Chapter 63 - Reaction
After finishing their soak in the depilation bath on the 13th floor, Her Majesty Yuzha and Queen Teta returned to the surface together.
Once they were back on the surface and Queen Teta had returned to the Kingdom of Sepans, her transformation shocked everyone.
Of course, everyone had expected her to return changed, thanks to the effects of the baths. That much was a given.
However, since this was the first time someone had returned from the bath as a voluptuous beauty, the surprise felt unusually fresh.
At the evening party that Her Majesty Yuzha had promised to host upon their return, Queen Teta quickly became the center of attention.
Having attained the beauty she sought and flaunted it at the party, the queen wore a deeply satisfied expression.
At first, when the report came in that “we cannot escort the queen up to the 11th floor,” her fury had flared.
Commander Shield, who had been on the verge of collapse throughout the mission, now looked visibly relieved.
Though Captain Touji’s cooperation had been instrumental, now that the goal had been achieved, Queen Teta had no choice but to completely reverse her attitude.
To be honest, the queen herself was rather horrified.
Looking back now with a clear head, she found the mental state she had been in—so blinded by her desire for beauty that she saw nothing else—utterly terrifying.
Now that she had gained her beauty and regained her composure, Queen Teta reflected on it all.
With a level head, she recalled just how harshly she had treated everyone, to the point where she couldn’t blame them if they had rebelled against her.
Wanting somehow to atone, even a little, for how she had behaved back then—
—She rewarded Commander Shield with a rare bottle of Japanese sake, despite how few they had managed to procure.
Ever since their initial mission to survey the hot springs, that particular sake had piqued the commander’s interest, and now, overwhelmed by emotion, she shed tears of joy.
Were those tears from the sheer honor of receiving a reward from the queen herself?
Or were they tears of happiness at finally being allowed to drink the sake she had long desired but couldn’t touch due to her position?
It was unquestionably the latter.
After all, every person who had tasted the sake thus far had worn a face of stunned bliss at how delicious it was.
Supply was still extremely limited, and unless one was royalty or a high-ranking noble, simply having a sip was out of the question.
Commander Shield, in terms of status, certainly had the right to drink it—but her duties as the queen’s bodyguard barred her from doing so.
Honestly, she had even considered spending most of her personal fortune just to get a bottle to take home.
Sensing the glances from her subordinates that clearly said, ‘What about us?’ Commander Shield decided to purchase a generous supply of chocolate out of her own pocket and hand them out.
Even for the commander of the knights, it was a tough price to bear, but it was still a hundred times better than being unable to drink at all.
Her subordinates knew all too well how much their commander loved alcohol, so when they were handed chocolates, they accepted it without complaint.
In fact, about half of them probably preferred chocolate anyway.
And so, just as the evening party was drawing to a close—
—a single male soldier came dashing into the venue in a flurry of panic.
“Your Majesty! Is Her Majesty Yuzha here?!”
“Hm? What’s this? You’re awfully frantic for a party.”
“My apologies, Your Majesty! I rushed back so I could deliver this report before the party ended!”
“I see. What is it?”
“A new floor has appeared in the No-Hunger Dungeon—and along with it, a new kind of alcohol has been discovered!”
As he said this, the soldier pulled out a bottle filled with amber-colored liquid from a tough cloth bag made from Thread Dungeon materials.
Even the bottle’s design was so exquisitely crafted that it looked like a work of art, and the moment it was revealed, the party hall buzzed with excitement.
♨♨♨♨♨
“That soldier ran off in such a hurry... I wonder if he made it in time, before the queen left, Master?”
“Who knows, it’d be nice if he did.”
A queen from a major power had graced us with her presence—it would’ve been a waste not to promote whatever we could while she was here.
That’s why, the day after Queen Teta entered the Hot Spring Dungeon, I had already started building a new floor in the No-Hunger Dungeon.
By the time she began her return and we were enjoying our okonomiyaki party, the new floor had already been completed.
However, it wasn’t until the following day—after the queen had left the dungeon—that the new floor was discovered and someone managed to get a whiskey drop.
I didn’t know exactly how far the Hot Spring Dungeon was from the Kingdom of Sepans’ royal capital, but...
Even considering the leisurely pace of the queen’s entourage and the full-speed sprint of the messenger, the timing still felt awfully tight.
“Well, it’s not like we’re in trouble if he didn’t make it, so I guess it’s fine either way.”
“Still, Master...”
“Hm? What is it?”
“You really think this stuff’s gonna make people happy?”
“Well, back in my world it was definitely a top seller... so, yeah—probably?”
Peta-chan looked at the whiskey bottle with a skeptical expression.
No matter how many times she tasted it, she just couldn’t appreciate what was supposedly so good about it.
And honestly, neither could I.
The only reason I made it was because, even in the modern world, whiskey continued to sell like hotcakes.
If I were just going by popularity alone, beer might’ve been a better choice.
But thanks to my days in consulting, I knew better: products should be tailored to the customer’s needs and environment.
And carbonated drinks didn’t strike me as suitable for dungeon adventurers on the move.
Warm, flat beer that’s been shaken around during a dungeon crawl or battle? That just sounded nasty, no matter how I imagined it.
After all that deliberation, whiskey had seemed like the most reasonable option.
“The thing is, those guys are official knights and soldiers. Even if we give them booze, they won’t drink it on the job, so we never get to see their reactions.”
Knights and soldiers didn’t drink inside dungeons.
Partly because they were on duty—but mostly because it was just dangerous.
Even adventurers generally held off on drinking until they were in safe, low-level floors. No one wanted to risk their life buzzed in dangerous territory.
“I guess this is what the Gem Master meant... That it’s tough when you can’t see how the public reacts to your work.
With hot springs or chocolates, you get to watch your customers’ faces change right there.”
So in the end, all we could do was hope that our whiskey was a smash hit once it reached the capital.
♨♨♨♨♨
“Hoho! Very well, then—I shall be the first to taste this myself!”
“W-Wait, Your Majesty! You can’t drink it before it’s been tested for poison!”
“Silence! As if this dungeon would ever offer poison. Hoho... what a marvelous scent this has!”
Her Majesty Yuzha poured a full glass of whiskey, brought it to her nose, and took in the aroma with a look of delight.
“Wahaha! Then let us taste this new dungeon brew!”
And with that, she raised the glass and downed the whiskey in one big gulp—neat.
Then she explosively spat it all out.
In a world where the concept of distilling alcohol to increase its strength didn’t yet exist, such high-proof liquor was completely beyond anyone’s expectations.
The harsh burn of the alcohol seared Her Majesty Yuzha’s throat, causing her to choke violently. Clutching her neck, she collapsed to the floor.
The alcohol had gone up her nose, and the pain painted her face a deep red as she coughed relentlessly.
The scene looked exactly like someone who had just been poisoned.
A doctor rushed to the scene. Her Majesty was carried to the infirmary. The soldier who had brought the liquor was restrained. Everyone was ordered to evacuate from the vicinity of the bottle.
The party venue erupted into absolute chaos—complete, hellish panic.
And the truly idiotic truth—that Her Majesty had simply choked because the liquor was too strong... wasn’t revealed until the following day.
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