Chapter 31 - Auf’s Accomplishment
The seventh-floor bath, known as the Wrinkle-Reversing Spring, clearly de-aged skin, so there was absolutely no reason to refuse a soak. Even Captain Touji, who was typically all business, entered without protest.
The eighth-floor bath, Scar-Erasing Spring, was no different. After all, there’s nothing but upside to having old wounds vanish—so once again, she joined in without complaint.
...Perhaps what convinced her to enter was the simple, logical benefit: extending her body’s effective service life.
Meanwhile, her subordinates from the First Unit were shedding tears of joy. The deep scars that had once covered their faces and bodies were now gone, no longer needing to be hidden.
They had been covered in lasting bruises and injuries, after all.
The First Unit lived for battle—and would one day die by it.
That kind of conviction had become a survival mechanism for them. They clung to it, even if it meant lying to themselves, because it was the only way to keep going.
Of course, there were those who held that conviction from the bottom of their hearts... but still.
“Hah... So from now on, every time we return to the capital, no matter what kind of wounds we suffer, they'll be healed as long as we’re alive. I guess we can fight a little more freely now.”
Captain Touji had made that comment to her subordinates with a nonchalant air.
It was her way of telling them not to start fighting cautiously just to protect their now-beautiful bodies. She was making it clear—don’t let vanity dull your blade.
“Y-Yes, ma’am!”
“You’re right, Captain!”
“Yeah... even if my face gets hurt again... it’ll be okay. It’s okay...”
Some of them, startled by the idea, seemed to snap out of their hesitation. If we can just heal again, then I guess it’s fine, they seemed to be thinking.
Honestly, if she hadn’t spoken up, it was easy to imagine them unconsciously holding back in battle—trying to preserve their newfound beauty.
“Huh. My left pinky’s moving a little now. Looks like part of it reattached where it was torn off.”
“Yes, the full recovery will happen in the next bath—The Flesh-Mending Spring. That one’s truly remarkable. It heals not just scars, but even bones and muscles warped from armor pressure or past trauma.”
Captain Touji, as composed as ever, calmly tested her restored body by flexing her arm and examining its motion with a stony expression.
Truly, no matter the situation, a captain remained a captain.
“Alright, let’s move on to the ninth floor.”
As always, they began their long descent down the endless stairs, until the terrain suddenly opened up into a vast, flat grassland.
“...This feels like the eighth floor of the No-Hunger Dungeon. What’s the area size here?”
“Circling the entire floor would take about nine days. As for the route to the hot spring, we’ve marked it using crops transplanted from the No-Hunger Dungeon. So if you follow the path lined with unfamiliar plants—not the local grass—you’ll reach it in about two days.”
...That was just an estimate, based on aerial mapping and calculations from our vantage point to the surrounding walls. No one had actually walked the full perimeter. But it probably takes nine days. Probably.
Honestly, if I admitted that, I’d probably get scolded—but I mean, there’s no point walking the whole thing anyway.
“Say what? With a floor this big, how’d you even find a hot spring out here in the middle of nowhere?”
“It was Lady Auf of House Nausa—whom I serve—who proposed assembling a hot air balloon and scouting from the sky with a telescope.”
“A balloon, huh! Hah... makes sense. There’s no wind in this dungeon, and the vertical space is huge. That girl’s got a good head on her shoulders.”
“She also suggested transplanting the No-Hunger Dungeon’s crops here to mark the trail to the spring.”
“Huh... impressive.”
It was the first time I’d seen Captain Touji show genuine admiration.
“To build the balloon, we used large quantities of fireproof cloth and thread collected by the First Unit from the Thread Dungeon in the past. So in a way, discovering this floor’s spring was thanks to your efforts as well.”
“Hehehe... Now that’s what I like to hear. It makes our work worthwhile when our spoils get put to good use. the daughter of Duke Nausa, was it? Give her my thanks. She’s a fine young lady.”
I was overjoyed to see that Lady Auf’s capabilities were recognized even by someone as strict as Captain Touji.
“Well then, let’s stop here for a meal. This floor’s relatively safe and easy to scout, and we’ve still got two days to go before reaching the spring.”
Since combat duties were handled by the First Unit, our team mainly focused on carrying supplies and guiding the route.
To lighten the load—especially the water from the cold bath—we usually made camp and ate near the ninth-floor entrance.
Near the entrance, we picked from the ripe crops that had been planted earlier—choosing whatever looked like it would taste good when stewed, chopping it up roughly and tossing it into a pot without much ceremony.
Then we added rice and water, finely chopped dried meat heavily seasoned with pepper, and a scoop of lard stored in a jar of honey.
Dungeon-grown crops matured with alarming speed. Even those planted only a few weeks ago had already borne fruit large enough to eat, making them more than reliable as rations during exploration.
“This one can be eaten raw, so you might want to snack on it while the stew finishes.”
“What the hell is this creepy yellow lump covered in weird little bumps...?”
Captain Touji was talking about corn, but of course, no one here had any idea what corn was—and Vihita had no way to explain it either.
As far as they were concerned, it was just a mysterious yellow, bumpy fruit from the dungeon. No one knew more than that.
“...I’m not sure. But it’s delicious.”
Despite their skepticism, everyone cautiously took a bite—and in the very next moment, their eyes flew wide open in shock.
Because it was good. Unreasonably, unbelievably good.
In fact, the food made from the crops of the No-Hunger Dungeon had been steadily climbing to the top of everyone's "most delicious things I've ever eaten" list—so often that it was almost frightening.
Many people, after quickly finishing one ear of corn, went and picked another of their own accord and began eating a second one. Um... hello? We’re still in the middle of cooking the main stew, you know?
“They served dishes made from the same crops at the welcome-back banquet when we returned, remember? Said they’d been harvested from this new No-hunger Dungeon. The food was unreal... and you’re saying this stuff is just growing everywhere?”
“That’s right. These days, the No-Hunger Dungeon yields delicious bread, honey, even pepper—and now on the ninth floor, it’s full of these strange, unbelievably tasty crops.”
“But getting all that food back to the kingdom in large enough quantities to support the nation... that damn staircase’s going to be a serious bottleneck. Has that clever young lady of yours come up with any ideas for that?”
...She was echoing Her Majesty. It seemed even the hyper-rational Captain Touji couldn’t ignore the sheer national benefit that this endless food supply could bring.
In fact, it made one wonder—was Lady Auf the only person who had the foresight to see that this bounty might pose a danger to the kingdom’s future?
“Yes... the young lady did have thoughts on that.”
So I explained to Captain Touji what Lady Auf had said.
She had warned of a possible future—one where, having obtained unlimited food, the Kingdom of Sepans might abandon agricultural science altogether.
When I finished, Captain Touji was left staring, dumbfounded. She fell silent for a while, deep in thought, and then said:
“...Vihita. You said you serve that young lady back at the duchy, didn’t you?”
“Y-Yes. I’m responsible for Lady Auf and, generally, all of the Nausa daughters...”
“Then make protecting that Lady Auf your top priority. That girl is absolutely essential to the future of the Kingdom of Sepans.”
She said it with a serious, unwavering expression.
...What an awful thing to say.
Was she really telling me that if, one day, I had to choose between Lady Auf and her older sister—I should pick Lady Auf without hesitation?
I couldn’t help but feel a sting of indignation at the cold, ruthless logic behind her words.
And yet... I couldn’t object. I couldn’t argue.
Because when I thought about it rationally—taking into account everything Lady Auf had done—it was undeniable. Her survival was in the kingdom’s best interest.
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