First Bath – Take a Dip in Another Dimension

Do you know about the ‘summoned to another world’ genre? It’s the genre where a character gets summoned from modern-day Earth into another world. I’d always liked these kinds of stories, but they had only been fiction in my mind. I never thought anything like that would actually happen – until one week ago.

I was riding the train home from school as usual, when suddenly I found myself in the center of a magical circle on the floor of a chalk white temple. My seat disappeared, and I fell smack on my butt. It was a temple where they worshiped the Goddess of Light. There, I was greeted by the elder of the temple and a girl who called herself a princess. Behind them stood a line of people with swords, who looked to be either knights or soldiers. It seemed like a smart choice to do as they said.

The two in front of me explained that they had summoned me because their oracle claimed the demon lord was coming back to life. Apparently, the hero who previously sealed away the demon lord also came from my world – Japan, in fact – which is why they summoned me, too. Then, they explained that I would be given a gift. In other words, they were hoping that I’d be able to use my gift in order to prevent the demon lord’s resurrection.

I figured that due to the situation, I’d be better off not asking why the goddess didn’t have the courtesy to just invite me over, or why they had to forcibly summon me here out of the blue. At first, I thought they were just going to toss me out into the wild with minimal support, like a video game, but since the prestige of the kingdom was riding on this summoning, they’d actually put a lot of thought into the preparation. After I underwent the training to awaken my gift in the temple, both the royal family and the temple were going to help me prepare before I left on my journey. Of the three people who were summoned to the castle before me, one said he only needed three days of preparation, but the sacred king told him that was crazy and ordered him to take his time. It’s not like I intended to skimp on my preparations, but first I wanted to know what I’d be dealing with. I had just been summoned to this strange new world, and had no idea what to expect.

“How am I supposed to fight with this?” I complained to the temple elder.

He had a long white beard, and had basically been put in charge of me. He even helped me research the Unlimited Bath a little. I wanted to see if other people could also use the bath, so I invited him inside. For some reason, when he saw hot water burst out from the shower head, he cried out: “This must be divine providence from the Goddess of Light!”

“Ah... I suppose it’s about time I gave you this,” he said.

“A status card, huh?” I replied, as the elder handed me what looked like a green credit card.

In this world, there existed ‘levels’ and ‘stats’ that measured how strong each person was, and this card contained all of that information. First, there was HP (Health Power), which measured exhaustion. Next came MP (Magic Power), which measured magical capacity, and VIT (Vitality), which measured physical resilience. STR (Strength) measured muscular strength, MEN (Mentality) measured mental fortitude and acuity, and TEC (Technique) measured dexterity and agility.

There was no stat that indicated intelligence. Apparently, since it was a combination of various elements such as wisdom and cogitative capacity, it couldn’t be measured in a single stat.

Levels acted as markers for a person’s overall strength. Apparently, total stats were boosted by any sort of blessings that the person had earned. So just because someone had a high level, it didn’t necessarily mean they had high stats, and the opposite was also true.

“Over half the strength of every person in this world comes from the strength of their blessings. And since you’ve been blessed by the Goddess of Light, you have the potential to become far stronger than any of us,” the elder said.

“Whoa, hold on a minute,” I interjected. “I don’t even have a special attack or anything.”

The elder claimed that my blessing was enough to allow me to fight, but I had trouble sharing his optimism. I was only Level 1, and judging from the radar chart that appeared next to them, my stats were all below average. My MP and MEN were slightly on the higher end, but the elder told me that they had only risen since I used them a lot while researching the Unlimited Bath. He went on to say that with a lot more training, I could grow strong enough to defeat the demon lord. If he thought that’d make me feel better, he was really missing the point.

Then, I saw the elder’s card. He was Level 28. His stats were all fairly high, and they were all way higher than mine. It made me want to ask why he didn’t just go fight the demon lord himself.

“The presence of the demon lord is a great threat to our world, and the monsters grow more and more violent with each day. We need to be strong just to survive,” he said. I guess he’d noticed my lack of motivation and decided to change his approach.

Unfortunately, there was no way for summoned heroes to return home. Their very first king had been a hero summoned from my world, and no one could fathom why I would want to go back.

“This card belongs to you now. Take it with you, for it’s the most reliable identification card that our world possesses.”

The elder’s words echoed in my mind. “We need to be strong just to survive.” He probably figured out exactly how I was feeling, and was trying to hint to me that I’d still need to get strong even if I couldn’t fight the demon lord. It left me with some complicated feelings, but I decided that the elder probably had good intentions.

After we spoke, I headed into the temple hallway. As I neared my room, I heard people talking in the courtyard.

“Yah! Hiya! Hooah!”

“That’s it, Lady Haruno! Oh, you’re sweating...”

“Thank you, Sera.”

I followed the voices to see a girl with long black hair swinging a wooden sword around. Next to her stood a cleric who was wiping the sweat off her cheek. The black-haired girl was Haruno Shinonome, another person who’d been summoned along with me, and Sera was one of the clerics who had been charged with teaching us how to fight.

Now that the four other heroes had all awakened their gifts, Sera was glued to Shinonome’s side. I didn’t remember doing any sword practice during my gift training, but it had already been a week since then, and Shinonome remained the only one who had yet to awaken. I guess they were simply trying everything they could. I mean, it was bad enough that I had awakened a powerless gift like the Unlimited Bath, but since Shinonome had yet to awaken anything at all, she was in a very tough position. I hoped she’d manage to awaken it as quickly as possible, but it was a personal problem that I couldn’t really help with, so I just kept walking to my room as I watched them.

There was something cute about the way Shinonome’s lustrous black hair enveloped her beautiful face. She looked like a truly traditional Japanese girl, which was a rarity in those days. From the moment I saw her when she was first summoned, I felt she had a rare beauty that just demanded your full attention.

Sera had long, slightly wavy, blonde hair, and looked to be around the same age as me, but she had more of a mature aura to her. She also seemed to be a very serious person. Both of them were wearing sporty clothes for their sword practice, but Shinonome was wearing gym clothes straight out of a Japanese school. Either she had been summoned while she was coming home from school, or she had been carrying them around in a backpack. At first glance, Shinonome seemed to be a quiet, dainty girl, perhaps from a well-to-do family, but she actually looked pretty imposing while holding a sword. Maybe she practiced kendo back home?

“So cute...” I unconsciously murmured.

Yeah, cute. That was the simplest way to put it. They were both cute. If I had to use two words, I’d say they were ‘super cute.’ Just how cute were they? Well, if I saw them out in the town, even I would be drawn to muster up whatever little courage to call out to them.

I raised my hand to say hello, but then decided that I had no business talking to such radiant flowers and gave up. It seemed that they had noticed me, though, because they both nodded in my direction. Sera smiled, while Shinonome looked a bit embarrassed.

I glanced around. There was no one else in sight. They really are looking at me. In a panic, I hastily nodded back. I just hoped they hadn’t heard what had slipped out of my mouth.

I could no longer handle them watching me, so I nodded once more, then clumsily spun around and escaped. Although I didn’t notice it at the time, they kept staring at me until I was out of sight.

After my escape, I had two temple guards escort me into town. I had remained cooped up in the castle until I awakened my gift, and was eager to get a look at this new world. The scenery outside the temple brought to mind historical images of European cities that I had seen on TV. Since there was magic, though, everything looked a lot tidier than the actual middle ages.

According to what I heard in the temple, this was a city-state composed of one city and the surrounding region. The state was called Jupiter, and this was its capital, Jupiteropolis. Its current king had inherited the blood of the hero who defeated the demon lord, and was known as the sacred king. Due to that, the city was often called the sacred king’s Capital of Jupiter, or just the Sacred Capital.

The guards told me the city was in the middle of a festival that commemorated the beginning of spring, and guided me through the brick buildings toward the town square. The pathways were very tight, and even when we got to the ‘main street,’ the widest street in town, it was still only about three meters wide. Meanwhile, those cramped streets were only about half that size. The town was surrounded by a wall in order to keep monsters out, but that also limited the amount of habitable space, so they couldn’t widen the roads willy-nilly. The main street was only bigger than the others was so that carriages could pass through, and the tallest structures were only about three stories high.

It all looked like a scene right out of a movie. There were no modern-looking buildings, and it appeared that I was looking at the biggest piece of architecture in the whole kingdom. The guards claimed that the countryside had wider roads, although the houses there were much smaller. Obviously, what I thought of as normal didn’t really apply to this world.

The guards led me into San Pilaca Square, a wide open, circular space surrounded by two rows of marble pillars. Beyond the square, I could see San Pilaca Cathedral. “What does San Pilaca mean?”

“That’s the name of the arch-cleric who fought alongside the first sacred king.”

The first sacred king had taken three allies with him on his quest. It sounded just like an RPG. Incidentally, ‘San’ was a title given to saintly people who achieved particularly commendable deeds during their lifetime. It sounded like ‘San’ was their equivalent of the ‘Sei’ (Sacred) character in Japanese.

San Pilaca created San Pilaca Square right before he passed away. The inner pillars were lined with statues of other historical saints, while there was a large knight statue in the center. According to the guards, the knight in the center was the first sacred king. He was clad in armor and a helmet that looked like a fusion between knight and samurai garb. The first sacred king had fought the demon lord over 500 years ago, which would have been right during Japan’s Warring States Period. With that in mind, it made sense that he sort of looked like a samurai.

Near the first sacred king’s statue were about 30 people wearing armor, lined up in rows of two as they slowly crossed their blades.

“What are those people doing? Don’t tell me they’re fighting...”

“Oh, that’s just the main event of the festival,” one guard said.

“They’re singing about the history of the battle between the first sacred king and the demon lord, and expressing it through a dance,” the other added.

“Oh, so it’s just a performance... Er, a musical?”

As I listened, I noticed that each person either wore a set of white or black armor, in order to represent the sacred king and demon lord’s forces. Aside from matching their swords together, they also worked in their shields, and there was a lot of variation to their movements. I watched as one white soldier spun around a black one and slid his sword across the man’s neck. There was a beat, and then the black soldier fell. If it had been real, blood probably would have spurted out from his neck. It looked like an assassination more than any kind of fight, though. Maybe the actual battle between the sacred king and the demon lord was much more brutal and violent than what the words ‘hero and demon lord’ brought to the mind of a modern day guy like myself.

And now I have to jump right in the middle of this mess... With the Unlimited Bath, a gift that’ll be absolutely useless in every battle. A shiver ran down my neck, and I decided not to over-analyze it for the time being.

In between the two pillar circles was a corridor filled with spectators. Every time there was a development in the performance, they’d cheer loudly.

Am I the only scared one here? Or maybe everyone who’s afraid simply didn’t come to watch this. I guess the people who are enjoying this just think this danger doesn’t apply to them.

Either way, I didn’t like it. I decided to leave as quickly as possible, to my guards’ chagrin. It really did seem like enjoying that violent festival was the normal thing to do here.

Afterwards, I stopped by an open café near the square. The two guards recommended a drink known as con panna. After waiting a bit, I received an espresso in a small white cup that came with an even smaller cream-filled cup. Apparently, the cream was meant for the coffee, but people also ate the leftover cream afterwards. And it was all made using magic.

I guess magic can be pretty convenient...

I poured half of the cream into the coffee and gave it a sip. It tasted good, and the cream was just sweet enough. After I poured the cream in, I realized it was the exact same thing as Vienna coffee.

There weren’t many customers around, so we could really kick back and relax. It seemed like most people had gone off to watch the performance. The only unfortunate thing was that I had to sit and drink my coffee with two other guys. Could you really blame me for wishing they had been Shinonome and Sera instead? Now that I think about it, I probably should have invited them along with us. It seemed like Shinonome was frustrated over how she couldn’t awaken her gift, so it might have been the perfect way for her to take a break. Maybe it would have been strange for me to invite her, but Sera probably would’ve been considerate enough to push things in the right direction.

After we ate some more and did some shopping, I returned to the temple. Back in my room, I started thinking about what I would do from here on out. After narrowing it down, I realized I basically needed two things: money and power. Since there was no way for me to go back home, I was forced to build a life in this world. The money I used for shopping near the square was all given to the guards by the temple elder. They’d probably keep helping me prepare for my journey, but that would be it. I might gain more support later by doing heroic deeds, but there was no way I could beat the demon lord with the Unlimited Bath. I had to accept that all my support would be cut off the moment I departed. I needed to find a way to keep making money on the road, not to mention protect myself.

In this world, monsters didn’t drop money and stuff when you killed them. There did exist hunters who took meat and skins from the monsters they killed, and sold them in order to make a living, but I doubted I’d be able to compete with them.

“Hold on a minute...”

Suddenly, I realized something. The Unlimited Bath didn’t just allow people to bathe, it also created bath products such as soap. Everything inside was created from my MP, which meant that even if some items were taken out, I could just close the door and reopen it again later, then use my MP to make more. The key here was whether the soap would remain intact even after removing it from the bath.

I might be able to sell this stuff.

Even if it used up my MP, I’d only need to rest in order to replenish it. I had the mathematical knowledge of an average high schooler, which meant that I at least had a fighting chance of becoming a merchant. And so, I decided to become a soap merchant in this strange new world, and live out a modest life far away from any heroes or demon lords. I also planned to find a cute wife and start a happy family.

If Shinonome never awakens her gift, I’ll look after her. No, wait, I should just marry her.

I walked over to the temple elder’s room with footsteps so light I almost felt like skipping. The idea was just so perfect, I could hardly contain myself.

“–thus, I’m going to live out a modest life as a soap merchant!”

“It’s true that soap that effective doesn’t exist in our world. We probably wouldn’t be able to recreate it.”

“Right? Right? I’m sure I’ll be able to sell a ton!”

“But, how much would you charge for it? If you sell it too cheap, you may run into problems with the people you hire to prepare and peddle it.”

“Urk...” The elder’s words had left me speechless. “Well then, maybe I could sell it as a high end product...”

“So you’d be targeting nobles and wealthy people. Considering its high quality, it could get rave reviews and become a hit.”

“Then my plan would be a success!”

“Perhaps... But it may be hard for you to live a modest life, in that case. If people found out that a hero was engaging in such a venture...”

Oh no. This is bad. I can see it now... ‘If you’ve got time to do that, then why don’t you go and defeat the demon lord?!’ People will gossip and call me a coward behind my back.

I thought it would’ve worked as long as no one found out I was a hero, but it seemed as if things wouldn’t be that easy. And so, within a matter of minutes, the temple elder had shattered all my hopes.

“Incidentally, do you have any interest in learning cleric spells?” After we finished our discussion, the elder spoke up again.

“You want me to become a cleric?”

“Cleric spells are techniques. Becoming a cleric is a way of life. They’re two different things.”

According to the cleric, some of the people who hunted monsters had access to basic cleric spells, such as Healing Light. As you might have guessed, that spell produced a light capable of healing wounds. Usually, people needed to make contributions to temples in order to learn such spells, but the elder was willing to teach me some as a means of support. I had comparatively high MP and MEN stats, which both affected magic. Since the Unlimited Bath required MP, it was a given that those stats would keep rising over time, which meant that learning more magic would be a pretty good idea. I am in a fantasy realm, after all... I guess it won’t hurt to learn a few spells.

“Okay. Please teach me all you can.”

“Ho ho ho! Just leave it to me.” Once I agreed, the elder stroked his long beard and let out a gentle laugh.

Of course I wouldn’t be allowed to go on living in the temple long enough to learn every single spell they had to offer. I couldn’t force the elder to stick with me for that long, either. So on the next day, aside from my magic lessons with the elder, I acquired a cleric spellbook and started studying on my own. At first, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to read it. But for some reason, even though I didn’t recognize the script at all, I was able to understand the book without any problems. It was really strange.

I later discovered that the Goddess of Light’s blessing also allowed summoned heroes to read and understand the common language. It felt very odd to understand letters that I had never seen before, but I definitely wasn’t complaining. I also had the goddess to thank for giving a modern Japanese guy like me the ability to use cleric spells. Even the people in this world needed to be blessed in order to use them.

The elder later taught me that magic in this world could be split into two big categories: cleric spells, and everything else. Cleric spells existed as a systematized set of techniques, while all other magic was sort of lumped together.

As I started learning, I came up with another idea. Instead of wash bowls, I could take some barrels into the Unlimited Bath, fill them with water, then sell them to water merchants. That’s right – even though the elder had just told me that my soap plan was a bad idea, I was already cooking up something else. The water that came out of the Unlimited Bath didn’t have any special powers. It was just pure water. But unlike modern day Japan, there weren’t any water purifiers in this world, so pure water still had a lot of value.

I guess if someone went into the remote wilderness, they might be able to find some, so it isn’t completely unattainable, but... If I can match up the price and quantity to the demand, I should have no problems selling it. I hope.

Of course, I only planned to do this in order to save up some money for my travels. The elder told me that the other heroes weren’t planning things that thoroughly, but without money, I wasn’t going to get anywhere, so I just let his words roll off me. Long story short, I had the elder introduce me to a merchant who had dealt with the temple before, and who’d also be interested in buying my water.

I’m educated, so I should have an advantage over these people in terms of mathematics... then again, I’m going up against a pro. Are my math skills even going to matter to a professional merchant?

I sat nervously in the temple’s reception room, until a portly man walked in.

“Hello there. I heard all about the details. Are you the hero?” He gave me an affable smile.

The merchant looked to be on the late end of middle age, with balding white hair and a white beard. His shirt was also white, and he wore a very sharp, straightened vest over it. He was short and stout, but he looked like an experienced traveler, so I imagined there was some muscle mixed in with that fat.

He sat down across the table from me, and we began our negotiations. “Nice to meet you. My name’s Touya.”

“Sir Touya, yes? My name is Kopan.”

Kopan had come to this state in order to sell goods he gathered in another state. Jupiter was a big city, but it didn’t have many specialties. The state provided food and other living supplies, but didn’t seem very interested in adding new products to their lineup.

“But Goddess Spring Water is a different story altogether!” Kopan said.

That was the name I had given my new product. I couldn’t just call it ‘pure water,’ now could I? I thought about calling it ‘Touya Water,’ but that was too embarrassing, so I went with my next best idea. Besides, it came from a gift that was given to me by the Goddess of Light herself, so it wasn’t like I was lying or anything.

“You did well calling on a merchant such as myself! Speaking of which, Sir Hero, it’s been a while since I began my journey, and I’ve noticed that the monsters have been getting more and more ferocious as of late. In fact, just the other day...”

“Y-yes?”

A torrent of words began spilling out from Kopan’s mouth. I expected it to be business talk, but all of a sudden he switched over to talking about the current state of the world. I couldn’t help but feel that he was trying to put the squeeze on me a little, especially considering the topic he’d chosen.

This is bad. He’s overwhelming me... And he’s quite the chatterbox.

“H-hold on a minute!” I forced Kopan to stop talking. I wasn’t sure if this was the right way to do things, but I had a feeling that it’d be dangerous to let him keep a firm grip on the reins of this conversation.

“Yes? What is it?”

“Uh, err... First, I’d like you to take a look at the product.”

“Oh, may I see it already?!”

Good, he seems interested. Wasting no time, I had a temple servant bring in a jar of the water.

“Oh my goodness!” Even this chatterbox was silenced once he took a look inside the jar.

Purified water was a rare sight in this world. Even the elder had agreed that it was pure enough to earn the ‘Goddess’ title.

“Well?”

“There’s no need to discuss this any further! Please let me purchase it!”

I had planned to settle the terms little by little while he was still awestruck, but Kopan regained his composure much quicker than I’d expected. Oh well. At least he’ll definitely buy. Now we just need to negotiate a price.

“I know you mentioned how rare and valuable it is, but if the price is too high, it’ll become difficult to do business. We aren’t dealing with a jewel, after all. So, here’s what I was thinking...” Kopan began.

“That should work. I have five whole barrels, after all. How much will it be?”

“Don’t be silly! We’ll be able to sell all that Goddess Spring Water in a single day!”

“That’s okay! I can prepare more every day.”

“Oh my!”

“Anyway, if you buy it for this much, I could sell it exclusively to you until my departure...”

“Hmm. That’s a very attractive proposal... Okay, you win! You’ve got yourself a deal!” Kopan slapped his knee and announced defeat.

Possibly due to the fact that I had an overwhelming advantage, I managed to sell the water for a higher price than the elder had suggested. For the time being, it looked like this business venture would be a success.

Afterwards, we decided on the details, such as the time of collection, and made the terms official. When we shook hands at the end, Kopan was smiling. He seemed to think this was a pretty good deal as well. I also decided I’d save the money I made for travel expenses.

Finishing my discussion with Kopan, I left the reception room and headed back to my quarters. After mulling it over, I decided I’d have them make me a hose while I was still building up support funds for my preparations. A hose would make it much easier to transport water from the bath, and would surely come in handy for future business. Even if they couldn’t make me something like the rubber hoses back in my world, I was hopeful they’d at least be able to create something similar.

As thoughts kept crowding my mind, I suddenly heard a voice behind me. “Um, may I have a moment of your time?”

“Yes?” As I turned around, I was startled to see who was standing there, and hurriedly sat up straight. Sera was standing right behind me, clad in a loose, white robe. “Wh-what’s the matter?”

She was 18, one year older than me, a beautiful, ‘big sister’ type with a gentle air to her. Her voice sounded a bit shrill, possibly out of nervousness.

“I, um, I have a request for you, Sir Touya...”

“What is it?”

Sera fidgeted nervously as she spoke. This side of her was pretty cute as well.

Maybe her request has something to do with Shinonome?

“Um... Could you allow the children to use your bath?”

“...What?” Now I sounded a bit shrill, for an entirely different reason.

Sera went on to explain that the orphans who lived at the temple had become very curious about the Unlimited Bath. Barrels full of clean water kept coming out from the door in the courtyard, so naturally they were interested. It wasn’t just children, though – there were a lot of curious adults gathered around watching.

“By the way, where’s Shinonome?” I asked.

“I don’t want her pushing herself too hard and getting hurt, so I gave her the day off.”

“Oh...” I was glad to hear that Shinonome was resting, but I hoped it wasn’t because she felt she couldn’t go on anymore.

It seemed that word of the Unlimited Bath had already spread around the temple, so I didn’t mind letting children use it. “It’s a bit cramped, though.”

“That’s fine. It’s only a few kids. They’re very curious about that ‘shower’ thing, so I hoped you could let them use it.”

In this world, there existed large bathhouses, like the kind you’d see in Ancient Rome. Aside from those, the only people who owned their own private bathtubs were a handful of wealthy people. Compared to those, the Unlimited Bath was much smaller, probably even more than Sera imagined.

“It’d be dangerous to let small children use it on their own, so we’ll need someone to watch them,” I said.

“I understand. I plan to take care of them myself.”

“...You’re going to go in with them?”

“But of course.”

“Just so you know, I have to be inside in order to activate the bath, so that means we’ll be in there together.”

“I don’t mind.”

My heart began to pound as I watched Sera calmly give me a small nod of confirmation. Just for the record, I wasn’t hiding any nefarious motive – I really had to be inside in order to create any water, be it hot or cold.

“I-it really is cramped, though, so we’ll have to split them up into smaller groups.”

After I showed her the inside of the Unlimited Bath, she looked around and suggested splitting the kids into groups of three. The bath was only large enough to barely fit two adults, or about four small children. Sera was right in guessing that three would be the limit for a comfortable dip.

It must seem cramped to her. She’s from a world where there are only big public bathhouses and luxurious private bathtubs, after all.

In the end, I agreed to let the children into the Unlimited Bath, and I couldn’t deny that knowing Sera would be joining them gave me a little motivation. Sera was going to take care of them, not bathe herself, so she wore a shirt and shorts like yesterday, rather than stripping naked – but I had no regrets. This would be fantastic in its own right. It allowed me to see her pale thighs extending out from her shorts, as well as her well-shaped, perky breasts pushing up from beneath her thin shirt. Despite how her usual robe attire made her seem, Sera was someone who looked slimmer when she wore clothes. She had her hair tied behind her head in a chignon, which allowed me to see a rare sight – the back of her neck.

Still, I knew enough to realize that if I gave her any weird, long stares, she’d only return them with cold, disapproving eyes. The Unlimited Bath was cramped to begin with, but now we were just one degree removed from being smushed up against one another. I even felt like I could get a whiff of Sera’s wonderful scent mixed in with that of the soap. I almost lost it for a moment, but struggled to keep my legs firm and retain my composure. I needed to keep my mind calm, act normal, and explain how to use the bath. They certainly wouldn’t know how to use the shampoo, and it could hurt them if it got in their eyes, so I needed to explain every last detail.

Once I started working together with Sera, I realized just how difficult it was to give a group of children a bath. It was their first time seeing all the things that the Unlimited Bath held, so they all got really excited. They especially loved the shower, and the first three girls inside took turns using it to wash themselves.

Sera got wet as she washed the children, and, well, the water made her shirt turn a bit see-through. No, no... I kept telling myself, and quickly averted my eyes. I won’t say what I saw, but it was a pale yellow color. I felt like I was going to end up staring at it the entire time, so I moved to the changing area and helped dry off the kids who were done.

Suddenly, I realized my eyes were locked onto her butt, which happened to be pointing straight at me. Her wet shorts clung to her swelling, protruding bottom, and its curves plus the outline of her underwear were visible.

That must be what they call ‘child-rearing hips.’ In Japanese, being ‘stuck under a woman’s bottom’ means you’re at her beck and call, but in Sera’s case, I certainly wouldn’t mind it – in fact, I really wish I could be!

With a start, I pushed my mind back into reality. I hurriedly looked up to see Sera giving the children a loving smile.

Ugh... I’m terrible. I’m so ashamed that I took this job just because it’d come with some nice perks.

Sera had surely asked me for help because she trusted me. I needed to make sure I didn’t betray her trust, so I worked hard to act like a gentleman and focused on taking care of the children.

Next after the trio were two girls, followed by six boys in two groups of three. Sera said she was going to take the girls, so I did my best to look away from her as I handed her a big bath towel. The moment I did that, she realized I had seen her, and nervously covered up her body.

After she left, the boys came in with a friendly older priest. They were full of energy, and two of the wilder boys got shampoo in their eyes, but we had no problems apart from that, and everyone ended up enjoying their bath.

After the boys all finished, I was left to clean up the Unlimited Bath alone in the courtyard. I didn’t need to clean the bath itself, though. All I had to do was close the bath’s door then reopen it. I felt fatigued when MP slipped out from my body, but that was all it took to restore the bath to its original condition. This was another one of the Unlimited Bath’s abilities. Being able to take the bath anywhere meant I could also use MP to keep the bath in perfect condition.

“Umm...”

“Whoa!”

I had just finished up and turned to head back to my room when I saw Sera standing behind me. She called out to me so suddenly that I let out a startled shout.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said.

“N-no, you just surprised me... What’s wrong?”

I was so surprised that I almost told her why I was really surprised, but I managed to regain my composure in the middle. You see, Sera had already changed back into that loose robe of hers. The way it perfectly hid her curvaceous body is what had truly surprised me.

No, no... No weird grins! Stay cool. I focused and gave her my best poker face.

“Huh? Shinonome?” I glanced next to Sera and saw Shinonome standing there. Once our eyes met, she hurriedly looked down to her feet.

For some reason, she seemed wary of me. I can’t remember doing anything that would make her hate me... Maybe she’s just a little shy.

“Um, it’s our first time speaking to each other, isn’t it? My name is Haruno Shinonome. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m Touya Houjou. The pleasure’s all mine.”

“It seems that only highly respected people go by their family names here, so please call me Haruno.”

“Oh, really? You can call me Touya, too, then.”

“Okay, Touya.”

“Again, it’s nice to meet you, Haruno.”

Things still felt a little awkward, but it was our first time speaking to each other, so that was to be expected. After we finished our introductions, however, that was it for the conversation. Funnily enough, the silence pushed us both to glance at Sera and seek help at exactly the same moment.

“Um, er, I have something to ask you, Sir Touya,” she said.

“What? About Haruno’s gift?” I asked.

Hearing this, Sera gave me small, gentle nod, while Haruno bit her lip and nodded as well.

Thought so. In terms of her asking me for help, that was the only thing I could come up with.

“I can’t give you any advice on awakening, though,” I said. “After all, I became able to use mine right after finishing the training they gave me.”

“...I see.” Sera and Haruno both looked clearly disappointed. They must have been desperate.

Then, for some reason, Sera blurted out something insane. “Um, Sir Touya, would you be so kind as to give Lady Haruno a bath?!”

“What?!” I squeaked in an abnormal voice and shot my eyes toward Haruno. Her silence told me that she had apparently agreed to this plan. “Sera, you know that I have to be inside the bath in order to use it, right?”

“Of course!” Sera leaned forward.

Whoa, she sure is getting close... She smells nice, though...

I started to feel embarrassed and glanced at Haruno, who also turned red and looked away. Perhaps she isn’t in full agreement with this after all. If I ogle her here, I’ll end up creating something much worse than a bad first impression. No smiling just yet... I told myself, and turned to ask Sera a question.

“May I ask why? I think I’ve come up with a pretty good guess, but...”

“Yes... I thought that maybe if she comes in contact with one of the Goddess of Light’s other gifts, it might help her to awaken her own... We’ve become desperate, so I even took her to the San Pilaca Cathedral on the day of the festival.”

“The festival was a nice diversion, at least...” Haruno said as she smiled shyly.

So they were at the festival, too. I was curious to ask her if she’d also watched that musical, but decided that now wasn’t the time.

“I understand where you’re coming from, but you do know that we’ve confirmed the Unlimited Bath’s water is just normal water and not holy water, right?” I didn’t even know if holy water existed in this world.

“Yes, but it’s true that it comes from the blessing of the Goddess of Light, correct?” Sera asked.

“Well, yeah...” It was created from the gift she had given me, so that was true.

“Lady Haruno just needs to find the right trigger. Coming in contact with a blessing from the goddess might be just what she needs...”

Suddenly, I understood. Her request had seemed insane at first, but after listening to the explanation, I could see the logic behind it. She hoped that by putting Haruno in contact with the Unlimited Bath – a power bestowed by the Goddess of Light – it would stimulate the gift that was sleeping inside Haruno. Perhaps the whole reason she’d asked me to bathe the children was to confirm whether or not it’d be okay to request something like this.

Haruno looked torn, as if she wasn’t sure what to say. I decided that in this situation, the best thing to do would be to take the request seriously, so I turned back to her.

“Like I said just now, I need to be inside the Unlimited Bath in order to use it. If that’s okay with you, then I’ll be happy to help.” Since Haruno was from the same world as me, I felt like I could speak to her in a more relaxed tone. “It’s all up to how you feel about the idea. If it makes you feel uneasy or embarrassed, then we can forget we ever talked about this.”

“In that case...” Haruno made a desperate face and started to say something, but I put up a hand to stop her. First, I wanted her to listen to everything I had to say.

“I’m sure you’re feeling panicked because the other four heroes have awakened, but we don’t exactly have a time limit, so there’s no need to hurry. Besides, as long as you keep training, there’s always a chance that you’ll awaken one day. After hearing all that, do you still want to take a bath with me – someone who was a complete stranger until about a week ago?”

“D-do we... have to go into the bath together?” Haruno was red up to her ears.

Good. If she had made a face and said something like ‘What are you saying? Gross,’ then I might have burst into tears right in front of her.

“A-Anyway, I don’t think you need to panic yet, Haruno. If you feel too embarrassed, you should just wait. I don’t think it’d be any fun to force someone into the bath against their will, nor would I want to.”

Honestly, though, I felt like I was missing out on the chance of a lifetime. How could I let go of a chance to take a bath with such a cute girl? I should just take a bath with Sera instead, part of my heart shouted out. If possible, though, I’d rather take a bath with someone who actually wants to, instead of someone who’s having second thoughts. That was how I truly felt – although I can’t deny that this also came from self-interest, and the hope that it might give me a chance of being liked by either girl.

After staring at me in silence for a while, Haruno bowed her head and apologized. “I’m sorry.”

“Well, I’m not angry or anything...”

“No, I want to thank you.” When Haruno raised her head, she was slightly smiling. She looked so cute that I started to feel remorseful about turning her down, but I withstood it.

“Thank you, Touya,” she said. “I’m glad you answered me the way you did.”

“...I did something to earn your thanks?”

“To me, you did.” Haruno grinned. She looked more beautiful than cute at that point.

When it came to bathing together, I simply thought if a girl was sincerely interested there’d be a better chance of getting her to like me. But if my decision had proven helpful, then that was even better.

“I’m going to think about it a bit more,” she said. “Before that, though, I’m going to try working a little harder.”

“Yeah. You can think about it after you’ve given it your all.”

“Exactly! Sorry for making you worry, Sera. I’m okay now.”

“I’m just glad you’ve cheered up...” Sera said with a relieved smile.

Haruno must have gotten depressed over not being able to awaken her gift, and fell into a panic. I wasn’t able to help her awaken, but I did manage to cheer her up, so I was certainly satisfied. I wasn’t even sure whether bathing together would allow her to awaken, so this seemed to be the best course of action. Of course, if she ever decided she wanted to bathe in the Unlimited Bath, I’d be all for it.

Haruno and Sera really seemed to be good friends. I later heard that Sera planned to join Haruno’s party once she departed. When I saw how close they were, I realized something: I don’t have a single person to add to my party.

That evening, I left Haruno and Sera and returned to my room. I rolled onto my bed, noting how hard the bed mat felt. After some additional thinking, I realized just what a difficult problem I faced when it came to party members – a problem that revolved around my gift, the Unlimited Bath. It allowed me to bathe myself on the road, but I felt guilty about how I wouldn’t be able to let any of my party members bathe on their own as well. I had to be in the Unlimited Bath, or it wouldn’t be able to produce any water. It was also pretty cramped. Adding someone to my party, whether they were male or female, meant that I’d also need to ask them if they’d be okay bathing with me. The events at noon had taught me that unless they were a small child, no one would be happy about having to bathe with an adult male. I had experienced this firsthand when I let the temple elder inside in order to investigate the Unlimited Bath’s powers. Bathing with another guy was no fun. I felt this was important, so I repeated it to myself.

I concluded that I would only be able to team up with women who would agree to bathe with me. Instead of bathing alone and not letting any of my party members in, or forcing myself to bathe with other men, finding women who would be okay with bathing with me from the beginning seemed to be the most constructive solution. I had received a gift that allowed me to bathe with anyone I liked. The Goddess of Light was basically ordering me to find some willing women. I couldn’t deny that I had my own personal desires – in fact, allow me to admit that I did. I wanted to bathe with a girl.

This plan of mine was certainly easier said than done, and when I told the temple elder about it the next day, he agreed only after some exasperation. Then, just as he promised to help me find some party members, a young male temple knight in a white overcoat hurried in.

“W-we’ve got trouble! Cosmos the Hero was attacked by demonic assassins!”

“What?!” The temple elder was so startled that he knocked down his chair and stood up.

As I listened to the report, the first thing I thought was: Who’s that? I soon learned that the first out of the five heroes to awaken his gift, Akio Nishizawa, had renamed himself ‘Cosmos the Hero.’ Akio was the word for the cosmos flower in Japanese, so it made sense.

“Is Cosmos the Hero safe now?” the temple elder asked.

“Y-yes, soldiers from the castle helped him defeat the monsters.”

As I listened to the temple elder and the temple knight speak, relief washed over me. All I’d ever heard about Akio were the details surrounding his gift. He was another one of the few people who hailed from the same world as me, so I was glad to hear he was safe. After he quickly awakened his gift, Cosmos was summoned to the royal castle. There, he met this kingdom’s princess, one of the people who had summoned us, and managed to add her to his party. Normally, one might have second thoughts about taking a princess out on a dangerous journey, but all members of the royal family underwent training from a young age, so it was actually safer than enlisting a complete amateur. She was also the descendant of a family of heroes who could use holy magic, so with that in mind, she was the perfect choice to team up with a hero. After adding the princess to his party, Cosmos continued preparing for his journey and kept searching daily for more party members in town. The day he was attacked, a lone girl had asked him to let her join. I’m not sure if it was because she was cute or not, but Cosmos apparently said yes immediately. Then, when they were on their way back to the castle, the barrier that protected the castle forced the girl to reveal her true form.

“The hero’s party defeated the demons, but it seems that Cosmos was confused by the sudden development. He kept saying ‘She must have had some reason,’ and ‘She really wasn’t a bad person...’” the temple knight said.

Hearing this, the temple elder let out a sigh and shook his head. Whether this was a response to Cosmos’ confusion, or due to how naive his remarks seemed, I didn’t know. I kind of understood how Cosmos felt, though. After all, he had agreed to add her to his party, so it must have been hard to suddenly accept that she was actually his enemy. I got the feeling that Cosmos was a bit of a narcissist, but also had a gentle side. Something else was bugging me, though.

“Were the monsters really after Cosmos?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” the temple guard replied, so I explained.

“If they were after Cosmos, they could have simply taken him out in a more convenient spot before he returned to the castle. That way, he wouldn’t have been able to get help from the castle soldiers.”

“Guards were also sent out with the princess, you know.”

“But there had to be less than what they had at the castle.”

“I suppose...”

Putting it bluntly, I had a hard time believing the monsters would risk so much just to attack a hero who still had yet to accomplish anything – especially one like me.

“Hm... You make a good point. Let’s relay this to the royal family.”

After a while, the temple elder came to a conclusion and sent the temple knight back to the castle. Once I saw how quickly he called other people in and started giving out orders, I realized now wasn’t the time to ask him for personal advice, so I took my leave and got out of his way.

That evening, after I finished my water production and magic training, I laid back down on my bed in my room and started studying the cleric magic textbook. Despite what I had said in the afternoon, I felt like there was a possibility I could get attacked one day, too. After all, I was a hero, and that might be the reason why the attack happened in the first place. But I had no fighting skills, nor was my gift meant for battle, and I didn’t have any guards of my own. If I had been attacked that day, I probably wouldn’t have survived. Once I came to that conclusion, fear sent shivers into my shoulders and caused me to shrink up a bit.

Magic, party members, or weapons. I needed something in order to protect myself, but all I currently possessed was a magic textbook. For the time being, my only choice was to go on studying cleric magic.

As I pored over the text, I suddenly heard a knock on my door. I hurriedly got up from the bed and looked toward it.

“Um... It’s me, Haruno. Are you awake, Touya?” I heard Haruno’s voice coming from beyond the door. It was cute, gentle, and sweet. “...Touya?”

“...Ohhh, Haruno! I’ll be right there!”

I had been so entranced by her voice that I was frozen in place. Rolling off my bed, I moved to open the door, then stopped and made sure my hair, my collar, and nothing else was disheveled before I opened it.

“Wh-what’s the matter, Haruno?”

“There’s something I’d like to ask you about... Do you have time now?”

“Come on in! I was just reading!”

“Thank you...” Haruno said in a small voice as she came in. She was wearing a thick gown over her sheer white pajamas, and was holding it closed with crossed arms.

“Here, sit down. Oh, over here, I mean.” The only furniture in the room was a dresser and a small table to which a single chair was attached. I let Haruno sit in the chair and sat on my bed so that we could face each other. I was in another world, in a room that someone had lent to me, but it still felt like a girl had come to visit me in my own room, so I was ecstatic. My voice might have even sounded high-pitched.

Whether or not she realized how excited I really was, Haruno sat down across from me, and, with a solemn face, told me why she had come to visit. “Touya, did you hear about Cosmos? About how he was attacked?” It was cute how she tipped her head to the side when she said ‘Cosmos.’

“Yeah, I did. What about it?”

“...Touya, why do you think Cosmos was attacked?”

“Well... Because he’s a hero. But maybe they were after the princess, or merely using it as a way to get into the castle.”

Haruno nodded as she listened. It seemed she had been thinking the same thing. “But if he was attacked because he was a hero, then I really need to hurry now. It could be me who gets attacked next, after all.”

“...It’s definitely a possibility.” I should have just said something cool there like “I’ll protect you,” but unfortunately I wasn’t even sure whether I’d be able to protect myself, so I didn’t have any room to talk big. But as I listened to her, I started to understand what Haruno really wanted to say.

“Anyway, I know that I declined yesterday, so I really shouldn’t be saying this now, but... Would it be possible for you to let me bathe in the Unlimited Bath?”

I knew it. She said exactly what I had expected her to.

After talking to her for the first time yesterday, I learned that Haruno wasn’t excited about being summoned into another world. On the contrary, she felt endangered, especially since she was the only one who still had yet to awaken. After hearing about the attack on Cosmos, she must have felt the same fear that I did – that if she was attacked, she surely wouldn’t survive.

“I wasn’t able to awaken my gift today. All I can do now is ask for your help, Touya...” Haruno said with teary eyes.

The way she implored me almost made me feel like I had done something wrong. Or wait, am I about to? I’m going to bathe with a beautiful girl, all for the lofty purpose of helping her awaken her gift. Honestly, I’m the one who’s benefiting from this. I couldn’t possibly ask for better luck. I tried to act calm, but I kept feeling like all my inner excitement was going to bubble up to the surface.

“...Oh.” Suddenly, I realized something. Haruno’s shoulders were softly trembling.

Seeing how helpless she looked extinguished all my excitement in no time. There’s no way Haruno could be unfazed by asking me for such a favor. She came to me out of pure desperation, and look at how I’m reacting!

“Haruno, I’m sorry!”

“N-no... You’re a man, so I suppose it’s to be expected.”

Haruno did her best to cover for me, but the way she was holding her gown shut made it almost look like she was afraid of me. Maybe she’s been afraid of me since the very beginning? The moment that thought came to me, I realized I couldn’t possibly do anything that might hurt her.

“Okay, I know!” I leapt up and opened the door to the Unlimited Bath within my room. I’d been using it in the courtyard for the past several days, but I could open it anywhere.

I took out one of the bath’s white towels and wrapped it around my head. I couldn’t see Haruno’s face, but I’m sure she was perplexed by my sudden actions.

“Haruno!”

“Y-yes?”

“I won’t look! No matter what! I even have my eyes closed under the towel! You don’t need to worry now! Go on and bathe in the Unlimited Bath!”

“...You really don’t mind?”

“Of course not. This is all I can do for you right now.”

“Th-thank you very much!” I hope that Haruno was actually as happy as she sounded when she thanked me.

Once I entered the Unlimited Bath and sat against the wall of the changing area, Haruno followed me in. In this world, people wore shoes even when they were inside buildings, so we were both wearing sandals. We took them off before we entered the Unlimited Bath, though.

“Excuse me...” Haruno said.

Once we both got inside, I realized just how small it really was. She was standing right next to me, and I felt like the tips of our noses would touch if I wasn’t careful. Suddenly, something else touched me. It felt like the hem of her gown.

“Uhh, do you see where the bath towels are?”

“Um... Oh, yes. I see them.”

“Okay. Now, in order to use the bath... Oh, sorry, I’ll shut up. Just pretend like I’m not here.”

“Oh no, please, you can relax...”

It felt like we were both acting strange. Guess I’m not the only one who’s nervous here. I kept my mouth shut like I promised, but due to that, it only seemed to make the smaller noises stand out more – namely, the sound of clothing sliding off her body.

That just sounded like the fwump of clothing hitting the ground. Was it a skirt? No, her pajama bottoms. Does that mean she’s wearing nothing but her panties right now? I sharpened my ears and put my imagination on full throttle. After a moment, I heard the curtain that separated the changing area from the bath open and shut.

Sounds like Haruno’s entered the bath area. In other words, she’s completely naked right now, and her pajamas and underwear are within an arm’s reach.

“Wow...” I heard Haruno murmur, and couldn’t help but feel a bit proud.

I heard the sound of hot water, probably Haruno washing herself, followed by the shower splashing. Suddenly, an idea came to me. With the curtain separating us, Haruno would never notice if I took my blindfold off. She’d probably only be able to see my silhouette.

The devilish suggestion made my fingertips twitch, but I clenched my fist and withstood the temptation. No. I can’t betray Haruno’s trust here. As a desperate struggle unfolded in my heart, I heard louder splashes coming out from the bath, signaling that Haruno had entered it. This is bad. Just hearing those sounds is making me imagine her bathing. I’m getting too excited... At this rate, I won’t be able to last. Quickly, I remembered some of the basic bits of knowledge from the textbook I had just been reading and repeated them inside my head. I didn’t want to scare Haruno, so I kept perfectly quiet. I couldn’t keep myself from reacting to every little sound that came out from the bath, but I stood strong and kept repeating the knowledge inside my head as if it was a Buddhist chant.

“Touya. Touya!”

“...Huh? Haruno, are you done already?”

I had repeated the textbook chant about a hundred times before Haruno’s voice shook me back into reality. It felt really strange. My mind was focused on the chanting, but my ears could still clearly hear what was going on in the bath. I couldn’t see, so I wasn’t sure about what was happening, but I clearly heard her let out a small squeal. I took off the blindfold and opened my eyes. – there she was, standing in front of me with warm, reddened cheeks. Her wet black hair made her look even more enchanting than usual.

“Thank you very much. And... I’m sorry.” As she said that, Haruno bowed her head deeply. I had no idea why she was apologizing.

“Um, why are you apologizing?”

“Well... The truth is, I was worried you might try to do something weird to me.”

“Oh, right.” Even though I hadn’t done anything, I’d certainly been thinking about it, so I couldn’t really argue.

“But you didn’t do anything, Touya, so I want to apologize for doubting you.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I can’t really blame you, considering the situation. Instead, I want to thank you for trusting me.” As I thanked her, Haruno agreed with an embarrassed smile. I felt like I could stare at that shy smile of hers forever.

“So, how was it?” I asked. “Do you feel like you might awaken your gift?”

I wasn’t just blushing, my heart was pounding in my chest as well, so I tried changing the subject in order to cover it up. I felt like there was no way I’d be able to hide how red my cheeks had gotten, though. Still, Haruno looked pretty red herself, so it looked like we’d be able to move ahead without touching on it.

“I’m not really sure, but... I felt like it helped me somehow.”

“I don’t really know how to explain it, but when I awakened my gift, it felt like an instruction manual got pounded into my head. All of a sudden, I knew how to use it.”

“That sounds very strange...”

Some might even say that was stranger than the experience of being summoned into another world. “I don’t know what happened with the other three, but I awakened my gift the next morning after I finished my training. Maybe you should wait and see if something happens tomorrow morning?”

“Okay, I think I’ll do that.”

I didn’t understand the logic behind it, but it seemed like proper rest was important to growth. Haruno seemed satisfied, and bowed once more before she returned to her own room. The bath towels were high quality, so I gave one to her as a gift. Once I was alone, I closed the door and started taking deep breaths inside, in the hopes that I could catch a whiff of any lingering scents before I reset the Unlimited Bath. There’s probably nothing wrong with doing this, right?

The next morning, Haruno managed to awaken her gift without any other problems. When I went out to the courtyard in order to train, I ran into Haruno and Sera, who both thanked me at the same time. Sera grabbed my hands and gave them a tight squeeze. It looked like she was about to cry as she thanked me. She’d been so worried about Haruno that she must have been truly overjoyed. They had wanted to come and tell me even before they went to the temple elder. I’m not sure if the Unlimited Bath really had any effect or not, but it certainly felt nice to receive their thanks. Looks like all my desperate patience paid off.

Afterwards, they left to go and report to the temple elder. Once I started practicing a little magic in the courtyard, I realized that I had somehow become able to use some basic light-based cleric magic. The hundred chants I did in my mind yesterday must have been more useful than I realized. Was I really that desperate for some light to cast the darkness of my blindfold away? Despite the success this day had brought, I was still a bit depressed by how badly I had wanted to peek at her in the bath.