Chapter 60 - Objective
Afterward, Queen Teta and her entourage headed for the bubble bath floor and arrived there without incident.
Once they reached the floor, Captain Touji immediately voiced her concerns.
“This scent will be a disadvantage during exploration! First Unit, stay out of this bath!”
However, Her Majesty Yuzha, frolicking amid the foam, replied calmly.
“Touji, did you actually read the documents at the archive? Or wait—was that research not yet published there...? Hm, perhaps not.
Well, no matter. The scent you pick up here comes from the dungeon’s own miasma. In fact, it makes dungeon monsters less wary, so they’re less likely to notice you.”
In short, rather than being a drawback, the scent from bathing here could actually work in their favor.
Upon hearing this, Touji reconsidered. When it came to dungeon exploration, it seemed the fragrance was actually beneficial.
But what about surface-level operations? What if they had to act as guards in a scenario that involved combat with humans?
Even then, the conclusion was the same.
Wearing this scent meant projecting the image of someone who had made it all the way down to the twelfth floor of the dungeon—a clear sign of a highly skilled warrior.
For stealth operations, sure, this bath might be off-limits. But for knights, whose strength lies in presence and intimidation, standing out could be an advantage.
It was better to radiate authority—to wordlessly warn any who might harbor ill intentions toward the Queen that they were well-guarded—than to hide in the shadows. That was the proper form of a knight.
From every perspective, entering the bubble bath and adorning oneself with its scent offered undeniable benefits.
‘...But I really don’t want to.’
Captain Touji wasn’t fond of how refined she now looked.
The idea of becoming an even more fragrant, dazzling female knight only added to her discomfort. It felt less like grooming and more like public humiliation.
Still, remaining in her current, unwashed, human-scented state would only attract monsters.
Worse yet, to those already perfumed by the bath, she and the others might even come off as foul-smelling.
With no logical justification left to refuse, she had no choice but to join.
“Well then... if you’ll excuse us...”
Resigned, Captain Touji and her unit entered the bubble bath one by one.
Queen Teta, meanwhile, was soaking in the foamy waters, absolutely delighted.
Surrounded by the firm, sculpted bodies of First Unit's elite warriors, she stood out as the sole figure of soft, radiant beauty. Yuzha, watching her, felt a twinge of envy.
She had long dismissed the idea of beauty in larger bodies—"Fat is fat," she used to think, no matter how smooth the skin.
But now? She was starting to wonder if voluptuous beauty might, in fact, be more attractive than a slim figure.
Looking down at her own sharply defined abs, Yuzha began seriously considering eating a massive meal at the next banquet to put on a bit of fat.
It was an absurd thought, especially considering she had just recently run through the entire eleventh floor by herself to slim down.
On the other hand, Queen Teta found herself longing for the lean, toned bodies around her. She resolved to take up some form of exercise once she returned to her kingdom.
Truly, the grass is always greener on the other side.
Because of that, on their way to the thirteenth floor’s mirror-lined “hair-removal bath,” Queen Teta stepped down from her palanquin and decided to walk a little.
But the moment she saw a monster up close along the way, her courage crumbled, and she wet herself out of sheer terror.
At this depth, even a single glance from these monsters was enough to make an untrained civilian feel the certainty of death.
‘What am I doing in a place like this, all for the sake of beauty?’
Having spent the entire trip in a palanquin without so much as glancing outside, safely escorted by the kingdom’s finest warriors, Queen Teta had been blissfully unaware of the danger. But now, in that one chilling instant, her mind snapped back to reality under the weight of death's looming shadow.
Even Her Majesty Yuzha, skilled in martial arts though she was, wasn’t calm inside. She knew that one misstep in battle with the monsters at this depth could be fatal.
Unless some miraculous hot spring appeared in the next area, she had no intention of proceeding any further.
But if such a miraculous spring did appear? She’d go.
“H-haha... let’s return to the surface at once, shall we?”
“This floor’s hot spring is the last one, Queen Teta.
Besides, with Captain Touji’s First Unit and Commander Shield’s squad here, we’ve got the strongest female knight forces in the world. Nothing will happen.”
It would be a waste to leave with one bath remaining. Queen Yuzha urged the group to press forward.
Eventually, they arrived at the mirrored chamber.
The mirrors had already regenerated, and the entire room reflected clearly on all sides.
“Make sure to collect the water before we enter. This spring’s water can be used above ground, after all.”
While an attendant helped her out of her clothes, Queen Yuzha gave the order.
Then, as she waited for the water to be drawn, she stood nude in the mirrored chamber, examining her reflection.
Fresh from the eleventh-floor hot spring, her skin glowed differently.
Yuzha gazed at her body with great satisfaction.
Meanwhile, Queen Teta stood frozen, staring at her reflection in the mirror.
It wasn’t the first time she’d seen herself in one of these mirrors—after all, Commander Shield had brought one back before.
But that only made it more obvious how drastically her current appearance had changed.
Her astonishment swept away all the fear and regret she’d felt just moments ago—What a dreadful place I’ve rushed into. I’ll never come back here again...—as if none of it had ever happened.
And now, if an even more effective hot spring were to appear deeper in the dungeon, she wasn’t sure she could resist the temptation. She no longer had the confidence to say she’d stay away for safety’s sake.
That’s how stunning her reflection was now—an image of beauty so close to her ideal it left her breathless.
“Still... this mirror is simply exquisite. Might I purchase a few more?”
“Apologies,” Queen Yuzha replied, “but aside from the one Commander Shield brought back, we’ll be suspending the export of these mirrors to other nations for a while.”
Even the guards around her stirred at that news.
Captain Touji herself was hearing this for the first time.
“It’s not exactly top secret, so I’ll tell you. There are plans to use these mirrors as reflective panels to dramatically enhance our lighthouse technology.
Until we’ve upgraded every lighthouse in the kingdom, we don’t have the luxury of sending any of these elsewhere.”
Improved lighthouse performance.
That would mean safer sea routes, more foreign ships arriving by following the new light, and the potential to open fresh trade routes.
It was a project that could vastly impact the nation’s prosperity.
Captain Touji listened closely and felt a surge of joy within.
She’d been dreading the idea of having to repeatedly harvest these mirrors for the sake of noble vanity—just so they could admire their reflections in grand halls.
But knowing they were to be used in a way that directly benefited national interests gave new meaning to the task. She felt motivated again.
Most likely, this was the idea of that clever third daughter of the Nausa family, the one Vihita always mentioned.
Touji had never met her, never even saw her. But the girl named Auf had earned her admiration.
In this hot spring dungeon, she never let shallow desires or fleeting indulgences blind her.
She constantly proposed ideas that could persuade even Her Majesty Yuzha—always with national benefit in mind.
Surely she was a terrifyingly rational patriot, and a true intellectual.
That was the image Captain Touji had of her.
But depending on how one looked at it, there might be no one more selfishly driven by personal desires than Auf.
Her cravings just pointed in unusual directions—so different from the average person’s.
In a way, Touji was much the same. As a battle maniac moved more by reason than instinct, she operated on a different logic from most people.
They were the same type of people—people who justified their actions by saying, "It’s for the good of the nation," while chasing after what they themselves wanted.
“Thank you for waiting. The water has been secured. Please enter.”
Once they immersed themselves in the bath, all unnecessary hair dissolved, down to the finest peach fuzz, leaving only what was needed—flawless skin.
Queen Teta thought to herself:
Perfect. This is everything I hoped for—every beauty need fulfilled.
All that remained was... just one thing.
“...Your Majesty Yuzha, I am truly satisfied now. This dungeon is a terrifying place. No matter how skilled the guards may be, even if our safety is practically guaranteed, I cannot imagine descending this far ever again...”
“That’s probably for the best,” Queen Yuzha agreed. “It really is foolish for royalty to come somewhere so dangerous... I know that. I do.”
“Still... if a certain kind of hot spring is discovered, I can’t say for certain that I wouldn’t return...”
“I know. You mean a stronger version of the fourth-floor spring.”
The youth-restoring spring.
And not some mild rejuvenation—no, this one could return a body in its thirties or forties to the prime of its late teens.
A miracle that nearly every human—be they royal, noble, or commoner—would desire.
Not simply gaining something new, but recovering the vitality they once had.
“No telling what floor that spring might appear on... but it’ll probably be teased for a while...
I’d hope we’ll see it in five years—ten, at most...”
No one knew when it would appear. But Queen Yuzha had no doubt that this dungeon would eventually create such a miracle.
They had already seen hints: the mild youth-restoring fourth-floor spring, and stronger versions of the beautifying waters released periodically since.
All of it pointed to one truth the dungeon had been whispering from the very beginning:
“If you want youth again—then grow me into a mighty dungeon.”
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