a warm corner of Puji House, the four members of Vera's team raised their glasses, the glasses clinking together with a crisp sound.

Although Vera shouted for his helper to evacuate alone, and his teammates tacitly agreed to the decision, it did not mean that they were truly prepared to die.

It's simply that it's better for four to die than five.

When everything has settled down, the chill of facing death still needs the help of alcohol to calm them down. They drink their glasses heartily, letting the warmth dispel the chill in their hearts.

Of course, the rewards for surviving life-threatening dangers are also quite substantial.

The employer, Barton, was grateful that they hadn't abandoned him in the face of death, and in addition to the agreed-upon payment, he also gave them a large sum of money as a thank you gift.

Vera accepted the gift without hesitation, after all, it was something she had risked her life for.

In addition, the city lord's mansion also issued a bonus for assisting in the eradication of the cult.

Although the amount was far less than Patton's thank-you gift, it was still a decent sum of money.

As for why we chose to celebrate at Puji House?
"Only here can we afford the elven ice wine..." Sirian's tone carried a hint of relief.

Due to some unknown incident in the Elf Forest recently, the already rare Elf Ice Wine has been completely cut off from supply, causing its market price to skyrocket.

Although Puji Home has raised its prices a bit, they are still within an acceptable range.

Vera wondered if the mysterious alchemist behind the shop was also a brewer, but Cirian dismissed the idea.

He explained, "The raw materials for Elf Ice Wine only grow in the Elf Forest and are extremely difficult to preserve. If the raw materials were transported out for brewing, the cost would only be higher."

The group discussed in hushed tones and finally agreed that Boss Dylan must have special supply channels to ensure a stable supply of ice wine at this time.

What Sirian didn't say was that, according to his guess, Dylan, or rather Dylan's suppliers, most likely had some connection with a squad leader of a certain forest ranger.

Of course, this was just a wild guess when he was bored. He wasn't a competitor of Puji House, so he wouldn't bother to figure out such a trivial matter.

He was also happy to be able to drink cheaper ice wine!

However, it's said to be "cheap"...

Looking at the pale blue liquid in his hand, Sirion said, "Do you know? In Isildorin, this wine is just an ordinary drink that elves drink with their meals. I never imagined that the price would increase so much outside the forest! Normally, the reward for a mission is only enough to buy three bottles! It's really..."

Vera tilted her head curiously: "Ordinary drinks? You mean the elves have even better wines?"

“Of course!” Sirian clicked his tongue. “The best is the royal special wine, which is brewed with silver dew flowers that bloom under the moonlight. It tastes like drinking morning dew, and the aftertaste is like starlight dancing on the tip of your tongue... I will definitely try to bring some for you to try when I have the chance!”

"Haha! You know so much about it? And you even brought some for us to try... You talk like you're a member of the elven royal family!" Felix teased with a laugh, raising her glass to clink lightly with his.

Amidst the clinking of glasses, Bianca, dressed in a maid outfit, led several Puji, also dressed in maid outfits, to serve the food.

The girl hesitated, stealing glances at Sirius four or five times as she set out the plates. Each time their eyes met, she hurriedly looked away, her face turning bright red. Finally, she and the puppies fled back to the kitchen as if escaping.

On the contrary, Cirion and Vera were used to it and didn't care.

Dylan, watching from afar, took in all of this, but silently calculated the profits of Puji House, which far exceeded what outsiders could imagine.

He had figured it out: his little shop assistant didn't have any special feelings for Norris or Sirius; she just couldn't help but glance at any handsome young man she saw, and every time she did, she would make him blush.

Ha, kid.

……

"By the way, Vera," Phil asked, hiccuping after a few drinks, "when you went to the city lord's mansion to collect your bounty, did you ask Sir Edin for the name of your savior?"

“Lord Aidin is too busy to handle such a trivial matter as issuing bounties personally,” Vera said, spreading her hands helplessly. “I can’t very well go and bother him just to ask his name, can I?”

“But we can’t not even know the name of our savior, can we?” Felyn gestured excitedly. “If he hadn’t intervened in time, I would have been riddled with holes!” Vera nodded in agreement: “Next time you run into Lord Aidin, just ask him. Besides, maybe that person lives in Mushroom City too!”

“That person looks younger than you, but his strength is in no way inferior to yours,” Fei Yin interjected.

Vera laughed dismissively: "I'm not some kind of genius, it's normal to encounter people with higher talent than me!"
-
Meanwhile, in the Puji Dungeon.

Due to official intervention, Norris's vacation had to be cut short.

However, he had no complaints about it, since there was really nothing he wanted to do in Mushroom City except bask in the sun.

As soon as he returned to familiar surroundings, Xiao Hei, whom he hadn't seen for several days, was the first to come over, carefully sniffing his body and examining him.

To prevent Little Black from "accidentally" scraping off a few scales during the inspection, Norris skillfully took out two silver scales from his waist and pressed them into Little Black's paws.

After seeing off the satisfied Little Black, he exchanged a few simple pleasantries with Qiong, who had come upon hearing the news, but instead of returning directly to the Mushroom Garden, he went to a pool of water in the cave.

【Mimesis LV9】

The scales reflected on the water's surface began to slowly change, eventually revealing the human form he had used in Mushroom Capital.

He never deliberately altered his face; aside from concealing the scales, this should be his original appearance.

He had always thought his appearance had never changed, but recalling the reactions of the Vera team members, it seemed that his face had changed quite a bit compared to before.

Or perhaps Vera and Filyn never even remembered what he looked like in the first place...

A faint sense of disappointment had just begun to rise in my heart, and before it could even take shape, I heard my boss's unrestrained laughter ringing out in my mind.

Even more outrageous, in order to vividly demonstrate his laughing so hard he was rolling on the ground, the boss instantly created a wriggling, rolling poop at Norris's feet.

"Big brother lizard, why did you turn into this?" Riel, leading a large, chubby little elf, arrived at the pond and asked curiously.

Riel has now also connected to the fungal network, but not through parasitism; instead, he used Transfiguration to transform into a Puji and connected directly.

After communication became seamless, the little elf grew bolder and bolder. With the boss backing her up, she thrived here, and everyone had to give her some leeway.

So much so that she felt that whether they were lizardmen, half-demons, or mushroom people, they were all good people!

The abundance of resources in the dungeon allowed her to fully immerse herself in alchemy techniques, and Riel was very satisfied with her current life.

However, due to the lack of [cold resistance], her activity range is mainly limited to the Puji Dungeon.

“This is how I originally looked,” Norris explained, pointing to his reflection in the water.

"The original appearance?" Riel tilted his head, clearly unable to understand this statement.

She glanced at it a few more times and shared her thoughts: "It looks so weak. It would be much cooler with scales. If it had a tail..."

The little elf suddenly fell silent, realizing she had said something wrong and might have stirred up painful memories of her brother lizard's tail.

However, Norris was amused by her.

He gazed at the face that was now covered in silver scales again in the water, tapped the hard scales with his claws, and made a crisp clanging sound: "Indeed, the scales are quite good. These things can even block attacks from diamond-level experts!"

Recalling his encounter with Gavin, though brief, it stirred his emotions!

The feeling of fighting against a powerful figure he could only look up to before was exhilarating, but unfortunately Jida wasn't by his side at the time, so he couldn't fight him in his strongest form!
He wondered if he became stronger, would he one day be able to walk the streets of Mushroom City without mimicry?
"Um...it seems difficult too..." Norris chuckled self-deprecatingly, stood up, and stopped paying attention to his reflection in the water.

However, the previously cheerful leader suddenly stopped smiling: "How come you figured it out so quickly this time?"

　Even though it might be considered filler, these kinds of slice-of-life chapters are still necessary. =.=
　　
　
(End of this chapter)