Chapter 7: Mukohda Finally Gets a Bath

“Hm, there’ll be trouble if I don’t give my offerings to those goddesses soon.” I whispered to myself in my dim room, which I was relaxing in after having dinner. As for Sui, the slime was already asleep in my bag.

Just as I opened up the menu to start buying offerings, I heard a voice in my head.

＜Hey! Otherworlder, can you hear me? Hurry up and hand over your offerings!＞

“This voice... goddess Agni?”

＜Yep!＞

“I was just about to buy some offerings, so please wait a little.”

＜Really? If that’s the case, give me two of that alcohol you called beer you drank before.＞

“Huh? Is alcohol okay? You guys were talking about how it was no good before......”

＜This is Ninrir. This time is special. However, only two.＞

Special, huh? Well, if they’re fine with it then whatever.

＜Ahem, this is Ninrir, I have an important request for you. You realize that I am the first goddess to have given you her favor, yes? So, you know... I want you to increase my share of sweets. Especially dorayaki. I will not mind no matter how many of them I get. Ah, also, keep this a secret between you and me.＞

Ninrir, you divine disappointment, what are you doing? I just said that I was going to treat you all equally.

＜It’s me you know? Me. The Goddess of Earth, Kisharle. Otherworlder boy, you’ve started selling some pretty interesting stuff, haven’t you~? That soap and shampoo and hair treatment, and also that super effective hair mask. Give me some of that, okay~? Plea~se. Ah, this is a secret from the other goddesses, okay?＞

......Goddess Kisharle, you too? So it wasn’t just Ninrir who’s a divine disappointment.

＜......It’s me, Rusalka. Your food looks delicious. I want to eat it too. Give it to me. This is a secret, got it?＞

Miss Ruka...... What is wrong with this world’s goddesses? They’re all so disappointing. Uhmm, you know, you’ve all been talking about secrets and being hush hush and more secrets, but I think it’s super obvious if you all message me at once from the same place.

“Ahem! You know, goddesses, you all said stuff about ‘keeping it a secret,’ and being ‘hush hush’ and it being ‘just between us’ and stuff like that, but I’m sending you your stuff all at once, so I think you’ll all get found out.”

＜Hah! That’s right!＞

＜Oh my. Now that you mention it, you’re right.＞

＜Ugh...＞

＜Oi, what’s all this about?＞

＜N-No uhh, this is...Agni......＞

＜R-Right! This is...that... Yeah, that.＞

＜.........＞

＜Did you guys just all ask for stuff you wanted? How sneaky! If that’s the case I’m gonna ask for my stuff too.＞

＜You wanted alcohol, didn’t you? That’s why we said you couldn’t do it.＞

＜That’s right, alcohol’s definitely off limits.＞

＜Alcohol, no.＞

＜Hmph! You all can get what you want, why can’t I? 2 bottles just isn’t enough. Otherworlder, I want alcohol, got it?!＞

＜Hey, I just said you can’t!＞

＜Yeah—!＞

＜No.＞

The sound of all the goddesses arguing was hurting my head.

Ahh goddammit, all of you just saying what you want. I just said that I’d treat all of you equally and none of you listened.

“Yeah yeah, okay okay, everyone quiet down. Didn’t I just say before that you were all equal?”

＜No, but that’s......＞

＜But I’d rather have beauty products than sweets......＞

＜Sweets are nice but savory food......＞

＜Alcohol and snacks are better than sweets, too......＞

Hahhh, so that means everyone wants something different, huh? If that’s the case......

＜I understand. So, everyone wants something different. There’s no way I can just provide infinite amounts of anything, so each one of you will get 3 silver coins worth of what you want. And then I’ll send it over.＞

Yeah, if I listened to all these goddesses’ demands I’d lose all control, and it’d all be over. But by setting a budget limit things should calm down.

＜Th-Three silver? How low. I demand a higher budget.＞

＜Y-Yeah, 3 silver is a little......＞

＜I’d like a little more to work with, too.＞

＜......＞ (Nodding furiously.)

“Whaaat? But it’s 3 silver a week. I think that’s more than enough... I mean, if I listened to all your requests it’d be endless. I think I’m already compromising quite a lot with 3 silver a week. What do you all think? If you still want more, then I’ll return your blessings, so please forget everything......”

＜W-Wait! Th-Three silver is fine. 3 silver is just fine! Right, everyone?＞

＜Y-Yes. 3 silver is fine. I’ll be able to get a lot with that much.＞

＜Y-Yeah. That’s fine. 3 silver it is.＞

＜3 silver is good.＞

Good, they’ve agreed.

“Then, I’ll be listening to your requests. One at a time, please. I won’t be able to tell up from down if everyone starts yelling about what they want all at once.”

＜Then as the one to give you a blessing first, I, the oldest, will be taking my turn.＞

What? Ninrir’s the oldest of the goddesses? Wow she doesn’t seem that way at all......

＜I desire sweets. And as much dorayaki as you see fit.＞

I see. Ninrir is forever about sweets. She’ll probably get fat, but, well, that’s her responsibility.

I used my skill to buy ten dorayaki, as well as whatever cakes and puddings and chocolates that caught my eye. I also put in some cola and cider as sweet drinks until I reached her budget of 3 silver.

“Who’s next?”

＜If we’re going by age, then it’s me. I’m Kisharle, by the way. What I’d like is the soap, shampoo, hair treatment, and hair mask that you started selling recently.＞

“Ahh, that stuff. But other than that, there’s a lot of different stuff for beauty that depends on what kind of finish you want and what kind of hair you have, especially for shampoos and hair treatments. Are you sure you’re fine with what I sold?”

＜Huh? There’s that much?＞

“Yes, I think at least several tens of varieties. If you’d like, you can tell me what you’re worried about with your hair, and I can buy something that I think would suit that.”

＜Really? Then, let’s go with that. Right now, I’m most worried about how dry my hair is. It’s so dried out that it’s hard to style properly. Every morning is so hard~.＞

I see. Surely her hair is damaged because it’s so dry. If that’s the case, then how about this? It’s a series of moisturizing hair care products, including shampoo, treatment, and a premium hair mask. They’re non-silicone based and made with a lot of different natural oils, costing 9 copper each.

The remaining 3 copper was just enough to buy a three-pack of the rose scented soap.

“Who’s next?”

＜Yo, it’s me, Agni. Really, I’d want all kinds of alcohol, but they’ve all been telling me to stop with that. So two bottles of that alcohol you call beer, as well as snacks that go well with it, and the rest can just be candy.＞

So for Agni it’s premium beer, snacks, and candy. Just having dried foods would be really boring, I get it. Ah, those fries I’d prepared and stored earlier and the Hamburg steak cutlets I made today should be fine. As for the price, taking the cost of ingredients into consideration, the fries would be 2 copper, and the cutlet is probably fine at 1 copper. Ah, also since I probably won’t be getting my plate back, I can just buy paper plates.

I prepared two premium beers and piled the fries on a paper plate, and 3 of the Hamburg steak cutlets on another. I used the rest of the funds to buy generally the same sweets as I got Ninrir.

This should be fine.

＜Next is me. Candy and food.＞

Last is Ruka, I see. Candy and food, huh? Did she see us eating and ended up wanting some of it? If that’s the case, then the Hamburg steak cutlets, and also, uhh... here it is. I still had some cheese stuffed chicken cutlets left, so some of that too. After that, I should still have both kinds of Hamburg steaks...... Yeah, here they are. Next, three kinds of rice balls and six slices of plain bread should be fine. As for the cost, the Hamburg steak cutlet is of course 1 copper each, the cheese-stuffed chicken cutlet is a little big so 2 copper, and the Hamburg steaks should both be fine at one copper each. The rice balls should be 1 copper each, too.

I piled the food on paper plates, making sure to split the request into even halves of 1 silver and 5 copper each. I used the remaining half of her share to get some random sweets.

Nice, this should do.

I made the payment and prepared four cardboard altars for each of the goddesses and put their offerings on them.

“Then, I’ll hand them over to each of you so please accept them. First is Ninrir’s desired sweets. Please accept them.” My offering to Ninrir disappeared as I said that.

“This is Kisharle’s desired soaps and shampoos. The shampoo I’ve prepared for you is better than the stuff I sold, so please try it out.” My offering to Kisharle disappeared.

“And this is Agni’s beer, snacks, and candy. I made the snacks myself, but I think the taste is quite good, so please eat it. I think they both go quite well with beer.” My offerings to Agni disappeared.

“Last is Ruka’s desired sweets and food. I also made this food, and the side dishes go with both the rice balls and bread, so please try it.” My offerings to Ruka disappeared.

“Then, please properly decide what you want next time.”

＜Got it—.＞

＜I understand~.＞

＜Sure!＞

＜......＞

Were they all preoccupied with their offerings? I could hear the goddesses’ voices as they celebrated.

The phrase, “three women make a market” fits well here. It’s four and not three, though.

But Ruka is fundamentally quiet, too. Apparently Ruka’s the youngest, but that just means that all three of her elders are no good.

Really.

While I was complaining in my head, the oracle from the goddesses suddenly cut off once again.

“Whew~ it’s finally over.”

I’m so tired. Time to sleep already.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Right now, I was heading for the Illario trading company. That’s the place that sells bathtubs, according to Lambert. I properly got their location from Lambert, as well.

Oh, that’s the place, right? As I had expected, it was a large store.

As we entered the store, one of the employees spotted Fel and I could see his face stiffen up.

Well, anybody’d be surprised seeing a magic beast this big.

However, the employees must have been well educated (since this store was so large), because we weren’t chased out.

“W-What are you looking for today?”

“Ah, uhh, can I see your baths?”

“Bathtubs, is it? This way, please.”

Even though I didn’t look like I had any money at all, when I asked the employee about baths, it seemed like he would show them to me without hesitation.

When I followed the employee, I found the baths lined up at the back of the store. There were three sizes of baths, and the one Lambert had in his house was the medium size. The small one was large enough that a single person could get in and have ample room to stretch their legs.

“Maybe even the small one would be fine......”

“If you’re looking for one of this size, we have several different models in stock, so please take a look.” The employee didn’t miss my mutterings and promptly recommended something. I was actually grateful for that, and I had him show me the different types of small baths.

Of course, the cheapest one was the one that was brown and had no coloring on it. But even that one was 300 gold. Just as I had heard from Lambert, baths were quite pricey.

The next one I saw was a deep green. It was a calm color, and I had a good impression of it. That one cost 370 gold.

So adding colors makes the price jump that high, huh?

According to the employee, applying a color evenly like this took quite some skill, so that was reflected in its price. The colored ones were expensive, but they looked good, and I had space in my funds right now, so the green one was highest on my list at the moment.

The next one I was shown was pure white. White was the normal color of bathtubs, and it gave off a clean impression. This one was 430 gold.

So it’s more expensive than the green one?

When I asked the employee why, I was told that the white one was a product that was recently released, and that to get the white color one needed to knead a special ingredient into the clay, which was hard to procure. And so that difficulty was reflected into the price.

The next one was a fancy looking model with painted flowers on it. I had expected it to be expensive, and it was. I was surprised when I heard the price: it was 500 gold. It seemed that having actual art on the product was much harder than simply applying color. And since the number of craftsmen who could do that were limited, the price was accordingly higher.

It looks fancy, but this one’s a no go. This is definitely the type to be in a noble’s home. I’m going to be using it on the road, so there’s no point to the fanciness. If that’s the case, then the green one I saw earlier really is the best choice, isn’t it? Yeah, let’s go with that one.

“Excuse me, I’d like this green bath.”

It didn’t look like the employee had thought that someone that walked in off the street like me would buy a bath right away, so he was surprised.

“Th-That’ll be 370 gold, is that fine?”

Does that “fine” mean, “do you even have 370 gold?” Heheheh, I’ve got it, the gold. Thanks to Fel, I’m totally okay with this expense!

“Here, 370 gold, right?” I took a single jute bag out from my Item Box. It held 300 gold in it. As for the remaining 70, I took it from one of the bags that were not full.

“Th-Then I’ll be confirming the amount.” The employee counted the coins.

“......370 gold. Yes, it’s all here. Do you want it delivered to your home?”

“No, I’ll be taking it with me in my Item Box.”

“Oh? You’re an Item Box user... I’m so jealous.”

“Well it’s barely enough to hold this bath, though.”

Well, in reality it’s pretty much got no limit. But sometimes lies are convenient.

I stored the bathtub in my Item Box.

“Thank you for your patronage.”

I left the Illario trading company, with the employee to see me off.

I made a good purchase.

...............WHOOHOOO! I’ve finally got me a bathtub!!

After clearing the store by a little ways, I couldn’t stop myself from making a small gesture in celebration.

“What the heck are you doing...” Fel seemed exasperated, but I didn’t care what he said. I had just finally gotten myself a bath!

Being Japanese really does mean having baths, after all. And so, time to take a bath already!

...Well, I would, but there really isn’t any place for a bath here, is there? Like I thought, I’ll have to leave town to do this, won’t I?

“Fel, I want to take a bath, so let’s go outside. So like, can you pick a place with as little chance of seeing any adventurers as possible?”

“Outside the town, huh? What a good idea. Then, let us be off.”

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

I had Fel take me to a forest devoid of anyone’s presence.

As for Fel, as soon as we arrived, he couldn’t wait and was already off hunting. Of course, he had already put up a barrier around me, so I was safe.

I quickly made preparations for a bath. First was the enclosure.

“Stone Wall.”

I first made four walls to enclose me from my surroundings. I purposely did not add a roof in order to combat humidity, and so that I could look at the sky while enjoying my bath.

And now, to place the all-important bathtub that I recently purchased... there.

《Sui, you up?》 I called out to Sui with telepathy, and it immediately got out of the bag.

《Huaahh~aahh... Whaat, master—?》

So it fell asleep again. This bag must really be comfortable for Sui.

“Can you use your magic to fill this up to here?” I pointed out how high I wanted the tub filled.

《Sure—》 Sui promptly extended a tentacle and poured water out of it into the tub.

“Sui, that much is fine.” The tub was around 80% filled.

Next, with my Fire magic......

“Fireball.” At first, I created a small fireball and sunk it into the bath. The fireball disappeared as the surrounding water was brought to a bubbling boil.

I might have made it a bit too hot, maybe......

“Ah, I didn’t get a bathing poker.” I opened up my Online Supermarket to buy that, as well as everything else I needed for a bath. “I need a bathing poker and a wash bucket, right? And some body wash. Yeah, I’m for body wash over bar soap any day. As for hair, shampoo with conditioner should be fine, it’s too annoying to do something else. Oh, I can’t forget washcloths and bath towels. Is there anything else? ......Ah, might as well get some bath salts too. Hrmmm, I think this is it.”

After quickly paying for the stuff in my cart, I used the delivered poker to stir up the hot water.

“Let’s see...... OW!”

It’s a little too hot...

“Sui, can you add just a little bit of water here?” I got Sui to add some cold water. That got the water to the perfect temperature.

This is perfect! With that thought, I took off my clothes. Before I entered the bath, I first made sure to wash my hair, which I had only been able to rinse with water ever since I was summoned to this world.

“Guh, it’s not foaming up at all. Just how dirty is my hair......”

I finally managed to get it decently clean after 2 rounds of washing. Considering the state of my hair, I also made sure to wash my body twice.

“Good, good. This should be about it. Wait, my feet are all muddy.” Filling the wash bucket with hot water, I rinsed off my feet as I entered the bath.

And put in the usual powdered bath salts... there. By the way, I was trying out the yuzu-scented salts.

And finally, I was able to enjoy the bath.

“Hwaahhh~” I couldn’t stop my voice from leaking as I enjoyed my first bath in a long time.

“Yeah, baths are super nice...”

《Master — does it feel nice in that water?》 Sui asked, curious.

“Yeah. It’s hot so it feels nice. Do you want to get in too, Sui?”

《Yeah!》

*Ploosh*

《Woah, it’s true. Warm. This warm water feels nice, huh? It also smells nice~.》 Sui was floating in the water. It looked like Sui liked the bath, too.

I could feel my tense body loosening up while I soaked in the bath. The yuzu scent also had a relaxing effect, so I was feeling quite nice.

“Ahh~ baths are the best.” To be taking a bath while looking at the wide blue sky, what luxury.

Paradise, this is paradise. Japanese people really can’t live without baths.

Sui and I fully enjoyed the bath together. We ended up staying too long before we noticed the time, but as expected out of such an expensive bathtub, the water didn’t cool at all. It seemed like that talk about how kneading the magic stones into the clay made it harder and helped it retain heat better was true. It was expensive, but I definitely didn’t regret buying it.

After getting out of the bath and changing clothes, I started cleaning up. Clear up these stone walls... good.

“Sui, can you take care of this water, and all these bubbles here?”

《Got it~》 Sui and its clones took care of the rest.

“Man you really just want to drink something cold after getting out of a bath, huh?” I used my Online Supermarket to buy a bottle of coffee milk, and a fruit milk for Sui.

“Sui, this drink is super delicious after getting out of a bath.” Pouring out the fruit milk onto a plate, I put it in front of Sui.

《Woah, it’s true! It’s cold and sweet and good—!》

Yeah, coffee milk after getting out of a bath is also delicious.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Fel’s taking a long time to come back, isn’t he?”

《What’s taking Uncle Fel so long?》

I was waiting with Sui for Fel to return from hunting, but there was no sign of that happening. Although I don’t think he’d forget about us......

Well, I’m free, and it seems like Fel’d be hungry when he comes back, so I guess I’ll cook. What’s good? ............Ah, I have a lot of bloody horn-bull meat, it might be good to do that for the first time in a while.

I was thinking of the fast, delicious and cheap classic beef bowl.

Now that I think about it, I used to go to a shop for this whenever I really craved it on the way back from work. Man, that beef soaked in that slightly sweet sauce with rice was so good. And since you can eat it right away just by putting it on top of rice, it might be nice to make a whole lot and save it for later. I already have onions, and I should have soy sauce and sugar left, and mirin too. I’ve also got ginger, so the only thing I need is cooking sake and granulated dashi, right?

So I bought them with my Online Supermarket.

Right, let’s get to cooking.

~◇~◇~◇~

Start off by cutting the bloody horn-bull meat into thin strips. Since I’m planning on making two pots worth of beef bowl, I’ll prepare a lot. Whew — this should be enough.

From there, slice the onion into arches. Then, add water, soy sauce, sugar, cooking sake, mirin, granulated dashi, and ginger (from a tube) into a pot and lightly simmer the ingredients together. Once that’s done, add the onions, and once the onions turn clear, untangle the strips of meat and add that in as well.

The dish is finished after cooking on low heat for about 10 minutes while scooping out any scum that arises.

~◇~◇~◇~

What a good smell — really stirs the appetite. Let’s see, how’s the taste?

Trying a bite, I found that the meat was well coated in the sauce, and the onions added a nice texture. Simply put, it was good. And since I made a huge amount, to the tune of two pots worth, it seemed like this would last several meals.

But even though I took the time to make this much food, Fel still hadn’t returned. Sui must have gotten bored since it had nothing to do, so it was currently sleeping in my bag.

Seems like I still have time, so might as well make another dish to store.

I’d had occasions where I wanted this after having some beef, so I decided to go with that.

As for what the dish was, it was beef stew.

That being said, the beef stew I would make wasn’t the kind made from cooking wheat flour and roux. Doing that was annoying and too much trouble. It would need some time to boil, but if I made the base now, I could just cook it later when I had time.

First, I went to my Online Supermarket for ingredients.

I’ve got onions, but not potatoes or carrots, so I’ll get those. Other than that, if I remember correctly, I have butter, but I didn’t have ketchup or dried consommé, so I’ll get those. After that, I need a can of the important demi-glace sauce and red wine. Good, this should be all I need.

~◇~◇~◇~

Start off by cutting the bloody horn-bull into large bite-sized chunks.

Slice the onions into arches, and cut the potatoes and carrots into large bite-sized chunks as well after peeling them. Here, I make the potato cuts larger to fit my mood.

After heating up a pot and melting some butter, cook the bloody horn-bull meat after applying salt and pepper to taste until it is browned on both sides.

Then, add the onions, potatoes, and carrots into the pot and lightly cook before pouring in red wine and water until the ingredients are lightly submerged. Once this is done, throw in some cubed dried consommé and start simmering the mixture.

Simmer until the potatoes and carrots become soft while scooping out any scum that surfaces. Once they become soft, add in the can of demi-glace sauce and the ketchup, and simmer again for around 20 minutes. Once the flavors have gotten to know each other, the stew is finished. Lastly, adding butter is fine to add in some extra oomph.

~◇~◇~◇~

A taste test...

Using a can of demi-glace for beef stew really does make it easier while still maintaining flavor. Slowly cooking butter and wheat flour to make a roux is annoying and just such a ridiculously large amount of work, and if you burn it or anything it’s done. So it really is nice that using a can of demi-glace works just fine while being much simpler and harder to mess up. But still, it might be better to keep simmering for a bit longer so the flavors mix in better and the meat becomes softer ...Wait, actually, didn’t I just finish a whole stew?

I stored the finished beef stew into my Item Box.

Fel still wasn’t back.

“That guy, just how far did he go?”

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Once the sun had sunk a good ways down, Fel finally came back accompanied by a rustling sound and a parting of branches.

*THUD*

“Have you been waiting long?” Fel said as he dumped the large lizard he had in his mouth in front of me.

............Fel, guy, what’s that huge lizard?

What Fel placed in front of me looked like a lizard that was an even larger version of the Komodo dragons I’d seen on TV. It was around 5 meters long from the tip of its head to the tip of its tail.

“I followed this thing’s trail and ended up going a little far. Thanks to that, I managed to find something with a little backbone.”

No, I mean, what I wanted to know is: What the heck is that thing?

“We got blindsided by those wyverns, right? But thanks to meeting this earth dragon I have finally managed to get some real exercise.”

............Fel, what did you just say? Have my ears gone bad? “Hey, Fel, what did you just say?”

“Hm? Like I just told you, we got blindsided by those wyverns, but thanks to meeting this earth dragon, I have finally managed to get some real exercise.”

“......E-Earth... dragon?”

“That is correct. This is an earth dragon.”

I tried appraising the huge Komodo dragon laid down in front of me.

【Earth Dragon】

...............

............

......

“What the heck do you think you’re doing—!”

“Hm? What is wrong?”

“Don’t give me that, what the hell am I supposed to do with an earth dragon?!”

“And I asked what is wrong. Earth dragons are delicious. Why is this a problem?”

“Nononono, how delicious it is isn’t the issue here! The Adventurer’s guild already refused to buy the chimaera and the orthrus, you know? What the hell am I supposed to do with this thing?!”

They’ve already refused the chimaera and orthrus, so there’s no way I can show them this dragon thing, since it’s probably even stronger.

“Mm, but dragon meat really is delicious. Even if they will not buy it, can you not get them to just butcher it?”

Ah, that’s right. I can just do that. That might work, but......

“Just the butchering, huh? I’ll try asking, but since it’s a dragon and all...... I don’t know if they’ll actually do it.”

“Hrm, I see. And here I thought I would be able to eat dragon meat after such a long while. It feels like a waste, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it.”

I’ll try asking them about it, but it’s an earth dragon, after all... I’m sure the guild master and old man Johan’ll be surprised out of their wits. Sigh~

“More importantly, I smell something good. *Sniff sniff*”

More importantly? Hahh — Fel’s always doing his own thing, huh? He doesn’t even care that he just hunted down a dragon. Well, since it’s Fel, this is exactly like him.

I put the earth dragon into my Item Box since it was huge and taking up space.

“Wanna eat here?”

“Yes.”

What he would be eating here was the beef bowl. Since even though I had technically finished the beef stew, it would taste better and the meat would be softer if I cooked it a little more. Using rice that I had previously steamed and stored before, I piled a mound onto a plate and topped it high with lots of meat.

Need to wake up Sui, too.

“Sui, food.”

《Hmm? Food—?》

“That’s right, food.”

《Food~》

I gave Fel and Sui each a portion of the beef bowl (extra large).

“Hmm?! This is amazing.”

《It really is! There’s flavor on the meat and it’s great~!》

I see I see, so they both like the beef bowl. It’s good huh, beef bowls...

Now then, I should eat too. Ah, might as well put an egg on it too.

Open up the Online Supermarket and... hm? They sell this? It’s better than a regular raw egg, so let’s go with that.

I had bought some hot spring eggs.

Put a soft-boiled hot spring egg on and... mmm, looks good~

I broke apart the soft-boiled hot spring egg and let it mix in with the meat and rice, and shoved a big bite into my mouth.

“Soo good~” The presence of the egg rounds out the taste.

Ahhh, so amazingly good. Man, I want some tea... If I remember right... I took out a bottle of roasted green tea I had bought earlier from my Item Box.

*Glugluglug*

Whew, my mouth feels refreshed.

And so I once more set in on my beef bowl.

So good.

“Hey, I want more. Hm? Are you eating one with egg on top of it? How cheap. Give me one.”

《Sui wants more too — with the egg on top!》

Fine, fine.

Assembling two more extra-large portions of beef bowl and putting hot spring eggs on them, I made sure to break open the eggs before handing them over.

“Mm! It is so much better with the egg on top.”

《Sui thinks so too—!》

Seeming like they both liked the new edition to their beef bowls, the two went at the food with vigor. After several more portions, it seemed like the two of them were finally satisfied.

“Fwhoo, that was good.”

《Yeah —it was good!》

“Well then, let’s go back?”

“Indeed.”

《Yeah!》

Having decided that we were returning, I got on Fel’s back, but...... “Fel.”

“What?”

“You’re filthy.”

“W-What?!”

I hadn’t minded too much up until now, but since I had just taken a bath and gotten refreshed, the filth stood out more.

“I mean, the fur here is all clumped, and it looks like you’re covered in dust or something.”

“Th-Th-That is not true. I always make sure to properly groom myself......”

“No no, no way that’s true.” I haven’t seen you groom yourself once.

“Grrr...”

“So I’m going to spend tomorrow washing you, Fel.”

“Wha-......”

“What? Don’t tell me you’re scared of water or something?”

“Th-That is absolutely not true!”

“Then it’s fine. I’m washing you tomorrow, Fel. It’s decided.”

“Grrnrrnnrrnnrrrnr...”

Alright then, tonight I have to buy some dog shampoo and a brush to wash Fel with. Does the Online Supermarket sell dog shampoo?

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Today was the day I had planned to wash Fel. I already bought dog shampoo and a dog brush, as well as a large bath towel yesterday. The Online Supermarket did indeed have them when I looked. They also stocked a lot of varieties of pet food, and were generally well stocked with other pet products as well. It made sense, since there were more people with pets nowadays. Not only that, but it seemed like there were more owners who spared no expense for their pets than before, too.

As for me, I was just happy that I was able to get these things with my skill.

Shouldering the bag that Sui was in, I headed toward the kennel that Fel was staying at.

“Fel, we’re going outside of town today, too. We’re going to wash you, just like I told you yesterday.”

“Guh......A-Are you really going to?”

“Of course. Or what, are you actually scared of water?”

“O-Of course not. I just kind of dislike getting wet......”

“It’s not like I’m telling you to get in the water or anything, it’s fine. We’re going.”

“Mnn, fine.”

I had him take us to the same forest as yesterday.

First off, I needed to brush Fel. I needed to properly tease out all the tangles in his fur before actually washing him. So I set about doing it while trying to remember what one of my dog loving friends did. I was told that suddenly washing a dog wouldn’t get out any dirt that was stuck on clumped fur, and that properly brushing a dog to get rid of any excess fur that’s already been shed will help make it easier to shampoo as well.

“Fel, I’m gonna start off with a brushing, I’ll need to straighten out your fur.”

“S-Sure.”

I proceeded to do just that.

“Ow. Can you not be a little more gentle?”

“Sorry, sorry.” I started to take care not to pull on the skin too roughly when combing out the parts where fur was clumped together. It was much harder since he was so large.

“Whew~, this should do it.” His belly was especially rough since it was so tangled together, but I’d somehow managed to straighten out all his fur. As for the fur that had been shed off of Fel’s body and become a veritable mountain next to me...... I opened a hole in the ground with Earth magic and buried it.

Since the brushing was done, I moved over to shampoo. First I need to set up the bath... there.

《Sui, I need your help, so can you wake up?》 Sui immediately crawled out of the bag when I talked to him via telepathy.

《*Yawn* Ma-ster... whaaaat—?》

“Can you fill this with water?”

《Got it!》

Once Sui filled it with water, I hit it with a fireball to make it into hot water. After stirring it with the bathing poker I bought and checking the temperature, it was once again a little too hot, so I had Sui add some more water.

Yeah, this should be good enough. Apparently, the best temperature was just slightly lukewarm, so I followed that advice.

I scooped up the water with the wash bucket and poured it onto Fel.

“Guh......”

He seems a little tense. He really does hate getting wet.

Once I repeated the process of pouring water on Fel several times, he started fidgeting.

“Is it not over yet?”

“Not at all. More like it’s actually a real chore to get you wet since you’re so big, Fel.”

“Can you not do something about it with Sui’s Water magic?”

Ah, yeah I could have done that. How about having Sui suck up the bathwater and spit it out like a shower? Sui should be able to do that since it has the Goddess of Water, Rusalka’s blessing, and since Sui’s a slime, it should be able to use its transformation abilities to do that.

“Sui, can you suck up the water in this bath and pour it on Fel like rain? It doesn’t have to be that strong.”

《Uhmmm, Sui will try!》 Saying so, Sui extended a tentacle to the bath water to suck it up, and on the opposite end, another tentacle extended to spit the water out. It was like a hose that spat out hot water.

《Like this?》 The end of the tentacle changed form, and the water came out like it was from a shower head.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s great. Keep it like that. Nice job, Sui.”

《Ufufufu... is Sui great?》

“So great, Sui. Now then, can you keep it like this until I’m finished washing Fel?”

《Yeah, sure!》

Thanks to Sui’s shower, we managed to soak Fel all over. Now was the time to use the dog shampoo I had bought yesterday. Well, it was really a dog and cat shampoo. I had bought one that said it was recommended by vets in its product description. It was advertised that this one was good for healthy skin and wouldn’t irritate or stimulate pets too much, so it was easy to use. It also apparently had conditioner in it, which would result in soft and smooth fur. It was a little on the expensive side, but it seemed good, so I decided to buy it.

Right, if I remember correctly I should start from the neck to the shoulders, and then to the back from top to bottom. And also to make sure to be gentle and use just enough force for the dog’s preference, as I recall.

I started to shampoo from the neck, gently washing Fel.

“Fel, is there any spot that itches?”

“No, it is fine. However, you can feel free to use a bit more power.”

Ahh, right. It’s Fel, so I shouldn’t lump him in with the dogs my dog-lover friend kept.

I started going rougher, as Fel wanted.

“Ooooohhh, there, that is the spot.”

Right, right. I concentrated on the spot Fel pointed out and went hard.

“Yes. Yes, this is pretty good.”

I washed his back, his flanks, and every other bit of Fel equally. Washing with shampoo may have had a massaging effect, since Fel seemed to enjoy the feeling. I wanted to wash Fel’s face too, since we were taking the trouble, but I was pretty sure that he would hate to have bubbles and foam on his face. I still wanted to at least rinse it in warm water, though.

“Hey, Fel, I want to wash your face, are you good with the bath water?”

“Th-The face? Mmmuh, I am a man. Do it already!” Fel closed his eyes as he said that.

Wow, Fel really is bad with water. But still, there’s no need for him to work up that much resolve. For a magic beast that easily hunts high ranking monsters to be bad with water...... I know that I shouldn’t laugh, but I almost can’t help it.

“Pfft...”

“Mm? You, did you just laugh?”

“N-No, I didn’t. Sui, can you suck up the water? Pft.”

《Su—re.》

“Grrrnnn...”

“Fel, I’m washing your face now...”

“Ghh.”

*Fsshhhh* Fel’s face was washed as Sui pumped out water from its tentacle like a shower.

Yep, he should be clean by now.

“Right, we’re done.”

“Whewww.”

“Next we need to rinse off your body.”

I washed off the shampoo using Sui’s shower. Carefully, so as not to leave behind any bubbles.

I certainly wasn’t harassing Fel or anything.

“This should be good, we’re done.”

“Whew, finally.”

“I’ll wipe you down with a towel now, so— Woah! Stop that———!!!”

Just as I was about to wipe Fel down with a towel, he started shaking and splendidly spreading the water everywhere.

*Plop* *Plop* *Thap* *Plop*

“............Fel?”

“Hm? Ohh, sorry.”

“Sorry my ass, I’m all soaked now, thanks to you. Pfphbt, pfphhbbtbtbt...”

On top of that, Fel’s fur was mixed in with the water that went flying everywhere. We had come to wash Fel, but I ended up needing a shower too. *Sigh~*

As for Fel, after shaking off the water, he created a gust of warm wind to dry his body. It seemed like Wind magic was just that easy to him thanks to Ninrir’s blessing.

Fel was bad with water, but it looked like he was happy with the results of being washed, as he looked at his own body and said, “Yes.” Certainly, his white-silver fur was now glossy and smooth and very inviting.

But you need to take proper care of that, you know?

“From now on, I’ll be washing you once or twice a month. Got it, Fel?”

“Wha? Th-This is not it?”

“What are you saying? Staying filthy like that is bad for your skin, you know? Not only that, but you seem to like your fur, don’t you? We need to do proper maintenance and wash you to keep it that way.”

“Muh... N-No, I do not really......”

“Also, don’t you think keeping your fur all pretty and flowing like that is more befitting a Fenrir? You’ll disillusion everyone by showing them a filthy one.”

“Gh, a filthy Fenrir? ......Grnnnrnrnnn...”

“Well, you’ll easily be able to keep that fur just by properly washing regularly. And I’ll take responsibility and do it for you, so don’t worry. Oh also, Sui, what do you think of Uncle Fel right now?”

《Hmm —he’s fluffy and pretty and cool!》

“See? Even Sui says so.”

“Muh, fine. I will allow you to wash me once or twice a month.”

Good, now I won’t have to ride Fel while he’s all dirty. I’ll make sure to properly wash you once or twice a month, you hear?