Chapter 92 - First Time
No one could really understand how ancient merchants thought.
If it meant gaining the upper hand in negotiations, seduction and sex were apparently fair game.
There were probably people whose sense of chastity was so loose, it would be unthinkable by modern standards.
And then there were likely others who believed that letting anyone besides their lifelong partner touch them—or even see their skin—was absolutely out of the question.
People whose views on chastity were so rigid that modern standards couldn’t even compare.
Things like that depended entirely on the era, the culture, the way someone was raised, and the customs of their homeland, making them impossible to predict.
So when I suggested she try out the hot spring and glanced at her expression... Yeah. She was definitely making a “Uwaaah...” face.
Apparently, she wasn’t the type to go, “Ohoho, you really know your way around, kiddo~ If you teach me somethin' even better, I'll make sure to give ya some real special treatment in return~”
It seemed her values around chastity were fairly conservative.
Heh. Well, that possibility had been within my expectations too.
Not like I’d seriously expected her to turn out to be some shamelessly seductive merchant who welcomed using her body as part of negotiations. I’d only hoped for it a little.
Just a little... Damn it.
Ignoring the cold, half-lidded stare the Thread Dungeon Master shot at me, I calmly continued my sales pitch.
“Using this nylon towel properly requires experiencing it with your whole body while actually soaking in the bath...
Oh, but naturally, while you are using the facilities, I will completely shut off my consciousness, so please feel free to relax without worry.”
The moment I said that, the Thread Dungeon Master’s eyes widened in realization.
Right. Dungeon Cores and Dungeon Masters possessed the ability to completely cut off their awareness.
Even if someone undressed right in front of me, entered the bath, or even got intimate, there was no risk whatsoever of me perceiving it.
So she could relax and enjoy the hot spring without concern.
“Ohhh, right... now that ‘ya mention it, we can shut off our awareness... If that's how it's gonna be... well, reckon it's fine.”
Inside a Master Room, where the environment could be manipulated almost freely, things like blindfolds or partition walls were barely comforting at all.
But being offered a foolproof method that completely prevented peeping...
That instantly eased the caution from the Thread Dungeon Master’s expression and pushed her toward actually trying the hot spring.
“Hey, hey, Hot Spring Core-chan.”
“Hm? Me? What is it?”
“Could ‘ya shut off the master guy’s consciousness for an hour or so?”
The fact that she deliberately asked Peta-chan to do it instead of trusting me really stung.
Did she seriously think I’d fake being unconscious and secretly peek?
Well... I totally would!
This hot spring space I’d prepared came equipped with a recording function.
Whether my consciousness was active or not didn’t matter. The entire area would continue recording for as long as it existed.
Your fatal mistake was being an ancient person who fundamentally didn’t understand the concept of automatic recording and watching it later!
This is my victory, Thread Dungeon Master!
“Hm? But you’re just taking a bath, right? Is there really something that’d be bad if someone saw?
Well... if Master’s okay with it, then I guess it’s fine?”
“Much appreciated, Peta-chan. Then please enjoy yourselves at your leisure.”
“Huh. Alright then, I’m shutting his consciousness off. Hyah.”
♨♨♨♨♨
With his eyes still open, the Hot Spring Dungeon Master froze in place like a doll whose soul had left its body.
The Thread Dungeon Master waved a hand in front of his vacant eyes to confirm he was truly unconscious.
Then, while she was at it, she carefully inspected the clothes he was wearing. But once she realized they were simply reproductions of ordinary adventurer attire from around the area, she looked oddly disappointed.
“...Wish he'd been frozen lookin' the other way. Even if he ain't conscious, it still feels kinda weird...
Still, the fella was right when he said 'ya can't know if the goods are any good 'til ya give 'em a try yourself...”
With that, the Thread Dungeon Master began undressing until she was completely naked.
But even after stripping, the sight of a man standing there with his eyes open still seemed to bother her, so she created a thick cloth curtain directly in front of the Hot Spring Master, hiding him from view from the bath.
Afterward, she rinsed herself off and used the soap and nylon towel she’d been given to wash her body.
“Ooooooh?! Damn, this soap’s real amazin’! Wait, the heck is this soap?! How’s it even made?!
Feels smooth as butter, no ashy or oily feel at all!
...Nah, forget the soap, I gotta get the feel of this towel down pat...
I'm tellin' ya, what in the world is this? What kind of stuff's this thread made outta anyway?
Haaah... It ain't much to look at as art, but for a soak in the hot springs? This here thing's top-shelf.”
As the Thread Dungeon Master scrubbed herself with soap, Peta-chan and the black cat core simply watched absentmindedly from the side.
For some reason, the Hot Spring Core kept staring fixedly at her chest, making the atmosphere strangely uncomfortable.
“...What's yer deal? Even if ya be a cat, a girl, and, a dungeon core, it's still awkward havin' someone eyeballin' me while I'm takin' a scrub, ya know?
Since we're all here, why don't y'all just jump in too?”
“Get into the hot spring...? Me?”
Peta-chan blinked in surprise.
It was the face of someone who had genuinely never even considered the idea before.
“Hey, Thread Core? Have you ever been inside a hot spring?”
“Why would I ever have done that, nya? More importantly, what even is a hot spring? That puddle of hot water? What’re ya supposed to do in something like that, nya?”
“Right? Watching adventurers come into dungeons specifically looking for hot springs...
I always thought, ‘I seriously don’t get it~’ while watching— ...I mean, while reading about it in books the whole time.
But maybe I should try getting in at least once myself and experience my first time?”
For a split second, Peta-chan almost admitted she had actually been watching adventurers bathe the entire time, but she stopped herself.
The ability to observe adventurers through video was technology unique to the Hot Spring Master’s world, something they were keeping secret from other dungeons.
“Heave-ho.”
With a loud splash, Peta-chan jumped straight into the hot spring without even taking her clothes off.
While scrubbing herself with the foamy nylon towel, the Thread Dungeon Master stared at her like she was witnessing some bizarre creature.
“Hmmm, it’s gently warm and all... but doesn’t it kinda lack stimulation? I still think the temperature oughta be about as hot as miso soup.”
“No, no, no! Ya gotta take yer clothes off first! An' ya best be havin' a scrub 'fore ya jump in!”
“? But I don’t have any dirt on me to wash off in the first place... And besides, what difference does taking my clothes off even make?”
Faced with a gap in common sense wider than the universe itself, the Thread Dungeon Master felt exhausted.
The black cat core she associated with openly looked like a cat, so even when it behaved or thought in ways completely detached from humans, she could simply chalk it up to “well, it’s a cat.”
But seeing a girl with a perfectly human appearance act this far outside human norms made her seem deeply uncanny.
“Well, I guess if I don’t try things the way I’m told, I won’t understand.”
Peta-chan climbed out of the bath and removed her clothes.
After receiving the soap from the Thread Dungeon Master, she began copying her movements and washing herself as well.
But rather than properly bathing, she seemed more fascinated by the bubbles themselves. She made mountains of foam, piled it onto her hair to create strange hairstyles, and spread the fluffy suds all over her body while innocently enjoying the soft texture.
Meanwhile, the black cat core apparently had no interest in soaking its whole body in either bubbles or water. It merely poked at the hot spring with its paw pads repeatedly while wearing a suspicious expression.
Watching the two of them, the Thread Dungeon Master decided it was best to just leave them alone and enjoy the hot spring normally.
She had heard plenty of stories from adventurers about the quality of the Hot Spring Dungeon’s waters, so she had been looking forward to this.
Though, as a Dungeon Master, her body was naturally free from things like rough skin, so it probably wouldn’t make her dramatically more beautiful or anything.
Sinking into the bath, she savored the familiar sensation of a hot spring for the first time in ages.
“Ahhh... soakin’ in a hot spring and relaxin’ like this... it feels damn good after all this time... Maybe I oughta treat myself to a soak in my own Master Room bath every now and then, too...”
As she soaked in the tub, memories drifted through her mind.
Back when she had still been human, traveling the world as a cloth merchant in search of rare threads and fabrics.
She remembered the natural open-air hot springs she occasionally encountered during her journeys, and even Roman-style thermae baths.
Back then, while bathing itself was common enough, visiting hot springs had been a luxury she experienced only once every few months, if that.
There had even been times when depraved bandits lay in wait around remote hot springs during her travels.
Still, because she had thoroughly trained in martial arts before setting out alone as a woman traveler, she had always been able to drive such scum away.
In those days, all she cared about was seeing unknown, beautiful fabrics, carpets, and clothing. If it meant discovering something new, she would go anywhere in the world, no matter the danger.
She had never particularly cared about expanding her wealth as a merchant, nor about dressing herself in luxury.
To her, cloth and clothing were works of art meant to be admired. Commerce was simply the means to obtain them.
The profits she earned from traveling trade were nothing more than funds for acquiring her next treasure.
And in the end, her life had ended with something as mundane as being bitten by a venomous snake on a mountain road.
At death’s door, she accepted the black cat devil’s contract to be summoned as a Dungeon Master...
And thus, she created the Thread Dungeon.
Here, she devoted herself to crafting the ideal threads and fabrics she had always dreamed of discovering at the end of her travels.
Just as Bugu-kun constantly read books depicting the battles of knights...
The Thread Dungeon Master endlessly studied the clothes worn by the adventurers who entered her dungeon, along with the cloth goods they carried, preserving them in books and illustrations.
Whenever adventurers died and were absorbed into the dungeon, she would bring their clothing back to the Master Room and display it there.
She adored collecting new clothing and accessories crafted from the threads and fabrics she herself had created.
Lost in those hazy memories while surrendering herself to the comfort of the hot spring, around ten minutes passed.
Thinking it was about time to get out, she casually glanced over toward the Hot Spring Dungeon’s core.
Peta-chan was still washing herself. And she had become strangely quiet.
“What's up with 'er? How much longer's she gonna be scrubbin' aw—? Hm?”
Looking more closely, something felt off.
She was definitely still washing herself, but the way she was touching herself seemed strange somehow.
Her eyes were unfocused, staring at nothing in the world at all, and even her breathing seemed faintly ragged.
“Wha—?! No, no! That’s bad! Bad bad bad! Don’t do that!!!”
“?! Huh?!”
Peta-chan suddenly snapped back to herself from her dazed state.
Blinking repeatedly with a blank expression, she looked completely unsure of what she had even been doing.
“Huh...? What was that? I think I kinda zoned out while playing with the bubbles...”
“N-Now see here! ‘Ya shouldn’t go scrubbin' away like a madman, got it?! Uh, scrubbin' too hard'll mess up your skin, ya hear?!
S-See!? Stop dawdling, wash off them bubbles and get in the tub already! Ahahahahaha!!”
The Thread Dungeon Master had absolutely no idea how to explain this dangerously awkward situation, so she could only laugh loudly and try to brush it aside.
“So it’s not allowed, nya? I was startin’ to understand why it feels good too, nya...”
Using the hot spring water on its paw pads, the black cat core had been diligently grooming its fur all over.
Combined with the effects of the hot spring water, its coat gleamed beautifully, shining with glossy black luster from head to tail.
You're all good! The Thread Dungeon Master desperately wanted to retort.
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