Chapter 34: Hot Springs

“Let’s go to the hot springs!”

“Yes!”

“Huh?”

“?”

Emile and Belle agreed to my suggestion without question or thought, pretty much by reflex alone. Roland and Francette responded inquisitively. As for Layette, it seemed she didn’t even know what hot springs were.

“So, what’s a ‘hot spring’?”

You too, Emile and Belle?!

“Hot springs are where hot water flows out naturally, and it’s good for health and beauty...”

“Let’s go!”

I wasn’t even done speaking, but Francette and Belle were fully on board.

So quick to respond...

And so, we decided to go on a hot springs trip.

...Roland’s input? That was never even in consideration.

In any case, humans can’t just be working all the time. We need to play every once in a while! And so, the staff of Convenience Store Belle, plus lodgers, were off on a company trip!

＊　　　＊

“So, this seems like the place...”

We looked up a place on the map, asked around at the Hunter’s Guild and Commerce Guild, bought a drink to get some info from an old man who claimed to have traveled all over, and then finally arrived at our destination, Fire Dragon Mountain.

No, a dragon didn’t actually live there. It was just called that due to the white smoke and heat billowing up locally, which meant it was highly likely to have some hot springs. Or maybe magma flowed here long ago, and that’s where the “fire dragon” part of its name came from.

And so...

“Hot springs? Yeah, they’re here.”

Bingo.

I’d found it right away. That was anticlimactic...

“But I haven’t heard from many people who’ve actually been there... It’s pretty far.”

I found this out when gathering information at a tavern... The first guy I spoke to explained that there were hot springs around, but they were also in a mountainous region far from town, and even if you went there to soak and relax your muscles, you’d be covered in sweat and sore all over from the walk back, so it was all rather pointless.

That made sense. But since we’d come this far, I couldn’t just go home. And we weren’t in a hurry, so we could just walk slowly and camp out on the way back. I always had my camping gear in my Item Box, anyway. Besides, maybe we would end up running into some other hot springs nearby.

Yeah, no problem!

And so, I bought some local food products as camouflage, stuffed them into a dummy bag, and off we went!

“Hmm, where is it...” I muttered to myself while wearing the sensor for detecting hot springs, the “Hot Springs Sensor.”

The Hot Springs Sensor was actually the “Searcher,” a glasses-shaped target-detecting device. I had just set the target to “hot springs” this time. A reusable, eco-friendly product.

But according to the Hot Springs Sensor, it seemed that there were no other hot springs around.

...So, we ended up going all the way to the hot springs that I had originally been told about. Though, really, I should have expected this. If there had been hot springs close by, the locals would have found them at some point in the last several hundred years. Since no one had found any, they obviously didn’t exist...

We arrived there without getting lost, thanks to the Hot Springs Sensor, and set up the tents (that I’d produced from the Item Box, of course) next to the hot springs. One for the girls, one for the guys, a tent with just a roof for resting under, and a table set.

Setup was done by Francette, Emile, and Belle. Roland was useless... Though, honestly, that went for me too.

There were obviously no buildings around the hot springs, and so it was just a pool of hot water that was welling up from the ground. The hot water that overflowed cooled immediately, flowing down to the lower levels in a small stream. I didn’t know if that led into some river or just got absorbed into the ground.

There was a man-made groove where water flowed down from the hot well, leading into a hollow in the stone. This was about four and a half mats in size, with water draining out of the other side and into a stream, and it was used as a tub.

In addition, normal mountain water, which seemed to be drawn from somewhere else, was flowing next to the tub, and the amount of water flowing into it could be adjusted by moving the partition board.

“Wow, this is really well made... Though, I guess this sort of ingenuity could be expected if it’s been around for several hundred years... Okay, Roland and Emile, shoo for now.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“...All right.”

Yeah, I didn’t expect them to argue with that.

After they left, we all took off our clothes, and it was time for the hot springs!

“Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!!!”

When I stuck my right foot into the tub, I leapt into the air from the sheer heat.

...It obviously wasn’t going to be the right temperature, considering that no one had adjusted it beforehand. I might even have died if I’d jumped right in. It would have been pretty pathetic if my second life ended because I got boiled alive in a hot spring.

I closed the partition board on the hot water, then opened the side with the cold water, and waited. It seemed like it would take a while, but luckily, it wasn’t too cold and there wasn’t much wind, and with the heat coming from the water, it was manageable even while naked. We were planning on camping out for the day, anyhow, so there was no rush. It seemed like we could take our time, since Emile and Roland were probably off looking for animals or fruit to eat.

And so, the four of us were leisurely talking while naked, when...

Rustle... Three men suddenly appeared out of the bushes. Then they looked at us and froze.

“Kyaaaaaaaaa!!!”

Screams filled the air.

...From the men.

Francette and I have both lived for about thirty years. I may not have had a boyfriend for just as long, but I wasn’t going to screech in panic from kids seeing me naked at my age.

Belle had grown up in a deserted house full of boys and girls, with just one room to provide any shelter from the weather. Layette still didn’t understand any of that stuff.

In my eyes, I supposed these kids were “men,” but by the standards of the people here, they were probably only about thirteen to fourteen years old. They just happened to have bigger bodies. Basically, they were just “boys.”

And before the three of them stood Francette, brandishing the divine sword Exgram, which had been placed nearby, high above her head... naked.

In any case... “Kyaaa”?

They sounded pretty girly...

“What happened?!”

“Are you all right, Lady Kaoru?!”

Roland and Emile appeared.

I guess they would, huh...

“Gyaaaaaaaaa!!!”

This time, it was Francette and I who screamed.

Yeah, even we couldn’t keep our cool about Roland seeing us naked.

But even though Francette was screaming, she had to maintain her position to defend us, so she just stood there, trembling, face bright red.

...But our instinctive yell was “Gyaaa.”

We were so not girly...

And didn’t Roland and Emile appear a little too quickly? Where had they been this whole time?!

＊　　　＊

“...So, you’re from a nearby village?”

“Y-Yeah, we live in the village over that way. We come here once in a while...”

It was a bit far from the town, but apparently, there was a village nearby. The boys explained that they were residents there.

Well, the village was on the opposite side from the town where we’d learned about the hot springs, so I guess there was no reason for the townsfolk to mention it. There were probably other towns on the village’s side of the hot springs, so there probably weren’t a lot of opportunities for them to interact.

...Oh, and I’d already gone back to the girls’ tent to put on some clothes, of course. We would’ve been too flustered to have a conversation, otherwise.

“Well, now that you’re here, why don’t you go in after us? It’s not like the hot springs belong to us. In fact, the people from your village are the ones who have been maintaining them, so we’re probably the ones in your way... It’s probably supposed to be a mixed bath, but that’s a little... you know. So, I’m gonna have to ask you to wait.”

The boys nodded. I felt bad about making them wait, but in this case, I’d say it was definitely first come, first served. I mean, we wanted to go in first. These boys could go in later, with Roland and Emile. That way, it wouldn’t be like we forced them out.

...But the villagers probably used this place as a mixed bath, so I wondered why they had freaked out when they saw us naked.

Could it be that they were surprised by how flat I was...?

Hey, shut up!

Curious, I asked them about it, and they turned bright red. Ah, so young... I thought, then realized they were looking at Francette and Belle.

Is it my chest? My eyes? ...Both? Damn it! Wait, why was one of the three boys looking at Layette?! Wh-Why you... Don’t tell me...

Oh, she just reminded him of his younger sister, from when he used to take care of her? I-I see...

And so, I let Roland and Emile keep watch on the boys, while the rest of us enjoyed the hot springs.

Oh, I know!

A lion-head-shaped container with a little bit of potion inside. Hot water that runs through it will absorb some of its nutrients, providing beautifying, healing, and relaxing properties. Appears perfectly fitted where the hot water comes out!

I pictured the details in my mind perfectly, so it’d work.

And it appeared, just as I imagined. You know, that lion head thing that spouts hot water from its mouth. Like it’s barfing... Wait, that’s actually kinda gross! No, not like barf! Anyway, the lion head was stuck to the stone, and water being poured into the back of the head came out of its mouth. It was just an ornament... or so it seemed.

We’d traveled all the way out here, so I wanted to do something a little nice for the always hard-working Francette. Every once in a while, she’d go to sword-training dojos to fight the students there, usually ten at a time, so she wouldn’t lose her edge, and she always came back with bruises on her body. Whenever I tried to heal her with potions, she refused, saying it wasn’t necessary for such minor wounds. But I’d feel guilty for Roland’s sake if she ended up sustaining too many bruises and wounds. So, I made the effects more subtle.

And don’t pick on people weaker than you too much, Francette.

...Don’t come home with a signboard, okay?!

“Wh-What is that...?”

“You gotta have one of these in the hot springs. In my world, every hot spring has a lion at the spout. Yup!”

That wasn’t true, of course. Besides, a lion would probably look out of place in Japanese hot springs.

“I-I see...”

Francette looked at it dubiously, but Belle and Layette were all over the lion head. The potion wouldn’t affect their hands or anything just by touching the lion head, so I didn’t stop them.

I also made it so the lion head would break and lose all of its effects if forcefully removed, just in case. Everything I made had a self-destruct mechanism, besides the single-use stuff. Even if it only had a mild effect, some influential or rich person could abuse it and cause a lot of trouble.

The women of the world would be greatly drawn to such an item, even if the effects were minute, so it was possible that one of them would make their influential husband or lover fight for it. How fearsome a woman’s desire for beauty can be...

...Me? Give me kind-looking eyes, breasts, and more height! Damn it, I should have negotiated with Celes better...

No, I was going to fight fair and square with this appearance and with the genes I’d been given by my parents! I wasn’t gonna cheat with my potions! I’d play the hand I’d been dealt...

“Why are you making funny faces?”

I wasn’t!!!

Anyway, us four girls started doing girl talk, but...

There was nothing to talk about! My age was equivalent to my history without a boyfriend. Belle and Emile were technically a couple, but they didn’t seem any different from when they had been orphans together. Layette was out of the question. That left...

“Francette, how are things with Roland?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Oh, you know, just wondering how far you’ve gone...”

“What? We’ve been with you this entire time, so we haven’t gone anywhere else since we left Grua...”

“...”

Belle and I exchanged looks, then I sighed.

She’s hopeless...

So, I soaked in the water until my fingertips got wrinkly, then put my clothes on and called the guys over.

“That was way too long!”

Oh, I guess it was...

“Whoa, what the heck is that?!”

They were surprised by the unfamiliar object.

“What kind of animal is that?”

Huh? They didn’t know what a lion was? Maybe lions didn’t exist in this world, or at least not around here...

Well, there was no TV or animal encyclopedia, so maybe that wasn’t unusual. If there wasn’t any TV to watch, weren’t any books to read, or any zoos to visit, I probably wouldn’t have had an opportunity to see a lion, either. Not like they had lion mascots or anything like that, either.

I just laid around the girls’ tent, listening to them talk in awe.

＊　　　＊

“You want us to visit your village?”

“Y-Yeah. It’s really close, only about two hours away. It’s a small village, but a nice place. There are freshly picked vegetables, yams, and we’ve even got dishes with deer and boar meat! They’re all really good!”

Oooh, deer and boar meat! And yams! ...But why were they looking around with shifty eyes?

Well, I was gonna go anyway. In this world, a two-hour walk was considered “really close.” Though, I had to say, I was having a hard time believing that children would invite three armed strangers from another land to their homes so readily. Rural villagers are far more insular and suspicious of outsiders than most city folk might think. Well, maybe that’s biased on my end, but at least it was true in my own experience.

“Why did you accept their invitation? Wasn’t it a bit suspicious?”

“It was pretty suspicious.”

“It was...”

Afterward, when I told the boys, “I guess we can check it out, then,” one of them stayed behind to be our guide, and the other two said they were returning to the village because they ‘had something to do.’ They were obviously heading back first to prepare something...

We still hadn’t gotten a chance to enjoy the hot springs to the fullest, so we weren’t leaving quite yet. The plan was to stay for two nights and three days before heading out. Even in Japan, a hot springs trip of only one night and two days meant that you’d arrive in the evening, have a meal, and soak in the water once, only to leave in the morning, which just left you tired from going there and back with no time to relax. If you’re going to the hot springs, you’re supposed to stay there for a while and spend your time in blissful leisure. Get into the hot springs, get out, repeat. And, occasionally, maybe walk around to check out the local tourist sites...

I wondered what the small village in the mountains had in store to entertain us.

A village of bandits that robbed travelers blind? A village of criminals that lived with the families of human traffickers? It wasn’t like I went around doing good deeds and volunteer work as a hobby, but if they wanted us to visit, then so be it.

I would go, along with the Fearsome Einherjar, the Valiant Royal Brother, and the Self-Detonating Fanatic...

“So, you want to go, knowing full well how suspicious this is...” Francette gave me an exasperated look, but I didn’t mind.

“Yup. It seems interesting. Besides, I’m not one to back down from a challenge.”

“...I know.”

“I know...”

Layette repeated after Francette and Belle, despite not knowing what they were talking about. What a cutie.

The boy who had stayed behind to be our guide had also gone to the men’s tent with the other guys. So, we had this discussion with just the girls.

“If it’s a bandit village, we’re going to wipe them out. We’ll try to catch them without killing anyone, but our safety is the main priority, so don’t hesitate to kill or incapacitate anyone if you sense that you’re in any danger. I can cure anyone as long as they’re not dead, anyway.”

*nod, nod*

“I’d like to save the children, if at all possible, but they may already be trained to think a certain way and be beyond help. If they try to kill us without showing any remorse, take them out. The lives of my friends are a million times more important to me than some bandit kid’s. Think of it this way. Risking your life to save a criminal doesn’t mean you’re putting just your own life in danger, but you’re also putting my valued servant’s life in danger.”

*nod, nod*

There, now they should understand.

Every life is equally precious? If there’s some idiot who thinks some grimy old bandit’s life is worth just as much as Layette’s, bring them to me! I’ll straighten them out with an hour-long lecture! The choice between saving either an evil-looking, violent bandit, or a beautiful little girl, isn’t even a question.

What’s that? What if the choice was between an evil-looking, entirely average citizen and a beautiful little bandit girl? Uh. Urggh...

W-Well, anyway!

“Which one should we prioritize in that case, Kaoru?”

“Yes, we need to make sure we would know what to do!”

Francette and Belle pressed on.

Uhh...

“I-In that case, you should figure it out yourself!”

“Hey, you avoided the question!”

“She did...”

Sh-Shut up!

And so, after enjoying the hot springs for two more nights, we packed up the tent a little before the second daytime bell (around three in the afternoon) and started moving toward the village. During our trip, our guide had eaten his fill of the meals I made, so he was full of energy. He had also started doing some post-meal exercise... or, rather, he was attempting martial arts. Roland and Francette found this amusing and gave him some pointers, which the boy took very seriously. Emile and Belle joined in, turning it into an impromptu martial arts class.

Eat, train, hot springs (with healing effects)... This cycle was repeated over and over again. It goes without saying that this was highly effective. Having made visible progress in such a short time, with the guidance of professionals, the boy was in high spirits as he guided us toward the village. It really didn’t feel like they were bandits setting a trap. The other two boys that had gone ahead to the village had just seemed like normal kids, and I hadn’t gotten the impression that they were criminal types...

Maybe I was just being overly cautious? Though, dying from being overly cautious sounded a lot better than dying from a lack of caution, so that was fine by me. It wasn’t like I was inconveniencing anyone, anyway.

Two hours or so later, we arrived at a small village in the mountains.

Although it was just a village, its perimeter was surrounded by a wooden fence. No military force was going to invade all the way out here, so maybe it was a bandit village, after all...

“It’s for the wild beasts and monsters,” Francette told me, upon seeing the look on my face and sensing what was in my head.

Come to think of it, those structures just wouldn’t be enough to stop human invaders. It wasn’t an issue of durability, but a human could just slip through the openings or climb over the top, so it was likely there to stop beasts and monsters, which would likely rely solely on brute force rather than wits. The fencing was only around the residential area, which was lined with houses, and the fields could be seen outside. I figured the fences were designed to stop monsters that ate humans, rather than the small animals that ate the crops, and putting up enough fencing to cover everything wasn’t efficient.

As we walked toward the entrance section of the fence, some people working in the fields just outside the fences came over and gathered around us.

“Ohh, it’s not every day we get visitors. Welcome. Well, enjoy your stay!”

“O-Okay...”

Hmm...

Everyone welcomed us with pleasant smiles. They were hard at work in their fields, and none of them struck me as bad people. They just seemed like Villager A, Villager B, Villager C, etc. It seemed that I had been mistaken in assuming that this would be a village full of bandits. But something was still bothering me...

Normally, a village that was so far off from the main roads, with no regular visitors to speak of, should have been pretty wary of outsiders. Not to mention, three out of the six of us were armed with swords, two of those were wearing expensive-looking gear, and for all they knew, we could’ve been a bunch of lower-class nobles or knights in name only, here to make unreasonable demands and take advantage of their hospitality. We didn’t seem like the kind of guests who’d be the most welcome...

Plus, this was a small village. I found it hard to believe that those boys, who should have returned two days ago, hadn’t spread the news about us yet. Interesting news spread like wildfire in places like this, and we should’ve been the talk of the whole village...

But they were acting as if nothing had happened.

Hmm...

Well, I supposed that meant it was too early to let my guard down. I shot Roland and Francette a glance, and they gave me a faint nod in return. They were pros when it came to battle and intrigue, so that was expected of them. Unlike low-ranking soldiers, knights and royals were learned in the ways of subtlety and trickery.

Several villagers walked up to talk to us, and in the meantime, I saw two or three of them moving toward the entrance of the fence. I figured that they were heading off to let the others know about us. It seemed like they were just ordinary farmers, and had no intention of using force on us...

Well, I was sure there were people with other occupations among them, like hunters and woodcutters, but in any case, they didn’t seem like a group of criminals. Still, there was something off about them that kept me from dismissing this as just a normal village. The way those two boys had left, while leaving one of their number behind, felt very unnatural to me. They should have all left or all stayed together as a group. Though, really, it would’ve been a huge deal if they hadn’t returned at all for two whole days without alerting their families, so the latter was pretty unlikely.

But why would they leave a kid with a bunch of strangers they had just met, especially since those strangers were planning on staying for two more nights? And didn’t they think the boy’s family would freak out when they delivered that news? Not to mention, the boy’s family had never come to meet up with the boy over these past two days, despite being a mere two-hour walk away.

...Well, I supposed that answered my question.