Chapter 72 - Regeneration
Judging from how diligently the captain had been training with buff meals, it looked like she’d be staying in the Hot Spring Dungeon for quite a long time.
Peta-chan seemed a little displeased, but since the male adventurers and knights were all busy gathering alcohol in the No-Hunger Dungeon, she didn’t complain much.
Later on, the first unit led by the vice-captain arrived and followed Captain Touji into the Hot Spring Dungeon.
They brought chicken eggs, wrapped them in cloth, and left them in a spot on the 9th floor where the heat of the hot spring reached.
“Ahh... I see. That’s how they warm them up, huh?
Well, I only need to give breeding approval from the master room, so they don’t actually need to be warmed up at all.
Even the chickens in the No-Hunger Dungeon are completely neglecting their eggs—basically abandoning child-rearing.”
Saying that, I authorized chicken breeding using my master privileges.
With that, chickens would soon start reproducing in the Hot Spring Dungeon as well, and we'd no longer have to worry about meat.
This should also help prevent protein deficiency, making the training even more effective.
“If Captain Touji plans to stick around for a while, maybe it’s time to expand the Hot Spring Dungeon.”
With that thought, I pressed the button that had been prepared for generating a new floor.
♨♨♨♨♨
“Well then, I guess I’ll do a quick round of the 14th floor today too...”
After finishing her buff-meal training, Captain Touji wandered through the 14th floor to kill time while waiting for the effects of the meal to kick in again.
Eventually, she’d need to continue transporting the mirrors from the 13th floor and the soap from the 12th, but for now, there was still no transport unit set up.
Carrying the soap all the way to the surface wasn’t something she could finish in a single day, so for now, she'd just rip off any mirror that had regenerated and carry it back—that would have to do.
She was thinking the monsters on the 14th floor might at least give her a bit of a challenge...
...when a pitch-black monkey came falling straight toward her head.
Without even looking, Captain Touji raised her hand, grabbed the monkey midair, and slammed it to the ground.
With a splat like a water balloon bursting, the monkey turned into a stain on the floor and then dissolved into miasma.
“No resistance at all... I really want to fight one of those subordinates who've had their speed boosted with buff meals.”
As she lumbered through the dungeon with that thought in mind, she noticed an unfamiliar corridor.
Peering down the passage, she found a staircase leading deeper underground.
Captain Touji grinned.
“This’ll put my training on hold for a bit... but hey, this looks fun in its own way.
Hey! Someone go fetch the others!”
Thus began the exploration of the 15th floor. But as it turned out, the floor’s structure wasn’t anything particularly strange.
Of course, there was no way the battle-hardened First Unit would struggle in a place like this.
Still, the members of the unit were surprised—for instead of a hot spring, they found the staircase to the 16th floor first.
“What shall we do, Captain?”
“Hmm... Let’s not descend until we’ve fully mapped out the 15th floor.”
Leaving the stairs for now, they continued their search—and soon discovered a new hot spring.
The spring itself looked ordinary enough, but around it were numerous glossy, rock-like formations that looked perfect for lying down on.
As a bonus, a bunch of poles, like laundry racks, had been set up all around.
What in the world was this place?
Captain Touji recalled something Auf had once said—
Whenever someone tried out a new hot spring in a newly generated floor, the dungeon’s will would always be watching.
Come to think of it, Auf had also asked her to unfold a letter when she found the hot spring on the new floor. It was meant for the dungeon.
And with all these laundry poles around, it seemed like the perfect place to hang it.
She took the letter—more like fabric than paper—that Auf had given her, unfolded it, and draped it over one of the drying rods near the spring.
“Hey, you—the so-called will of the dungeon. You watching? This here’s a letter for you from one of Kingdom of Sepans’ dungeon researchers.
I’ll leave it hanging right here, so if you can read it, be my guest.”
She called out toward the ceiling, but no reply came.
Was there truly such a thing as a “will of the dungeon” that could understand spoken words or written letters?
To Captain Touji, the idea didn’t seem all that convincing.
What held more interest for her was the effect of the new floor’s hot spring.
She sincerely hoped it was suited for training.
Even if it leaned more toward cosmetic benefits—say, a youth-restoring spring—she’d still welcome it.
The members of the First Unit stripped down and stepped into the hot spring.
“...? Hmm. You guys feeling anything?”
“...Nothing in particular. Just feels like ordinary hot water.”
“Hmm... Maybe the key lies in lying down on those chairs nearby?”
One of the subordinates climbed out of the spring and sprawled out nude on a long, stone bench.
“...Well? Anything?”
“...It’s a really comfy bench. The curves hug your back nicely... and there’s a gentle breeze too. Lying here like this feels amazing.”
She spoke with the air of someone lounging in a chair by an open-air bath, savoring the post-soak tranquility.
But of course, no one here was interested in such commonplace praise for a hot spring.
What they sought was something supernatural—something impossible on the surface.
“Ah! I’ve got it! Captain Touji, I figured it out!”
“Oh? What is it?”
“It’s the clothes! My torn clothes are being repaired!”
The shout came from a young subordinate who had been scrubbing her dirty clothes in the hot spring.
“Try soaking gloves with holes or frayed clothes! The tears close up! They’re fixing themselves!”
“Really? Clothes, huh? That’s great—less need to worry about wear and tear on gear... Wait, hold on!
What about armor and weapons?!”
At her command, the subordinate immediately dunked a nicked knife and a dented piece of armor into the spring.
After a short soak, they pulled them out—and it seemed like the nicks and dents had lessened slightly.
This time, after soaking them for a few more minutes, they pulled them again—and this time, it was clear: the damage had visibly diminished.
“Captain... it works! The sword, the armor—they’re both repairing themselves!”
Captain Touji’s eyes widened.
Up until now, weapon and armor degradation during dungeon dives and training had been a constant thorn on her side.
And now, that problem had just... vanished.
“Everyone! Soak all your gear in the spring—now!”
Minor damage often became the root of catastrophic failure in battle—sometimes resulting in fatal injuries that couldn’t be undone.
This hot spring, it seemed, could solve that too. It could provide perfect maintenance for their equipment.
For adventurers and knights alike, this hot spring offered blessings worthy of a god.
The First Unit submerged all their weapons and armor, washed everything, and even cleaned their changes of clothes.
In doing so, they had no clothes left to wear.
They hung the freshly washed gear and clothes on the drying racks and laid down—naked—on the long stone benches, waiting for them to dry.
“...So that’s why there were drying racks... and benches... and such a pleasant breeze?”
One of the women muttered dreamily, watching the clothes flutter in the gentle wind as she lay there, half-dozing.
Captain Touji watched the same breeze dance across Auf’s letter, still pinned to a rack.
The will of the dungeon... huh.
Whether it could really understand language or writing was debatable.
But judging by the layout and function of this place, she had to admit—it felt like something with a mind had created it.
And then she looked over at her subordinates—completely naked, sprawled out in comfort—and felt a sudden unease.
Ordinarily, this setup would be seen as a thoughtful gesture by the dungeon—providing a place to rest and relax while clothes dried.
But when she remembered that something might be watching this relaxed, completely exposed scene, it gave her a bad feeling.
Auf’s words echoed in her mind:
Whenever you test out a hot spring on a new floor, the will of the dungeon is always watching.
And with that, Captain Touji recalled the painting displayed in the archive—
The depiction of a demon once spotted within the hot spring dungeon.
A demon girl with impossibly long, wild hair, joyfully flying through the air.
“Yeah... If something is watching this place, it’s probably her, right? ...Yeah.”
Thinking that helped ease her nerves, and she decided to just not dwell on it.
Because honestly, even if the one watching them was some lecherous demon guy giggling to himself...
There was no way she was going to cover herself up and go all “Eek, don’t look!” now. That would be way more humiliating.
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