Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Chapter 1 - Floor 1 #17
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Father once said.
“Son, when it’s time to rest, you have to rest properly.”
“Eat well?”
“Of course eating well is important too. But son, the world isn’t all about eating.”
Father was always right.
That was why Cheon-ho was determined to stay true to his father’s teachings this time as well.
“Hero?”
Lucille gazed at Cheon-ho, her voice laced with curiosity, anticipation, and bewilderment.
And rightly so, for Cheon-ho’s task was quite different from anything before.
[My liege, what in the world are you asking me to cut?]
Mitra’s voice didn’t sound pleased either.
A hint of displeasure tinged her already low, husky tone.
“Hmm.”
Cheon-ho was slicing up a bookshelf.
To be more precise, he was using the heated blade of the heat dagger to cut out the shelves inside the bookshelf—the wooden planks meant for holding books.
What on earth was he planning to do with those?
They already had plenty of firewood from the roots and branches gathered on the way down.
Lucille was curious but decided to hold back for now.
It was something Cheon-ho was doing, after all.
Whatever it was, it would surely improve their quality of life.
Unlike Lucille’s trust, Mitra kept grumbling in dissatisfaction.
But Cheon-ho silently pressed on with his work and finally succeeded in removing all the planks from inside the bookshelf.
“Hmm.”
With the planks gone, all that remained was the large wooden tub that had once been called a bookshelf.
‘Good.’
It was a shame he couldn’t smooth it out without sandpaper or anything similar, but this would do.
Cheon-ho eyeballed the former bookshelf once more, then scooped up spring water with a pot and poured it inside.
The surface of the bookshelf grew wet.
But it didn’t stop there. He sprinkled water into the gaps, and not a drop leaked out.
“Hero?”
[My liege, what exactly are you doing right now?]
The angel and holy sword’s curiosity only grew, but Cheon-ho merely nodded once.
In truth, there was nothing more to do with the first bookshelf right now.
“Lucille, please fill the inside of the bookshelf with water.”
“The inside of the bookshelf?”
“Yes, please.”
At Cheon-ho’s request, Lucille hesitated for a moment before nodding and diligently began scooping water with the pot.
Cheon-ho watched her briefly, then started cutting the planks from the second bookshelf.
Shh-shh-shh.
Splash-splash.
How much time passed as he worked away in silence?
When Lucille had filled the bookshelf about halfway with water, Cheon-ho finished removing the planks from the second one and moved straight to the next task.
‘Wood monster’s fruit.’
These were items picked up from the 4th floor.
Cheon-ho wrapped the fruit’s skin and seeds in the robes worn by the Plague God’s priests, then pounded the cloth with short swings of the wrecking hammer.
[My liege, are you cooking something?]
Mitra knew nothing of cooking, but even she could tell this didn’t look like cooking.
Cheon-ho focused on the task without answering, and soon the skin and seeds inside the cloth were crushed and pulverized.
‘Good, perfect.’
With a light nod, Cheon-ho squeezed the cloth hard over a roughly carved wooden bowl.
Thanks to his strengthened grip from leveling up, far more oil came out than expected when he wrung it vigorously.
[Hmm, I don’t know what it’s for, but it looks a bit cloudy.]
The cloth used for extracting the oil wasn’t the cleanest, so impurities had mixed in.
But Cheon-ho didn’t mind.
For his intended purpose, this form was ideal from the start.
Cheon-ho sprinkled salt into the cloudy oil and stirred it around.
‘Roughly done.’
What Cheon-ho had made was nothing other than a shampoo substitute.
It was certainly inferior to real shampoo, but better than nothing.
And the reason he’d made a shampoo substitute of all things.
“Hero, it’s full now.”
Lucille spoke as she let her arms droop, having scooped water with the pot dozens of times to fill the bookshelf.
Cheon-ho looked at the rippling surface, then asked Lucille.
“Lucille, don’t you want to take a bath?”
“Huh?”
“A bath with hot water.”
Truth be told, Cheon-ho himself wanted one first.
He’d sweated buckets over the past two days in the Labyrinth World.
And today, he’d bled quite a bit too.
Of course, with the spring water available, he could just scoop some and rinse off roughly.
But a proper bath was far better than such a half-hearted shower.
“Uh... you don’t mean in this bookshelf... no, tub full of water?”
“Yes.”
It was the first bookshelf, prepared from the start to serve as a bathtub.
Lucille dipped her hand into the water inside the bookshelf.
“Hmm... it’s a bit cold, but...”
“No, I’ll heat it up for you.”
How on earth?
Lucille looked at Cheon-ho, who raised the heat dagger inhabited by the holy sword Mitra.
[My liege?]
“Please heat it up a bit.”
“What?”
“Heat.”
With a grin, Cheon-ho dipped the heat dagger into the bookshelf.
&
Stepping into the narrow cave they’d chosen as a hideout, Aurael collapsed onto the ground with a thud.
Raguel cautiously asked, seeing her obvious exhaustion.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. Just... a bit tired.”
Answering softly, Aurael looked herself over.
Her gauntlets and armor were splattered with monster blood and flesh everywhere.
Her ebony hair was greasy and matted into a mess, and her face was smeared indiscriminately with oil, blood, dust, and sweat.
‘I want to wash up.’
But it was an impossible wish.
This was inside the Great Labyrinth, after all.
Washing up was a luxury beyond dreams when they couldn’t even have proper meals.
“Let’s move again when tomorrow dawns. I scouted the general route.”
“Yeah. Here, at least wipe your face with this.”
What Raguel offered was a cloth soaked in water.
Aurael reflexively took it and asked carefully.
“Drinking water?”
“We restocked yesterday. Still plenty. So enjoy this little luxury.”
Raguel gave a small, uncharacteristic smile, and Aurael nodded with a bitter one of her own.
Grateful for the kindness, she pressed the wet cloth to her face.
“Haa.”
Wiping her face made her feel a little more alive.
Aurael let out an involuntary sigh of relief as she wiped her face and then her neck, but she had to stop soon after.
Black water was already dripping from the cloth.
“No helping it.”
After rolling through dirt for two days straight and sweating profusely.
Raguel murmured softly as she took the cloth from Aurael and wrung it out tightly.
She wanted to wash it clean and soak it again to hand it back, but that was too much.
“Sorry, make do with just washing your face.”
“Better than nothing, at least a face wash.”
Aurael forced a cheerful smile, wiped her face again with the wrung-out cloth Raguel handed her, then leaned back against the cave wall.
Eizel, the branch’s youngest angel, was curled up in the corner of the cave, asleep.
Her face, clothes, and hair were a total mess too.
“It’ll get better starting tomorrow. If we find a spring, we can wash then.”
“Yeah, it will. So let’s sleep for today.”
Staying awake would just make their stomachs growl louder.
Agreeing, Aurael leaned against the cave wall and wrapped her wings around herself.
Raguel lay down beside Eizel and covered her with her wings.
‘Lucille.’
Aurael closed her eyes and thought of Lucille.
She herself was fine.
She had a bit of emergency rations and had even managed a face wash.
What about Lucille?
Where was she right now, and what was she doing?
‘Just stay alive.’
Clutching her hungry stomach, Aurael closed her eyes.
She prayed for Lucille.
&
“Haa...”
At the same time.
Lucille let out a deep sigh from the bottom of her chest as she soaked in the bookshelf—no, the bathtub—where steam was rising gently.
The performance of the heat dagger inhabited by the holy sword Mitra was truly remarkable.
Once he heated the blade after dipping it in, the water in the bookshelf actually began to warm up.
“Fuu...”
Exhaling a long breath again, Lucille looked around.
It wasn’t an open space.
The walls made by stacking bookshelves screened the surroundings well.
And it didn’t stop there.
Soap and shampoo made by Cheon-ho himself.
She’d washed off the grime from her body.
Washed her hair too.
It felt refreshing.
Blissful.
Soaking in the hot water brought a smile to her face naturally.
‘Hero is the best...’
How could she not praise Cheon-ho after experiencing this feat?
With flushed cheeks and a languid expression, Lucille suddenly sniffed the air.
A delicious smell wafted from beyond the bookshelf.
The intermittent sizzle of meat grilling sounded good too.
“Hehehe.”
She let out an involuntary laugh and slightly closed her eyes.
Other angels from the branch crossed her mind briefly, but she shook her head.
‘They’re all fine.’
Aurael was a powerful combat angel, and Raguel with her was incredibly wise and prudent.
They’d probably joined up with the other angels or heroes by now and were resting well.
So no worrying for now.
Just think they’re doing great.
With her mind made up, Lucille stretched out her body once more.
She savored the small happiness Cheon-ho had created for her.
&
[This actually works.]
Even though he’d done it once already, it was still amazing to see.
Mitra, resting against the heat dagger, was now inside the bookshelf.
More precisely, heating the water inside it. Steam was beginning to rise from the bathwater, which Lucille had already used once and left lukewarm.
[My liege, what kind of person are you exactly?]
Mitra had camped out as casually as eating during her journey with Emperor Leon to defeat the Demon King.
But she’d never heard of camping like this.
Turning a bookshelf into a bath, grilling meat on a shield, boiling soup in a helmet.
Even making something like scented oil from tree fruit to wash hair.
He fought like a hero, sure.
At Mitra’s question, Cheon-ho checked the water temperature and countered.
“Me?”
[Who else is here besides you?]
“Well, just this and that.”
A hero needed an air of mystery, after all.
Staying true to his father’s teachings, Cheon-ho stripped off his clothes completely, scooped hot water with the pot, and roughly wiped down his body.
[Hm, more solid than expected... no, a fine physique.]
Her voice was still low and husky, but now tinged with a strange embarrassment.
Cheon-ho flinched unwittingly and turned his back to Mitra, but it didn’t change the fact he was naked.
[Oh, well-developed back muscles. Nice taper at the waist too.]
Mitra murmured very softly.
Flinching again at how softly she’d said it, Cheon-ho hurriedly sank into the tub.
“Kuh...”
Refreshing.
The tub was deep enough width-wise but shallow enough that unless you practically lay down, the water only reached your navel. Still, this was more than enough.
In high spirits, Cheon-ho spoke to Mitra, who was fixed to a wire and half-submerged in the tub(?).
“Feels nice and cool for you too, right Mitra?”
[My liege, would dunking a sword in hot water make it feel cool? It’d just rust.]
Fair point. So Cheon-ho replied.
“Next time, I’ll dip you in hot oil.”
He’d have to deep-fry something someday anyway.
[...Just clean me well.]
After bantering like old times, Cheon-ho exhaled deeply and closed his eyes.
‘Son, shelter and sustenance aren’t important for nothing. Wherever you end up, make sure to tend to them properly. Eat well, wash well, shit well, sleep well. Got it?’
Father was always right, as expected.
That was why, after finishing his bath, Cheon-ho had no choice but to grit his teeth at the harsh reality that made following his father’s teachings difficult.
“Hero, come here.”
Lucille was lying sideways on the bed.
It was a makeshift thing—leather piled inside another plankless bookshelf, topped with a blanket—hardly worthy of the name “bed,” but still quite soft and inviting.
She gestured with one wing spread, cheeks flushed red.
Her hair still slightly damp and glistening.
The imperial maid outfit a bit loose on her.
Revealing a bit of collarbone and her pale, round shoulder.
Gulping dryly without realizing, Cheon-ho stiffly approached Lucille and, just like yesterday, stood at attention beside her.
‘Father!’
He called out, but of course there was no answer. Just the faint vision of Father’s manly smile.
“Good night, Hero...”
Covering Cheon-ho with her wing like yesterday, Lucille fell asleep in no time.
Snore-snore.
Regular breathing.
The faint sound of her heartbeat.
‘Son! It’s patience! Patience! Sublime your torment into power!’
Gritting his teeth, Cheon-ho squeezed his eyes shut and circulated the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
With all his might.
Watching him from the bedside, Mitra clicked her tongue.
[Torment is building up.]
Tremendously so.
The night deepened.
Lucille slept soundly, while Cheon-ho couldn’t sleep—a night where his mastery of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art grew.
&
[Torment Force Lv1 acquired.]
[Chapter 1 - Floor 1 #17] End