Chapter 59 - Unpleasant Feeling
“Hmmm... this is starting to feel less like a fun place to cook buff meals and more like some kind of shady science lab...”
The female knights had moved on from simply preparing meals with buff effects.
They were now deep in the process of verifying and condensing the food—figuring out the minimum amount needed to achieve the same effects.
To put it simply, take the eye-enhancing tea. There was no need to brew a full cup and drink it.
If they boiled it down into a super-concentrated dose, a single sip could deliver the same effect.
At that point, it could no longer be called tea—it was more like a temporary vision-enhancing potion.
As for the speed-boosting steamed corn, they cooked it once, then separated the kernels, dried them until crisp, and ground them into powder.
That was no longer steamed corn. It was a powdered medicine that boosted speed when consumed.
“Well, sure, you can’t carry around a ton of buff food all the time, but man... this is just killing the vibe.”
Still, this shift had happened right after they’d gone back to the surface and returned again.
Chances were, that girl Auf had given instructions to streamline things this way.
“Hey, Master, seems like a big group just entered the Hot Spring Dungeon. Judging by their numbers, I’m guessing it’s that Majesty Yuzha.”
Peta-chan had sensed a massive group of intruders.
“Oh, right, I don’t think she’s even tried the scented bubble bath or the hair removal soak yet.
Honestly, she’s a bit late to the party, isn’t she? Guess running a country kept her busy.
Still, the Second Unit’s main team is in the middle of experiments on the 14th floor... do they have enough guards?”
I quickly pulled up the footage on the monitor.
“Oh? That’s Captain Touji and Commander Shield. They’re back in Sepans already?
And next to Her Majesty Yuzha in the palanquin... who’s that plump lady?”
Well, she wasn’t extremely overweight, but she probably weighed around seventy kilos—definitely rocking a relaxed, defenseless figure.
For someone walking alongside Yuzha, with both the female knight commander of Marponware and Captain Touji—who’d supposedly gone on an expedition to that country—there was only one answer.
“Who the heck is she?”
“Judging from the situation, probably the queen or princess of the Marponware Kingdom... but given her age, I’d say queen.
Commander Shield likely returned home, and she saw her transformation, and couldn’t sit still.
Figuring it’d be impossible to escort that lady herself across eleven floors, she probably borrowed Captain Touji.
To bring that battle-hungry captain back to Sepans just for protection... I wonder how much they had to pay.”
“Seriously, Master—how can you figure all that out just from glancing at the footage?!”
Peta-chan tilted her head in confusion. She still couldn’t grasp the common sense of human society, so whenever I made these kinds of deductions, she’d always give me that puzzled look.
Well, expecting a dungeon core to understand things like the role of monarchs and knights, or human vanity about beauty... that was asking too much.
“Huh? 菴包シ 豁ヲ蜈キ”
“Hmm? What’s up, Peta-chan? Is Bugu-kun here to complain again?”
“Yeah... How do you know that too?!”
“Because Captain Touji came back early—what else would it be about?
Still, I want to keep a close eye on the royal conversation, so...
Sorry to Bugu-kun, but can you tell him not to come over for a while?”
“蠕後〒”
After mumbling something, Peta-chan made a sour face and started pressing down on her head with both hands.
She was probably blocking out the incoming complaints—like yanking a phone cord to stop a persistent caller.
Well, more importantly, even idle chat from royalty had its value.
I decided to listen in properly.
It looked like it would be a long session, so I pulled out some chips and a bottle of cola, sank into the sofa, propped a soft cushion behind my head, and settled in to listen with full focus.
Peta-chan sat beside me for about thirty minutes, watching along.
But a video of the queen and the queen consort just chatting? Yeah, she got bored pretty fast and started cooking instead.
Can’t blame her—most of the conversation wasn’t exactly riveting to me either, so I appreciated the home-cooked dishes she brought over during breaks.
Over the course of several days of patient eavesdropping, I managed to gather a decent picture of the country—like how the captain was hired using five years’ worth of weapon dungeon rewards, the popularity of Japanese sake, and the current state of Sepans.
One of the most welcome revelations was that Captain Touji and the First Unit were planning to remain in the Kingdom of Sepans for the long term.
With that assurance, I could expand the dungeon at full throttle, without having to worry about casualties among the knights.
“Still, Queen Teta’s really changed after making it all the way to the tenth floor...”
At first, my impression of her had been nothing more than ‘a plump, middle-aged lady’. But after dipping into the 3-year Youth Restoring Spring, the Wrinkle-Reversing Spring, the Blemish-Removing Spring, and the Moisture Spring—each on a different floor—she had transformed.
Now, she gave off the aura of a “cute and pleasantly plump lady.”
And she was already looking that good before reaching the eleventh floor... what was going to happen after she soaked in that one?
“Master, the cookies are ready~! I made strawberry and chestnut flavors!”
“Ooh, they smell amazing. I think I’ll go with milk tea to pair.”
Nibbling on Peta-chan’s occasional sweets, I kept watching the footage on the monitor.
By the time they reached the eleventh floor, Captain Touji was carrying Queen Teta on his back, clearing the athletic course with effortless agility.
“Whoa, look at her go. She’s moving like a monkey, and she’s got that huge load on her back like it’s nothing... Is this girl even human?”
Even Her Majesty Yuzha was being advised to ride on her vice-captain’s back.
But perhaps due to the effects of soaking in the Tenth Floor’s training enhancement bath, she seemed determined to push forward on her own as part of her personal training.
“You don’t lose weight just by soaking in hot water, after all...”
She murmured it under her breath.
The implication was clear: no matter how many beautifying baths one took, it wouldn’t cure being overweight.
A few hours passed. Just as Her Majesty Yuzha made it halfway through the athletic field, Captain Touji and several members of the First Unit finally reached the bath on the eleventh floor.
“We’ve arrived, Queen Teta. This is the bathing chamber of the Eleventh Floor.”
“Oh... this is it... this is the hot spring dungeon bath I dreamed of... the Eleventh Floor Bath.
If I soak in this—then I too... I’ll transform just like all of you, won’t I?!”
“Most likely.”
Queen Teta began removing her clothes, but seemed to be struggling.
Well, her maids—who usually assisted her in dressing—couldn’t be brought this deep into the dungeon. They’d been left at the entrance to the floor.
“Aah, Captain Touji... c-could you help me, just a bit? Ahh, enough already!”
She was fumbling with the strings on her back, flustered.
Her current outfit, while designed for royalty, was surprisingly simple and easy to move in—likely a special model made for dungeon exploration. With some effort, even Captain Touji would be able to help her out of it.
At last, stripped bare, the queen plunged into the bath on the eleventh floor.
“Now then... what kind of transformation will she go through?”
...Hm?
Oh? ...Ooooooh?
She changed. There was no mistaking it—she had clearly transformed.
No, she hadn’t slimmed down at all. Not even a little.
And yet, the impression she gave off was completely different from just moments ago.
Her body no longer looked like it was weighed down by excess, flabby fat.
Now, it felt more like she was soft, cuddly, and irresistibly huggable—a person you wanted to embrace.
Her fat didn’t look like a flaw anymore. It had turned into a feature.
She no longer resembled someone bloated from indulgence or a sedentary lifestyle. Instead, she radiated the divine aura of a goddess of fertility—graceful, abundant, and dazzling.
It was like someone had shattered the long-standing belief that a woman couldn’t be beautiful unless she was thin.
The change was so dramatic, it was like comparing the actual content of a plus-size beauty video to the misleadingly enhanced cover art.
And because any woman who reached the eleventh floor had, by necessity, undergone training and developed a trim, toned figure, this kind of voluptuous beauty was especially rare and striking.
“Hooh~... so this kind of eros exists too, huh? Not bad at all. Gotta screenshot this and save it...”
“Master~, the tonkotsu ramen’s done! I even added braised pork belly on top... Masteeer?”
I didn’t hear Peta-chan’s voice. I had every fiber of my attention focused on capturing the perfect screenshot of that alluring figure.
Unbeknownst to me, Peta-chan was staring at me with a very sour expression.
“...I don’t know why, but this is really ticking me off...”
She muttered that quietly—so softly I couldn’t hear it.
And it wasn’t because I’d ignored her when she called out.
It was the fact that her master was so enraptured by the naked body of a plump woman—that was what made her feel this strange, inexplicable irritation.
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