Chapter 11
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Full Nudity
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The morning echoed with the steady drip of water droplets falling onto the stone floor. The air, heavy with moisture, mingled with the dank moss scent unique to underground dungeons, stinging the nose with its sharpness.
After Duke Karls's visit last night, the shadows of the guards at the prison entrance had retreated even farther. They had pulled back to the end of the corridor beyond the iron bars, into the darkness untouched by torchlight.
As if they didn't exist in this space at all, they had erased even the slightest sign of their presence. It was the duke's paranoid measure to block any possibility of bribery. Thanks to that, the inside of the iron cage had become a completely isolated island.
"Drink."
The voice that broke the silence carried a hint of wetness. It was Adella. Dew clung to the surface of her silver breastplate, and the hem of her cloak hung damp and heavy.
In her hand was a leather waterskin with a tightly sealed lid. Water she had fetched herself from the riverbank outside the castle walls. Her wet bangs stuck to her forehead, and her cheeks bore a faint red flush from the dawn breeze.
I dragged my chains as I approached. My parched throat twitched at the mere scent of water. She pushed the waterskin through the feeding slot. The moment the cool leather touched my hand, I felt her lukewarm body heat.
Proof that she had carried it hugged to her chest all the way here.
I uncapped it and gulped down the water. The cold liquid slid down my esophagus, soaking the dried membranes. It was the taste of living water, faintly mingled with the earthy river scent and hints of grass.
"Haa, feels like I'm alive again."
As I wiped my mouth and caught my breath, Adella leaned obliquely against the wall with her arms crossed. Her gaze remained vigilant, but it had softened considerably compared to yesterday.
"Must've been tough going all the way to the river. Thanks to you, I can drink without worrying about poison."
"It's only natural. I don't want another incident in my patrol sector."
She replied curtly, but the way she shook out her wet cloak betrayed her fatigue. I set down the waterskin and stared at her intently. Wet clothes, ragged breathing, and a faintly flushed face.
Persuasion (Lv.1)
"But Captain, you don't look so good."
I feigned a worried expression as I drew closer to the bars.
"Is the poison completely gone? You took the antidote, right?"
"I did. The one Medic Jason gave me. No issues with my body now."
"You sure? Your face looks pale. What if swelling sets in late? They said amethyst spider venom has a latency period—even with antidote, residual toxins can linger."
Her eyes wavered. At the words "residual toxins," her hand unconsciously drifted to her nape. The terror of death from yesterday hadn't fully faded.
The hidden fear of the unseen, lurking behind a warrior's toughness. I slipped into that crack.
"Yesterday, we only checked your upper body. The poison might've sunk lower. Inner thighs, maybe. You know how the blood vessels cluster there."
"What?"
Adella let out a disbelieving scoff.
"You saying you want to do a full-body check? Here? Like this?"
"It's a matter of life and death, Adella. If you're cautious enough to fetch water from the river yourself, shouldn't you be just as thorough with your own condition? What if the poison's in your legs and sudden paralysis hits? In battle, if your legs lock up, even a slow troll club could smash your head—not just an orc dagger."
My voice was calm and earnest. An act laced with the desperation of survival transcending 98 deaths.
She bit her lip hard. Her brown eyes darted between me and her own legs.
The end of the corridor was dark, the soldiers withdrawn. This space held only us two. No overseer's gaze, no prying eyes. A sealed chamber.
"...Damn it."
She muttered the curse under her breath. But she didn't refuse. She unbuckled her sword belt and tossed it to the floor. Clank. A dull metallic ring echoed.
"Make it quick. If even a rat sneaks in, you're the first one I cut down."
Her hands moved far faster than yesterday as she shed her breastplate. The sweat- and water-soaked tunic clung to her collarbone. Without hesitation, she grabbed the hem and pulled it up. Swish. Her white nakedness was revealed.
That firm upper body from yesterday. But today, it went all the way down.
She untied the leather pants' laces. The rough leather scraped against her skin in a raw sound. As the pants slid to her ankles, she stepped out of them one foot at a time.
Her fully nude body stood exposed in the cold dungeon air.
It was a breathtaking sight. A warrior's form.
Her legs stretched sleekly without an ounce of excess fat, muscles firm like marble sculptures, yet retaining a woman's soft curves.
The pale inner thighs contrasted sharply with the tanned outer skin, exuding a subtle eroticism.
My gaze trailed down the abdominal lines below her navel. Beneath the protruding hip bones, a thick patch of dark brown hair covered her mound.
An untamed, wild bush. Through it, a glimpse of closed pink flesh peeked out.
"Haa..."
Adella didn't cover her chest with her arms.
Instead, she stood at attention with hands at her thighs, head turned aside, breathing ragged. As if asking for a full check just in case. Fine by me.
Her entire body flushed red. Goosebumps rose in the cold air, rippling from thighs to calves.
"Spread your legs a bit. Need to see deep inside the thighs."
Her shoulders jerked sharply at my demand. She bit her lip until it nearly bled, then slowly—agonizingly slowly—parted her legs to shoulder width.
As her thighs parted, the hidden slit came into sharper view. Wet hairs clung together, and her bodily scent mixed with the water's aroma, wafting into my nose.
I pressed my face to the bars, scanning every detail, etching it into my mind.
"Looks clean here too. No swelling. Good color."
I muttered like a professional. Adella's inner thigh muscles quivered faintly. She was tensing her whole body to endure the humiliation.
Her toes gripped the stone floor. Blue veins bulged on the tops of her feet. That tension, that desperate restraint—it paradoxically fueled an intense eroticism.
A steel-hard female warrior disarmed before a prisoner, submitting her most intimate area to inspection.
Her gaze fixed on the floor. Avoiding my eyes, but her ears perked, awaiting my verdict.
I hummed thoughtfully.
"Hmm... Need to check the back too. Under the buttocks, down the thighs."
She hesitated, then turned slowly, resigned.
Her back muscles rippled like waves. The deep groove along her spine led between her cheeks. Her firmly rounded glutes were plump like clenched peaches.
Honed by marching and combat, a perfect apple-shaped ass without a hint of sag.
Standing with legs spread, her secret spot teased from behind, half-hidden.
Ahem... Want to touch. Want to touch. But hold back. Not yet. Not yet. Maybe just a little? Just a bit? For a second?
I reached through the bars, touched her buttock, and pulled back immediately, shouting.
"Good! Perfectly healthy. No toxin buildup."
Her body flinched at the instant touch.
But as my "diagnosis" ended, she exhaled all her held breath at once, ignoring the contact.
"Huuu..."
She hurriedly gathered her clothes. Fumbling as she pulled on the tunic and pants. Her earlobes burned crimson.
"Never doing this again."
She snatched her breastplate and glared at me. But her eyes held half resentment, half embarrassment.
"Thanks, Captain. Puts my mind at ease knowing you're healthy. Gotta be healthy to keep bringing me water, right?"
I ignored the touch and just grinned through the bars.
Adella spun on her heel without a word and strode away. Her footsteps louder and faster than usual. Watching her retreating back like she was fleeing, I wiped the lingering moisture from my lips and thought.
Whoa, that was intense...
At the end of the corridor where Adella vanished, only a faint afterscent lingered.
The river's fishy earthiness mixed with her skin's sour sweat and the leather's smell, tickling my nose. As I released the bars, the cold metal chill seemed to seep back in.
Slosh.
The waterskin at my feet swayed faintly. As the ripples stilled, the dungeon wrapped in perfect silence once more.
I sank to the wet stone floor. My heart pounded oddly. Not just excitement from seeing a naked woman and touching her.
The tightrope walk for survival. The thrill of that precarious gamble succeeding coursed through my veins.
Ding!
[Notification: Astonishing! Impressive!]
[Achievement: Prisoner Views Guard's Nude Body]
[Description: In the absolute hierarchy of prisoner and guard, you cleverly induced the guard's disarmament under a ingenious pretext. Her shame will now subtly twist into dependence on you.]
[Reward: A new ability unlocks as payment for forging an astonishing, novel fate.]