I have to admit, not ending up nearly dead after a fight was pretty refreshing. The catgirl couldn’t say the same though. She was so tangled up in my webs I had difficulty discerning where her limbs ended. This definitely wasn’t comfortable position, and yet she kept struggling.

Was bathing that horrible? I have never taken a bath myself, but it couldn’t be really that bad could it? I lifted the fussy cat and brought it to the box with water. Then I just unceremoniously threw her inside. My thread when soaked lost its viscosity and the cat was freed.

She made a move to run away, but she stopped midway. That’s right, the edges of the box were layered with my webs, and area in proximity of five meters was also filled with white. She had no hope of escaping. My plan was perfect.

I found a soap bar somewhere, and while standing on the edge of makeshift bathtub I started washing her. My web played a perfect role when it came to acting like a washing sponge so it was fairly easy.

She was surprisingly tame when I was cleaning her body. I was concerned because she was so thin, I could count her bones, and her skin was full of bruises. Using very careful moves to not hurt her I gave her a thorough wash.

The problems started when I got to washing her hair. Even when dirty, it was a beautiful white with a pair of cute cat ears on top. She didn’t protest when I used soap, but when a bit of it got into her eyes, she started to make a racket.

Using a cloth that I made before with my thread I wiped her eyes. This cloth took me a ton of time to make, using [Thread manipulation] to the limit of its possibilities, but after trial and error I managed to make a single square. It still took too much time to be used to make clothes though.

She calmed down and let me finish washing her. Then I found some fresh clothes for her, cutting them a bit to make sure she didn’t drown in them, and stuffed her inside. They still ended up hanging baggily on her, but they were much better than the rags she wore before.

Now my cat was clean and cute. I’m pretty sure she resented me for forcing her into a bath, but with how she looked now it was well worth the effort. She yawned and then came closer to climb on my back. Apparently, I was the comfiest bed here, because whenever she had a chance, she kept using me as her mattress.

Now to summarize thing up, we found a lot of useful supplies, but we would be only able to take a small part, since I wasn’t in position to carry a lot because I never knew when I would have to fight. Meanwhile, while the catkin can take bags with her, she won’t be able to lift much. It would be for the best if she was keeping an eye for them, while protecting them on my back.

We spent a small while in this place, even if I couldn’t see the sun, I guessed it would be about three days of searching. Food was plentiful here, but it was consisting only of dried rations, so it wouldn’t last forever. When taking appetite into consideration, the girl could actually eat all of that in less than two days.

It was less than a month ago when I entered the labyrinth, but it seemed like a much shorter time. I didn’t know how much longer it would take, but I knew I no longer had to be alone. I was missing my mother, but a daughter like character appeared, so it wasn’t that bad. Did I just think of her as my daughter?

Well, it didn’t matter since I might just treat her like one. But I was much younger than her. It was so confusing I got a headache. If anything, she can be my friend, so I will do everything in my ability, to protect her from harm, and maybe make her strong enough, to do the same for me.

It was a curious, but also a nice feeling, having her sleeping on my back. She was warm and not very heavy, and I could hear her soft breathing. I didn’t feel alone anymore, and felt most of my worries fade away. Emotional support was definitely a good side of owning a cat.

Since there was plenty of food left, we could stay here a bit longer, and I could try to train a bit. I could also teach the girl a bit of combat. She could wield weapons in her hands, other than just sticking a thread to them so she would probably be more efficient than me.

I had no idea how to teach a sword though, so I would have to leave it to her to learn herself. I was also thinking about next floors. I didn’t get much experience on this and previous one, so I might be a bit under-leveled. Until now I never actually lost, because even if I was close to dying sheer luck saved me.

But what would happen if enemy had an overwhelming strength? I had to think of something, to make sure I left this dungeon in one piece, while still having a companion.