Chapter 53 - New Floor Under Construction
We had decided to add a new floor to the Hot Spring Dungeon—one where the heat from the springs could be used for cooking, producing meals with buff effects.
“But what should we produce at the No-Hunger Dungeon?”
That had been Peta-chan’s question. After some thought—something that could be used in cooking and be in high demand among adventurers—the answer had ended up being alcohol.
Even the adventurers who had gotten too comfortable lounging around in the No-Hunger Dungeon often said things like, “It’d be perfect if only the dungeon dropped booze too...”
However, alcohol turned out to be a complete miss with Peta-chan.
To her, whiskey tasted like something gross, beer was just bitter, and wine was nothing more than spoiled grape juice.
As for sake, she could drink it—but had no real desire to.
I could kind of understand why. Magical beings couldn’t get tipsy from alcohol, and even in my old life, I’d never really cared for the stuff.
Since Peta-chan’s sense of taste was created based on my memories, it made sense that her preferences would end up somewhat similar to mine.
Still, I wanted her to understand what made alcohol enjoyable, so I cooked her some clams steamed in sake.
“Whoa, this is delicious!”
Hearing her say that was enough to get her on board with serving sake in the No-Hunger Dungeon.
Since glass bottles would be too heavy, I decided to go with sake in paper cartons—complete with little plastic caps on top.
...But would the people of the Kingdom of Sepans actually like sake?
Well, no point in overthinking it. I’d just have to wait and see how they reacted once they tried it.
“All right, time to create the new floor. Executing now!”
-Time to completion: 122 hours and 33 minutes-
Hmm... Now that we were at the 14th floor, it really was starting to take longer.
“Master, the No-Hunger one is already set up, but this one’s going to take about 90 hours too, so I’m gonna shut down for a bit, okay?”
As soon as she finished her job, Peta-chan promptly cut off her consciousness.
She probably figured that since I wouldn’t be able to do anything for 122 hours either, I’d just sleep too.
Well then…
Since I had some alone time for the first time in a while, I... entertained myself (in various ways), and then went to bed as well.
Mmm. The bubble bath floor really was the best.
Good night.
♨♨♨♨♨
“Hey, Master, wake up, wake up!”
Mmm...?
As I returned to consciousness, Peta-chan was poking my face, all soft and squishy.
I pulled up the monitor and displayed the dungeon status.
-Time to completion: 1 hour and 12 minutes-
“Huh? It’s not done yet?”
I’d meant to stay shut down just a bit longer than the actual completion time.
Had Peta-chan woken up before me and decided to nudge me awake early?
“What is it? Did something happen?”
“Yeah. The Weapon Dungeon says it wants to come over. What do you think?”
“Ohhh, Bugu-kun? Sure, call him in.”
With a sleepy murmur and a bit of focus, Peta-chan chanted something under her breath. The air in front of us twisted—and just like that, Bugu-kun appeared.
“HEEEEEY!!! Sen!! What the hell! I finally started getting this thing people call appetite!
So I thought I’d try eating something, reached out to Food Core—only to find her completely unresponsive! I kept checking in every few hours, but she never woke up!
I’ve been stuck with this weird unresolved craving for days! I feel like an idiot!!”
The moment he arrived, Bugu-kun started yelling. Not my problem.
“Ah, sorry, sorry. Here, have this—an anpan.”
I conjured up a sweet bean bun and handed it to him. He started nibbling away, slowly, tilting his head now and then as if trying to understand the new sensations.
“So? Weapon Dungeon, did you come here just to eat something?”
“...Don’t talk to me right now. I’m in the middle of figuring out this whole eating thing.”
Bugu-kun closed his eyes, chewing each bite slowly, seemingly trying to understand the flavors and sensations of food.
It reminded me of when Peta-chan had just started learning how to eat, too.
“Hey, Peta-chan, let’s make a bunch of stuff and eat it together. We’ve still got an hour to kill before the new floor’s ready.”
“Good idea. I’ll cook up all sorts of dishes, and Weapon Dungeon, you eat them too. Don’t rush—just take your time and learn what a meal is.”
...As always, Peta-chan was laser-focused on wringing some points out of Bugu-kun.
Well, not that he had much use for his points anymore—he’d basically decided they were worthless.
It was like a hostess squeezing money out of some wealthy guy who’d already turned his cash into numbers on a screen.
No harm in taking a little, right?
All right then. I’d join in and make all kinds of food to welcome him too.
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