Chapter 27 - Queen Yuzha and Auf’s Private Audience
“This is our first time meeting face-to-face, isn’t it? You’re Auf, the third daughter of Duke Nausa, if I recall correctly.”
“Yes, Your Majesty Queen Yuzha. It is the highest honor to be granted an audience with you.”
Auf had been summoned to the royal palace for a personal meeting with the queen.
Topics included the hot air balloon operation on the ninth floor, the procurement of honey and pepper, the development of portable rations in honey jars, and even cultivating No-Hunger Dungeon crops in the Hot Springs Dungeon.
The deputy captain, Vihita—whom the royal family had placed in the Duke’s estate—had been regularly reporting new and valuable proposals, all stemming from this young woman’s observations about the dungeons.
The queen had come to the conclusion: This girl is someone I must speak to in person.
“I’d thought to meet you back when the ninth floor hot spring was discovered, but... well, things have been busy.”
“We were most grateful for the bounty at the time, Your Majesty. It’s been redirected to fund the researchers who assisted in that discovery.”
From there, the conversation drifted into light banter—how the Duke of Nausa was doing lately, whether his skin had fully healed after soaking in the springs, whether he’d made it as far as the second floor of the Hot Springs Dungeon.
They chatted over tea and sweets on the palace terrace.
“I heard from Vihita that it was you who proposed planting crops on the ninth floor of the Hot Springs Dungeon?”
“Yes. I suggested it as a means to help secure food for the knights stationed there—and also as a practical way to mark the path to the ninth floor spring.”
“A dreamlike farmland, isn't it? No pests, no beasts, no need for watering or fertilizer, and the crops grow on their own. ...Aside from the hassle of carrying anything back, that is.”
“Indeed. I understand that both the No-Hunger Dungeon and the Hot Springs Dungeon have extremely long staircases leading down to the ninth floor.
That makes hauling large amounts of food back to the surface extraordinarily difficult. Under the current conditions, it’s only feasible to bring up small quantities as luxury goods.”
Exactly. That’s the problem, Queen Yuzha thought.
The lower depths of the dungeon were brimming with limitless food, and yet that bounty couldn’t be fully accessed—because of long staircases.
The sheer weight a human can carry is the bottleneck. Transporting enough to make a meaningful dent in the kingdom’s food supply was practically impossible.
This—this—was the matter she had most wanted to discuss with Auf today.
If anyone could find the optimal method of transporting the food... if anyone could crack the code on how to tap into that infinite supply... it might be this girl.
Securing access to a bottomless food source would give their nation a truly overwhelming strategic advantage.
“That’s precisely it. So—what are your thoughts on the matter?”
But the words that came from Auf’s mouth were... completely unexpected.
“Yes. The fact that extracting food in large quantities is so difficult... it’s fortunate, in a way.”
...What?
What did this girl just say?
Did she seriously call it fortunate that a limitless food vault was so inconvenient and inaccessible that it could barely be used?
“...Are you saying that it’s a good thing because it doesn’t threaten the livelihood of existing farmers?”
It was true that when a new and revolutionary technology or breakthrough changes the structure of a kingdom, some industries inevitably suffer. Massive progress often brings with it mass unemployment.
That was simply a fact of history. But for someone in power to accept that fact and then refuse to pursue national advancement just to protect a portion of the population? That was fundamentally the wrong stance for a leader to take.
Was this girl just another shallow idealist? The kind who clings to comforting platitudes and sentiment for the sake of a few?
“No… that’s not quite it. Agriculture isn’t just about producing food. It is, in essence, the foundational science of understanding nature.
Through farming, people have strived to understand the sun, the clouds, the rain, the flow of water. We’ve studied soil, nutrients, crops, weeds, pests that ravage harvests, and beneficial insects that prey on those pests. Even down to microbes and molds—we uncover the workings of nature piece by piece.
If we rely solely on a world where crops magically grow just by burying seeds—thanks to the dungeon’s mysterious power—then all those efforts to understand the natural world will grind to a halt.”
“...Hmm.”
“Through war, people have gained knowledge—created better weapons, advanced blacksmithing, and turned that knowledge toward crafting tools for farming.
And conversely, what we learn from agriculture has fueled progress in medicine, architecture, even warfare. Countless civilizations have advanced on the back of agricultural science.
If we allow ourselves to depend on dungeon-grown crops—yes, the kingdom may grow rich at first. But that prosperity would only be skin-deep. We would grow complacent... ignorant.
If we neglect the pursuit of knowledge that comes from grappling with nature, then sooner or later—perhaps decades from now—our kingdom will fall behind. Irrevocably.
And when it does, it won’t just be a stumble. It could lead to our collapse as a nation.”
“...I... I see. You’re... not wrong.”
Queen Yuzha recalled what Deputy Captain Vihita once said about Auf:
“My lady often sees too far ahead... to the point that it’s hard to understand what she’s talking about.”
That description couldn’t have been more accurate.
To say something like “If we gain access to limitless food, the nation will eventually fall”—and to say it so matter-of-factly, as if it were obvious—this girl clearly perceived the world from a completely different vantage point.
Yuzha had heard many people warn, “Such a thing will lead the kingdom to ruin!”—but usually, those were just baseless rants.
This, however, was the first time someone had given her a reasonable explanation that truly made her believe it might be true.
“...I’ll take your warning to heart. We’ll reconsider any plans to extract large quantities of dungeon food at the cost of shrinking national agriculture.”
The queen felt a chill as she realized how close she'd come to making a disastrous mistake.
A kingdom fattened by infinite food but devoid of innovation would be seen by other nations as little more than a plump, defenseless pig—ripe for slaughter. They had nearly traded away their long-term survival for short-term indulgence.
“Is there anything else?” she asked, now fully acknowledging Auf’s insight. “Any other ideas you think the nation should pursue?”
That question, however, turned out to be a mistake.
“Jars! The lids on those jars, Your Majesty! Have you seen them? The elegant, airtight design—such a simple construction, yet such precision! They’re practically works of art!”
“...O-oh?”
“We can’t be content just collecting those jars from dungeon drops! No, no! The true value lies in reverse-engineering them—our engineers must learn to replicate them, to mass-produce them, and to adapt their structure into new forms and uses! We must establish glassworks, gather artisans, and launch a dedicated research initiative—only then can those jars truly become a national asset!”
The moment Auf realized the queen was listening, she let loose with an unfiltered torrent of enthusiasm.
And to be fair... she wasn’t wrong. Everything she said made sense. It would benefit the kingdom in the long term.
But still—her entire demeanor was practically radiating desire. The sheer urge to indulge her own curiosity was spilling out all over the place. It was overflowing—pure, unfiltered want.
Ah... so this is the kind of creature she is!
And so, Auf's passionate pitch to "prioritize investment in technical research!" continued for quite some time.
After the meeting, Queen Yuzha reached her conclusion:
She's sharp. Incredibly sharp. And undeniably useful. But perhaps... it’s best to hear her insights through Vihita.
She’s just too exhausting to keep nearby.
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