Chapter 87 - Towel
“Ahh, so cold. From now on, the water in our canteens will always stay cold, won’t it?”
Soaking in the hot spring of the 10th-floor—training enhancement floor, the First Unit drank water from their new canteens.
The new canteens had a double-bottom design, with a compartment at the base where ice could be stored. Inside, specially prepared ice that never melted continuously chilled the water.
“Only up to the 5th floor, remember. These canteens can’t be taken back to the surface.”
“To be able to drink spring water this cold is the height of luxury... and yet, having that luxury become routine feels strangely unsettling.”
“Well, well. I won’t tell you to stop since it’s good for cooling down a body overheated from training, but I can’t help worrying that indulging in this kind of luxury might dull our spirits in the wrong way.”
The Hot Spring Dungeon was unquestionably a dungeon that trained the body. Spending time here undeniably increased one’s abilities.
However, compared to the brutal environments of the Iron Dungeon, the Thread Dungeon, or the Weapon Dungeon, Touji couldn’t shake the feeling that it was one’s mental toughness that would grow dull if they stayed here too long.
Other dungeons had no cold water, no delicious meals, no hot springs.
That was what had gradually begun to worry Captain Touji.
“Captain Touji, is this assignment the same as usual? Transporting residential materials soaked in the hot springs of each floor, along with soap, mirrors, and the equipment repair and enhancement baths?”
“This time, there’s also a full inspection to check whether a new staircase has formed on the lowest floor.”
“A full inspection of that floor...?”
The 17th floor—the layer where the tooth-healing spring welled up. Like the 9th floor, it was a vast grassland, which meant a complete inspection would take time.
All they needed to find was a staircase leading to a new floor, so the only hope of finishing quickly was a kind dungeon—one that, like on the 9th floor, would place the staircase right next to another staircase.
And as soon as the First Unit descended to the 17th floor, they found it.
There was one more rocky hill than before—an unfamiliar one.
“Captain Touji, that’s probably the staircase to a new floor, right?”
“...Well, I doubt the dungeon would add a lone rocky hill for no reason.”
“Should we split up? One group to check the surrounding walls, another to investigate the rocky hill?”
“No, it’s fine. We’ll all head for that rocky hill.”
This dungeon definitely had a will of its own.
A clear intention to draw as many people as possible deeper into its depths.
By now, Captain Touji no longer had any doubt about that.
Given that, it made no sense for the dungeon to show such an obvious change and then place the staircase somewhere else entirely.
And indeed, when they reached the foot of the newly formed rocky hill, there it was—a staircase leading downward.
As they descended, a red monster resembling a brown bear was waiting right beside the stairs and lunged at Captain Touji.
She ducked under the red bear’s amateurish, telegraphed punch and stepped in.
Swiftly moving behind it, she slashed its carotid artery with a butterfly knife. The red bear collapsed, then dissolved into mana and vanished.
By the 18th floor, enemies were supposed to become considerably tougher.
...They were supposed to.
But for the First Unit, these foes still lacked any real bite.
Perhaps because they had been powered up by training in the Hot Spring Dungeon, they felt even less resistance than usual.
It was hard to tell whether the Hot Spring Dungeon’s monsters were weak, or whether they themselves had simply grown too strong.
“This knife soaked in the 16th floor’s bath is really handy. I could probably manage up to the 20th floor with just this.”
Captain Touji had already received several of the new knives that had begun appearing as loot from the Weapon Dungeon, courtesy of Commander Shield.
Apparently, they started dropping from relatively shallow levels of the Weapon Dungeon, so it was expected that they’d be able to acquire them in bulk before long.
Even if their construction was convenient, they were still somewhat unreliable as weapons for fighting monsters in a dungeon.
However, once soaked in the 16th floor’s equipment enhancement bath, they gained enough durability and sharpness to fight monsters adequately.
The famed blade from the Kingdom of Sepans that Touji usually used could be repaired in the 15th floor’s equipment repair bath, so there was no real need to hoard it so carefully.
Still, that bath repaired weapons—it didn’t regenerate them. Any chipped portion of a blade would be restored thinner than before.
In other words, equipment simply lasted an extraordinarily long time; it didn’t repair itself infinitely. That was why, even now, she continued to conserve her weapons.
As they proceeded deeper into the dungeon, they came upon an area that felt oddly unlike a dungeon.
Inside a room with unfamiliar walls stood wooden shelves, and on them were many items.
They were towels.
“What is this?”
“...Cloth? Is that what it is?”
The members of the First Unit picked up the towels that had been laid out, kneading and squeezing them in their hands, and fell silent.
“...They’re fluffy.”
“...They don’t seem especially durable, but the texture feels nice.”
“Try wiping your face—wow, the sweat absorption is incredible... Is this meant to be used after the hot spring?”
“...Um, Captain, I’m not very knowledgeable about things like this, so I can’t say for sure, but isn’t this better than the cloth you get from the Thread Dungeon?”
Strictly speaking, the Kingdom of Sepans did have cloth meant for wiping sweaty bodies or drying oneself after a bath.
However, it was merely cloth used as towels, not something a modern Japanese person would readily recognize as a towel.
Naturally, its absorbency and texture left much to be desired.
Cloth woven from threads obtained in the Thread Dungeon was of considerably higher quality, but even then, that simply meant the cloth and thread themselves were abnormally strong and well-made.
Fluffy, highly absorbent towels produced through an entirely different manufacturing concept simply did not exist in the Thread Dungeon.
“...Should we refrain from using these and take them back instead?”
After pondering for a moment, Captain Touji answered.
“No. There’s a chance that using them is part of their purpose. This time, I’ll allow each of you to freely use one towel. Any extras—don’t touch them more than necessary, don’t dirty them, and bring them back.”
“Yes!—ah, no, understood! Th-then, let’s head to the hot spring!”
The instant she let her desire for material goods slip onto her face, Captain Touji shot her a murderous glare that clearly said, ‘Do you even understand this is work?’ The subordinate hurriedly snapped back into a professional mindset.
As if to cover it up, they headed toward the bath—and there, an incomprehensible sight spread out before them.
A floor completely tiled, with a square, partitioned bathtub that looked as though it were carved from marble.
Most bizarre of all, water spouted up like geysers from all over the tub, and in some places, an abnormal amount of bubbles burst forth as though the surface were violently boiling.
“W-what is this? Is it boiling water?”
For boiling water, the steam wasn’t particularly hot. Even when she slowly reached out and touched it, the temperature felt normal.
“...No. It looks like it’s boiling at a glance, but the temperature is ordinary. In that case, I’ll go in.”
Because unknown baths were customarily tested by older individuals—so that even if it suddenly made someone twenty years younger, it wouldn’t be a problem—Captain Touji took the initiative and stepped in.
Avoiding the spots where water and bubbles erupted, she immersed herself in the tub and tested its effects.
...She couldn’t really tell.
Perhaps the problem lay in those geyser-like jets.
Captain Touji slowly held her hand over a spot where the water burst out most violently, confirming it was safe as she carefully moved forward.
“I-is that really safe, Captain?”
“That’s dangerous!”
“Isn’t it risky?”
“...A powerful jet of water strikes sharply and stimulates my lower back. The bubbles rising from below gently stroke my body as well... This actually feels quite good.”
“I-is that so? Then...what about the hot spring’s effect?”
“...I don’t know.”
Honestly, she had no idea. For now, it simply felt like a pleasant bath that massaged away fatigue with strong water currents.
Perhaps something would happen when they dried themselves with that cloth after getting out?
♨♨♨♨♨
“Master? What’s with this strange bath?”
“In the public hot spring facilities of the world I used to live in, this kind of bath was fairly common.”
“This weird bath where hot water shoots out so forcefully?”
Put simply, it was a standard jacuzzi-style bath with jet streams, like the ones found in hotel grand baths or spa facilities.
The reason it had turned into such a spa-like bath that didn’t seem to fit a dungeon at all was simple.
Unless I imagined a facility where towels were freely available, the cost of placing towels became absurdly high.
When I went with the usual look—hot springs bubbling up in caves, or open-air baths under the blue sky—the cost of setting out towels skyrocketed for no good reason.
The reason was probably that, in all the hot springs I’d experienced in my life, I had never seen an open-air bath where towels were freely available.
The only places I’d ever seen piles of freely usable towels advertised were indoor facilities like hotel grand baths…
For the record, I left out things like metal handrails that modern public baths almost always have.
Metal was expensive to install—and if I put it in, it would definitely get stolen.
Well, since only sturdy, healthy knights were coming here anyway, I figured there was no need to worry about barrier-free design.
“Even so, it’s a strange sight—she’ll take on a grizzly-bear-like monster almost without a second thought, yet she steps into a jacuzzi bath with that much caution.”
“Captain Touji doesn’t seem to be feeling any effect at all. So what is this hot spring supposed to do, Master?”
“...It was a bath that completely restored stamina.”
Why wasn’t she feeling it? This guy.
Had she walked all the way down to the 18th floor and still been so little fatigued that she couldn’t even distinguish the recovery effect from that of an ordinary bath? Was that really the case?
Watching more closely, it wasn’t just the captain. The rest of the First Unit was the same…
“Whoa, this water massage really blows the fatigue away!”
“So relaxing!”
They were all just enjoying it like a normal jacuzzi, and not a single one of them noticed the supernatural stamina recovery effect?!
Hey—someone, please notice already.
This was supposed to be a bath where you could do stamina training to your heart’s content.
But then again, they hadn’t rushed straight down to the 18th floor.
They had washed their clothes and gear in the 16th floor’s equipment repair bath, properly rested overnight while drying their equipment, and took things at a steady pace.
Descending only as far as the 17th or 18th floor simply wasn’t enough to seriously tire them out…
And now they’d started drying themselves with the towels, trying to see if that was where the effect would show up.
That had nothing to do with it! Those were just complimentary items handed out to encourage repeat trips to the 18th floor!
There was no need to savor the fluffiness of the towels while carefully, slowly wiping their armpits, chests, and thighs... No need at all…
...Hmm. That was kind of lewd.
Maybe it was because I’d seen too many naked bodies, but the sight of them wrapped in fluffy, modern towels felt oddly wholesome and healthy.
Well then—please do go on enjoying the softness of those towels a little longer.
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