Second Bath – With a Bare Heart

“Ha ha ha! That kneel of yours looks perfect, right down to the positioning! Who taught you how to do that?”

Thankfully, our guide had taught us proper manners ahead of time, so we didn’t end up doing anything rude when we had our audience with the king. He looked very dignified with his long black kaiser mustache, and basically said he would support us if we either went to defeat the demon lord, or prevent his revival. It didn’t look like we had any other choice, so we nodded solemnly in response.

After we left the audience chamber and heard the door close behind us, we let out huge sighs of relief. I glanced at Haruno, who was standing next to me. Sweat was running down her forehead. It seemed as if I wasn’t the only one who had been nervous.

The audience had ended quicker than I thought it would, but there was a reason for that. The sacred king’s royal family and the Temple of the Goddess of Light had worked together in order to perform the hero summoning, but they didn’t have complete solidarity. In fact, normally, the temple acted independently of the kingdom. The reason they had summoned five heroes was so they could split them up between the royal family and the temple. It all came down to who would have the right to claim the prestige when a hero managed to achieve something great. Maybe the reason they were both eager to support us was because they were competing with each other.

The sacred king’s side had already claimed the self-titled Cosmos, Natsuki Kannami, and Ritsu Nakahana. That’s probably why he had been so quick to dismiss Haruno and I. After all, I had awakened my powerless Unlimited Bath ability, while Haruno had just barely awakened hers. I could understand why the sacred king decided he didn’t need us. Still, he’d required us to come for an audience, and had stationed the other heroes he’d chosen within the castle for the sake of ‘preparations.’ It was definitely a little less than subtle. That also might have been part of the reason why he had the princess join Cosmos’ party. Meanwhile, the bearded temple elder had taught me cleric magic in order to try and make me as strong as possible, despite the fact that I couldn’t use my gift to fight. Either way, I was just grateful that I didn’t have to part with Haruno.

Outside the audience chamber, two people awaited us.

“Lady Haruno!”

“Sera!”

One of them was Haruno’s party member, Sera, who was clad in her loose, white robe. The other was a sharp-looking old gentleman with a trimmed mustache. He was wearing a white temple knight uniform, and had a sword sheathed at his side. An unusually calm aura made me relax when I saw him, despite the fact that he was armed.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Just a humble temple knight. Today, I have the honor of acting as a guide for you heroes.” As he spoke, the gentleman gave us a gracious bow. He almost looked like he could be someone’s butler, so I decided to call him ‘Mr. Butler’ in my mind.

“...You seem like you’re someone really important,” I said.

“I’ve just been at this a long time,” Mr. Butler said with a smile. Honestly, I found it hard to believe, but I doubted he’d tell me the truth no matter how I retorted.

“Would you two like to depart? We could talk as we travel, if you like.”

It appeared that he was to be our guide for the day. First, he took us to buy armor. Making sure we could defend ourselves was important, but since size adjustments were necessary for certain items, we had to decide on our orders first. Mr. Butler drove us out from the castle in a carriage, then pointed the horses toward the best armor smith in the Sacred Capital, often visited by nobles and the royal family.

In the carriage, Haruno and Sera discussed what they planned to do from here on out – namely, whether or not they would try to find a way for Haruno to return home. It wasn’t like I didn’t have any lingering attachments to my home, but I wasn’t sure if I’d actually want to throw this all away if I found a way back during my journey. My home world and this world... I’m not really sure how to compare them, so I guess I should hold off on a decision for the time being, at least until I learn more about this world.

As I continued to ponder, the carriage entered a block filled with craftsmen and smiths. This block was the craftsmen’s town, a place where not only smiths, but leather dressers, tailors, and other craftsmen with their own workshops all gathered and worked. It had been built under the seventh sacred king’s orders, and allowed people to take care of all their traveling preparations, aside from food, right in one block.

“We’ve arrived,” Mr. Butler said, as we got out of the carriage.

In front of us stood a workshop with a very elegant atmosphere. I guess the royal family doesn’t shop here for nothing.

Upon entering we found ourselves in a reception area, with several armor samples displayed on racks. The sound of hammering could be heard from beyond the counter. Seeing how this was a smith, I thought we’d be greeted by a curt craftsman-type man, so I was surprised to see a man behind the counter with a friendly, professional smile. There were also female staff members who handled the measuring. When I took a closer look at the samples, I realized there was female armor on display as well, meaning this world also had its share of females warriors.

Instead of using a tape measure lined with millimeter increments, they measured us by making marks on an object called a ‘stute string,’ which was about one meter long. The stute was this kingdom’s unit of measurement, and was equal to the distance of three of the king’s steps. This made it seem like the length of a stute would change each time a new sacred king claimed the throne, or even just grew older, but according to the clerk, the length of a stute didn’t really change that much from king to king.

After I got measured, I ordered a piece of armor known as a brigandine. With multiple steel plates weaved in between two pieces of leather, it was a great piece of armor with a good balance of flexibility and defensive power. I also ordered an open-faced helmet with good visibility, vambraces and gauntlets to protect my arms, greaves to protect my legs, and a large round shield. Since equipping them boosted my blessing power, it was surprisingly easy to move around in full armor. At first I never thought I’d be able to go on a journey with a bunch of heavy equipment on, but it appeared that this world operated on a different set of rules.

Haruno, however, couldn’t equip as much weight as I could. She chose a piece of torso armor made out of hard boiled leather, a small round buckler shield, and a circlet for her forehead that Sera recommended.

Fearing that her arms and legs would be left defenseless, I suggested she pick up some more armor. “You can’t go wearing just that. You need to protect your arms and legs, too.”

“I guess I’ll just order some gauntlets and greaves, then...”

Sera ordered the same thing. Apparently, the smith had agreed to give our orders top priority.

There was something else I noticed during my time at the smith. I had already figured out that Sera was the type of woman who looked slimmer when she was in clothes, but now it hit me that Haruno, wearing her thick cardigan, was also a force to be reckoned with. Two beautifully curved mounds rose up from beneath her blouse, and her bra was faintly visible. Below, I could see a thin waist, a round bottom, and two long legs. I had never seen someone with such a well-proportioned body in my home world, let alone this one. The mere fact that she was standing in front of me almost felt like a miracle. Considering I only met her because I got summoned here made me feel just a tiny bit glad about it all – never pass up a good deal, I always say.

Afterwards, we went next door to place orders at the weapon shop. After speaking with Mr. Butler and the clerk, I chose a one-handed broad ax, which could do damage even if wielded by an amateur. Although it was made for battle, the clerk recommended it because it could also come in handy while camping.

Haruno chose a thin, one stute long sword, while Sera chose an even shorter thin short sword. I also chose a dagger as a sub-weapon. This was a weapon that had many other uses aside from battle, so I recommended it to Haruno and Sera, and all three of us ended up ordering the same one. It made me a little happy to know the three of us had matching daggers.

After that, we went to the tailor’s workshop. So far, I’d borrowed all my clothes from the temple, so I needed to buy my own before I departed.

“Is that sign... a leaf?” I asked. Above the door to the workshop was a sign with a big leaf on it.

“That’s a fig leaf, the Ficus brand symbol,” Mr. Butler answered.

“Is the Ficus brand really good or something?”

“Ficus was the name of an old craftsman whose skill earned him great fame. The fact that his brand has a shop in every big city around the world should tell you just how skilled he was.”

“Awesome!” I blurted out.

Clearly, Ficus was a world-famous brand. When I nervously entered the shop, I was completely unprepared for what I saw.

“Are they... trying to insult their clientele?” I asked.

“Absolutely not,” Mr. Butler replied.

“Then what? Are they just trying to keep male customers away?”

“Well, maybe.”

“What do you mean maybe?!”

Inside the workshop were samples just like we’d seen at the weapons and armor shops. However, within this shop, there was nothing but female underwear on display. The moment I entered, I felt a silent oppression that was basically telling me I needed to leave.

“If this is enough to startle you, then you have a lot more training to do,” said Mr. Butler, who didn’t look the least bit fazed. Maybe he was actually a perverted gentleman.

Haruno and Sera also had reddened cheeks, and looked just as embarrassed as I did.

“Huh? Did European underwear really look like this in the middle ages?” Haruno asked.

She had a point. All the underwear on display had modern Japanese designs. The rest of the clothing all fit with the fantasy atmosphere, but this underwear was clearly from a different era.

As we stared at each other, a female clerk came out and answered Haruno’s question. “The Great Ficus was an underwear craftsman who specialized in female underwear.”

“Well, I guess every craftsman has his or her specialty, so there’s bound to be specialists in underwear out there somewhere...” I said.

“The Great Ficus sought to answer this question: What sort of underwear makes the female body look the most beautiful? Some say his research alone advanced female underwear history by a thousand years!”

“What a pervert!” As the clerk proudly continued her explanation, I just couldn’t help but shout that out.

After we regained our composure, we continued purchasing our own outfits. Of course, we couldn’t do it together, so I split up from Haruno and Sera.

“Still, don’t you think they’re putting a little too much emphasis on that one category?” I asked. There was an area for men’s clothes inside the workshop as well, but it was incredibly small, and only covered about 20% of the entire shop.

I picked up a piece of underwear. It wasn’t a loincloth or anything, but it didn’t look like any sort of design I had ever seen before, either. In fact, it looked like a pair of boxer shorts from the distant past.

“So, that Ficus guy never made any male underwear?” I asked.

“The Great Ficus’ motto for male underwear was: ‘One leaf is enough,’ and never crafted a single piece of male underwear,” the clerk answered.

“This is starting to make my head hurt... You mean all the underwear here is stuff that his apprentices or whatever made after his death?”

“Yes. Incidentally, Ficus died over 200 years ago.”

“So despite having over 200 years to work, none of his apprentices were ever able to surpass a single man?”

“The Ficus brand is still unrivaled in terms of men’s clothing as well.”

“...Man, Ficus is incredible.” The next thing I knew, I was praising him.

This Ficus guy was a pervert – a huge pervert, that much was true. At the same time, I couldn’t deny the fact that he was also a huge genius.

“Just as he preached, the Great Ficus never wore anything but a single leaf throughout his entire life, until he died of an illness one winter day,” the clerk went on.

“What was this guy trying to prove?! Wait, is that what the leaf on the sign is supposed to be?!”

Apparently, the fig leaf was now considered a ceremonial uniform in honor of Ficus’ great achievements. How did it even stay in place? With magic, of course.

How’s that for some fantasy?

This was the last thing I wanted in my fantasy story.

Apparently, it was even acceptable for him to appear like that in front of the king, but in the 200 years after his death, no one else had followed his lead. For better or worse, the Great Ficus truly was unsurpassable. I sure as heck didn’t want to try and surpass him.

Leaves aside, even though the designs looked a bit old, the clothing seemed to be completely functional, so I decided to buy all my underwear at that shop. I also ordered some travel clothes and had the clerk measure me. After placing all my orders, I paid for the ready-made clothes that I was going to take home that day and had them bundled up. Still, the girls had yet to finish their shopping. It seemed like it took girls a longer amount of time to shop, especially when it came to underwear, so I decided to patiently wait for them to finish.

After a while, Haruno and Sera returned from placing their orders. When they saw Mr. Butler and I, they both bowed their heads apologetically. We merely laughed it off, understanding that it was a man’s eternal duty to wait for women to finish shopping. Apparently, both of the girls had to get all of their bras made-to-order – perhaps because they were both much curvier than their clothes gave away.

On our way home in the carriage, Haruno started talking to me, with a mixture of shock and wonder on her face. “You may not be able to understand this, Touya, but... I think the underwear in this world is a lot more advanced than ours.”

“...Seriously?” I turned to the side and stared at her with wide eyes.

“I’ll spare you the details, but apparently they custom made underwear with battles in mind.”

“Guess it’s a cultural difference?”

Haruno nodded in response to my question. “They also cast magic with the wearer in mind.”

“They really go that far?”

“Yes. It makes the underwear more expensive, though...”

Even though she spared me the details, I figured it meant this underwear was for people who moved around a lot. I couldn’t help but glance at the firm blazer that covered Haruno’s boobs, and at the loose white robe that shrouded Sera’s boobs, then quickly looked away. Yes, they both appeared much slimmer when they wore clothes. In fact, I think they were wearing the sort of clothes that masked their curves on purpose.

“But the designs are really cute.” Haruno must have had a hard time shopping. Even I knew that the bigger the cup size, the less choice there was.

“Ficus really is amazing,” I said.

“Yeah... I guess you can’t underestimate this world just because it appears to be medieval.”

“They’ve got magic on their side, after all.” It was certainly a strange way of realizing this world wasn’t completely on a medieval level in terms of technology and culture. The existence of magic alone was a huge difference – perhaps that’s why this world was able to evolve in its own unique way, such as with the Ficus brand.

I can’t underestimate this world just because I have modern knowledge on my side. Learning about that perverted genius had given me a chance to reconsider my view on this world. It seemed as if Haruno had experienced something similar, as she also had a pensive look on her face.

“But for some reason,” I said, as I stared up at the ceiling of the carriage. “I just can’t bring myself to respect that Ficus guy.”

“I feel the same way...” Haruno said, with a troubled smile.

Next, we went out to buy the remainder of what we’d need for our journey, aside from food: shoes, cloaks to protect us from the cold, water skins, light sources, tinderboxes, and other small things.

After that, Haruno and I headed back to the temple. The next day, we planned to begin our real preparations and start looking for party members. I thought that Haruno and Sera would both make nice party members, but I didn’t have the courage to ask them if they’d be okay with bathing together so soon after what had happened. Bathing with two girls who were actually very curvy would most likely be heaven on earth, but unfortunately I had to give up on that dream for the time being – so we parted ways.

“I can’t go with you, Sir Touya, but I can introduce you to some people.” Mr. Butler had responsibilities to the temple, so he couldn’t come with me either. “If you could first tell me what sort of party members you’re looking for, I’ll do my best to search for them.”

“Well... I’m not interested in bathing with other men.”

“...Yes, I would suppose not.” The temple elder, who was also with us, understood exactly what I was looking for from that simple declaration.

Due to the way my Unlimited Bath worked, adding someone to my party meant we’d have to bathe together.

“A difficult condition indeed...” Mr. Butler’s face hardened, as if he had figured out what I was thinking.

“I agree. But I can’t just bathe alone and exclude my party members...”

“Yes, I can understand that.”

Allow me to repeat myself: I didn’t want to just hog the bath to myself. As I continued to think, Mr. Butler raised two fingers and started to speak.

“I’ve come up with two possible solutions. The first would be to search for party members who don’t bathe... Oh, please don’t misunderstand here. I’m talking about non-humans who don’t bathe to begin with.”

He was talking about demi-humans. Creatures that resembled humans, but weren’t. In my world, dwarves and elves were pretty famous. Of course, they were legendary creatures, but it seemed like they might actually exist in this world.

“Hmm. Where can I find them?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never met one myself, you see.”

“Aw, come on.”

“Apparently you rarely catch sight of them in the human realm,” Mr. Butler answered nonchalantly, completely ignoring my outcry. “Remember, it was just an idea. I’ll try to search for them, but please don’t get your hopes up too high.” So basically, chances were pretty slim.

“What was your other idea?” I asked.

“Choose a woman who wouldn’t mind bathing with a male, I suppose. You’re a hero, Sir Touya, so I think you’d be surprised at how easy it could be... To find a woman who wants sperm, that is.”

“Don’t say sperm!” I couldn’t believe he had said that word so bluntly. Maybe he really was a perverted gentleman after all. “You haven’t forgotten that I’m gathering these people for my journey, have you?”

“If it weren’t for that condition, I’m sure that noble women would have flocked to you, rather seriously. They were quick to instate me as your guide, so I’ve already received several requests.”

“...Really?”

“If possible, I could arrange for you to meet with them right now. Their ages range from 21 to 12, so you’re free to choose as you please.”

“12?! You want me to put a child in danger?!”

“How rude. A 12-year old is a full-fledged adult.”

“...Excuse me?” I glanced at the temple elder for confirmation. He nodded in reply.

According to the temple elder, most people in this world were labeled adults between the ages of 12 to 15. It seemed like 12 was on the early end, though. Anyone labeled as an adult was allowed to marry, which made me feel a mixture of envy and shock.

“Is being a hero from another world really that great of a thing, that it would make people flock from all over?”

“What if I told you that the very first sacred king had also been one?” Mr. Butler retorted.

“So they see me as someone close to the sacred king’s line...” As I muttered this, the temple elder stroked his long beard and gave me a slow nod.

“At least when it comes to this kingdom. If you wanted a harem, you could easily create one. But there are two other male heroes out there, so you’d better act fast! The early bird catches the worm!” Mr. Butler said, then pointed a sharp finger at me. He was getting so into this.

I couldn’t deny that it sounded tempting, but I told myself I wasn’t a total wimp for getting nervous at the thought of some very aggressive women coming straight for me. I had a feeling that if I didn’t stick with Mr. Butler, things could take a very sharp turn for the worse, so I tried changing the subject.

“What about other kingdoms? Are there any you aren’t on good terms with?” When I asked this question, Mr. Butler and the temple elder looked at each other in a way that instantly revealed the answer.

“It’d take a long time to explain the details, so I’ll save them for another time,” Mr. Butler said. “Basically, we belong to the Olympus Alliance, which is formed from twelve countries that exist in this continent.”

“Jupiter is a central member of the alliance, so sometimes other entities try to rob us of our status,” the temple elder said.

“So just because you’re in an alliance, it doesn’t mean you’re on ‘good’ terms with everyone?” I asked.

“That’s basically how it goes with foreign relations.” Mr. Butler twirled his mustache and gave me a cynical look.

Temples existed in every country, and had their own private network, so it seemed like they knew a good deal about foreign relations.

“We’re not engaging in direct war with anyone, though, so please don’t worry,” Mr. Butler said. “We fought with a neighboring country three years ago, though.”

“Don’t worry? But what about the demon lord?”

“The demon lord’s underlings were behind the scuffle that began that war.”

“...I thought he hadn’t come back to life yet?”

“We’re not sure on the details, but some say that despite being sealed, he can still command other monsters.” Apparently, the demon lord was much more dangerous than I thought. “We won’t be able to launch a wide-scale search, but I’ll figure something out.”

“You can find people for me?”

“There are some aggressive candidates out there, but it might be difficult if we’re too blunt with our terms...” The temple elder said in a worried tone.

“I know what you’re about to say.” Mr. Butler furrowed his brow a bit. “It’s going to be difficult to tell them that ‘bathing with the hero’ is one of the conditions, correct?”

“No. If you start out with too strong of a request, Sir Touya, then you’ll lose the initiative,” the temple elder answered.

“Just how aggressive are these women?!” I shouted. The thought of a high-handed, aggressive 12-year old piqued my curiosity, but there was no way I was going down that road.

“Are you sure you won’t consider being flexible for a male party member, perhaps if the conditions are very good?” Mr. Butler asked.

“Please. The bath isn’t that spacious...”

I was so exhausted from heckling Mr. Butler that I let an honest reaction slip right out. There was just no way I’d be able to enjoy bathing with another man. That was the one rule I had no intentions of budging on.

Several days later, I had yet to find a single candidate, so I just kept studying magic and training for battle. Apparently, Haruno had already found several party members. Similar to how the aggressive noble ladies had flocked to the male heroes, certain lascivious noblemen had flocked to the female heroes, but she had turned them all down.

“Some of them seemed like they were pretty strong, but not very serious about going on a journey with me...” Yes, they were probably much more focused on having their way with her.

As they say, one man’s fault is another man’s lesson. I may have been in no place to judge others, but I knew I had to be careful.

“I bet it was hard to get them to back down,” I said.

“The temple knights protected me.” I had thought about enlisting some myself, but they were all loyal to their current employers, and none were as passionate as Sera. I was really impressed by how dedicated she was to assisting Haruno.

“That reminds me,” I said. “Did you get any news on how the other three are doing? I’ve been so busy with studying and training that I haven’t heard anything.”

“Oh. About that...”

Haruno seemed to be curious about them as well, and had gathered a good bit of information. First, I learned that Akio Nishizawa, aka Cosmos, wasn’t trying to hide his gift’s ability at all. He was a slender man with a handsome face, and my first impression was that of a narcissist who tended to push his luck. Perhaps he was someone who just preferred to show off his abilities rather than hide them.

His gift was the Unlimited Bullet, which allowed him to create two guns that he could fire as many times as he wanted – a very aggressive gift, and a far cry from my Unlimited Bath. He had already added the holy princess of this kingdom to his party and enlisted the help of the princess’ elite guards. Since it was their duty to stay near the princess at all times, it meant they all had to be young women. According to Haruno, they looked like a group of high school girls on a field trip. In other words, to my envy, Cosmos currently had 12 party members, all of which were girls – and not only that, he was still regularly venturing out to town in order to look for more. Of all of us, he was the one who was the most positive and excited about being a hero, so I hoped he’d work hard in terms of defeating the demon lord. Incidentally, it seemed that not many of the aggressive noble ladies had gone for him. Perhaps they decided they couldn’t beat the sacred princess.

Next we had Ritsu Nakahana, who still had yet to reveal the details of her gift. She was a petite girl with short, bright brown hair. Apparently, she’d been an office lady before her summoning, and no one really knew how old she was, but her face looked rather young. She seemed very interested in the two cool-looking guys, and didn’t so much as glance in my direction, so that was all I knew about her. Apparently, she was searching for impressive men to add to her party, and had already chosen two young men who had been introduced to her within the castle. One was the third son of a notable family, who were overjoyed to hear of the honor he’d been bestowed with. The other man, however, had suddenly started proclaiming how his duty was to “protect Ritsu the Heroine,” despite being the firstborn son, so his family had to hurriedly name his younger brother their proper heir. It had caused quite an uproar.

Therefore, I came to the conclusion that Ritsu had a penchant for causing chaos, but that wasn’t even the half of it. It turned out that for her third party member, she’d set her sights on the prince. Since Cosmos had enlisted the princess, she probably thought that she had a chance, too. However, the prince shot her down instantly, and she’d even managed to enrage him.

After that, Ritsu Nakahana slipped out of the castle and took refuge at one of her party members’ homes. Several days later, she took her two party members and fled, which acted as a covert beginning for her journey. Someone who saw them leave had remarked that their party had looked like “a princess in disguise with two gorgeous aides.” It seemed as if they had at least made the proper preparations, so they were probably all right for the time being.

The third hero was Natsuki Kannami, a 20-year old university student. If Cosmos was the cool, slender type, then he was the buff, physical type. He was handsome as well, but his personality was the exact opposite of Cosmos’. Just from his aura, you could tell that he was a reticent, serious man – especially when you looked at his thick eyebrows.

I remember his troubled look when Ritsu Nakahana had gone up and talked to him out of the blue. Additionally, due to how silent he was, he hadn’t revealed the nature of his gift. They had introduced some party member candidates to him at the castle, but he declared that he’d only take people who could best him in battle. He had yet to be defeated.

Last but not least came Haruno and myself. We were both searching for party members, but hadn’t come across anyone. We had both taken a bit of time to awaken our gifts, so we felt like we had fallen behind. It’s not like there was a deadline for our journeys, though, so I was prepared to take my time.

On that day, I’d spent every waking moment training in the temple. The temple elder was nice enough to teach me how to fight, and helped me out whenever he returned from his duties. I couldn’t help but feel a bit suspicious, though, so after training I went to his office and asked him why he was doing all this for me. He laughed and replied that it was because he wanted me to become the temple’s hero.

“I want you and Haruno to journey out as Heroes of the Temple of the Goddess of Light.”

“That’s a really long title.”

“Then as Heroes of the Goddess.” He was surprisingly flexible when it came to the name.

As we started talking, Haruno entered the room. He must have already spoken to her about this.

I had an idea about why this had happened, so I asked the temple elder a question. “Is this because Haruno and I got sent away from the castle?”

“That’s part of it.” The temple elder gave me a long nod.

“Well, I can think of another reason – at least, about me. I’m not sure about Haruno...”

“Oh, no, I think I’m in the exact same situation,” she said.

“What? You too?”

“Temple elder...” Haruno said. “Have we been labeled as unfit for the title of ‘Hero of Jupiter’ since we haven’t added any Jupiterians to our parties?”

“You hit the nail on the head, aside from the title. You were labeled as unfit to bear the title of ‘Hero of the Sacred King.’” The temple elder let out a deep sigh and affirmed Haruno’s words.

Sera, who had joined Haruno’s party, was born in this kingdom, but since the temple didn’t officially belong to the kingdom, she didn’t count as a member of the royal family’s side. Meanwhile, I had yet to find a single party member.

“Which means that even if we manage to do something great as heroes, our deeds won’t serve to bolster Jupiter’s reputation,” Haruno said, and the temple elder nodded slowly.

So that’s why they only introduced the children of noble families to us.

“I thought everyone was all worried about the demon lord coming back to life?” I asked.

“I guess they’re not just doing it out of the goodness of their hearts,” Haruno replied.

“If they just want to bolster their prestige, then why didn’t they split us up one by one from the start, or actually try to win us over?”

“That’s probably what their candidates were for...”

“Aggressive nobles? That was their best idea?” If that had really been their plan, then it had completely backfired.

Suddenly, a thought came to me. If they had gathered up enough noble men and women and told each of us to pick one as a party member, Haruno surely would have chosen a female. Even if they were only meant to be guides, it still could have been possible... Yet the sacred king hadn’t done that. Why not?

“...Did the temple prevent them from doing that?” If the temple and the royal family had been trying to undermine each other without our knowledge, it would explain a lot.

“I see,” Haruno chimed in. “You wanted to make it so that Jupiter couldn’t claim all the benefits for themselves. Since the temple took part in the summoning, I suppose it’s in your right.” It seemed like Haruno understood what I was trying to say.

“You’re really sharp... That’s the one good thing you’ve got going for you.” As he listened to us, the temple elder let out a very deep sigh. Bullseye. “We allow the heroes to freely choose their party members, then look at the results and decide which side they’ll be on. That’s the rule that the sacred king and I set.” In other words, we had a chance to fall on either side depending on who we chose as party members.

“Don’t tell me you also pushed Sera to become friends with Haruno?” I asked.

“When you think about how deeply dedicated Sera is to her work, you’ll find that there was a possibility she’d have asked to join Haruno’s party on her own. I won’t deny that I didn’t plan things a little for my own benefit, though.”

“And that’s also why you offered to teach me magic?”

“Yes. I wanted to try and get you on our side.” The temple elder was being quite honest. I suppose it was only natural that he’d try to work for the sake of his own organization, though.

After listening to the temple elder, Haruno and I looked at each other. Should we really answer his request and become Heroes of the Goddess?

“In the end, it’s just a question of who we want backing us...” I said.

“Yes, but we aren’t strong enough to refuse them both and survive on our own. I feel like refusing to be connected to someone is like refusing this world itself,” Haruno said.

“...Yeah, I sort of get what you mean.”

In order to survive in this world, we had to build relationships here. In that regard, finding party members and choosing to become heroes for either the sacred king or the goddess was the first big decision we faced.

“I think the Temple of the Goddess of Light won’t be too restrictive on us, but what about you, Touya?”

“I’m not devout or anything, but yeah, I guess it’s better than being tied to a kingdom.”

“Comparatively.” Haruno laughed, and I couldn’t help but laugh along with her.

Neglecting to deepen our relationship with the kingdom of Jupiter had put us in this situation. With that in mind, becoming Heroes of the Goddess was a choice we’d freely made.

I had another question. “That reminds me, I don’t really know about the doctrine here, but you aren’t going to ask us to kill demi-humans or anything, right?”

“What do you think the Goddess of Light is?” the temple elder retorted. “Unthinkable.”

“Sorry, I just wanted to be sure.” Apparently, there were a small number of demi-humans who worshiped the Goddess of Light.

There was a temple in every kingdom, and what they lacked in authority, they made up for with their extensive network, so I figured it’d be okay to back them. Haruno and I looked at each other once more, nodded, then turned back to the temple elder.

“Okay. Count me in.”

“We’ll become your Heroes of the Goddess.”

We didn’t really have any right to refuse, but we wanted to do this the right way. We wanted to choose for ourselves and build up a relationship with this world. Therefore, we didn’t want our first big decision to be forced upon us – we wanted to decide it for ourselves. It was self-serving, but it was important to us.

“Thank you. I’m deeply grateful to you both.” The temple elder seemed to understand how we felt, and thanked us with a deep bow of his head.

At that point, we had both officially become Heroes of the Goddess. I had no intention of competing with Cosmos and the others, but I did feel relieved that Haruno and I were on the same side. Still, Ritsu Nakahana and the scene she had caused was partly connected to this. Since the prince had gotten angry and refused to accept her as a Hero of the Sacred King, she’d gone off to journey completely on her own, without becoming a hero for either side. Talk about a troublemaker.

The reason the temple elder was trying to train me was because the two strongest heroes had already been taken by the sacred king’s side, which had made him desperate to do something for his side in response. Luckily, the temple elder was skilled enough to not only teach magic, but fighting as well, so I decided to learn as much as possible from him before I set off.

Three days later, another incident occurred: Cosmos’ party ended up resolving a dispute at the raver market in the town.

“Raver market?” I asked the temple elder, soon after I heard the news. I didn’t even know what ‘raver’ meant, so I was curious about the details.

When I found out that ‘raver’ was another word for ‘slave,’ I almost punched the temple elder in the face. It felt like a natural reaction for someone who’d grown up in modern day Japan. In reality, the ‘slaves’ of this world were a bit different from what I knew.

Ravers were purchased to own, had no freedom, and could be handed off to other owners depending on the circumstances. That much was the same as the slaves I was familiar with. However, they only had no freedom in regards to their work. They got time off, and unless they had a particularly awful master, they never got treated as badly as the slaves I had learned about. Ravers also didn’t need to work for their entire lives – their period of employment was set in stone.

This kingdom – or, the Olympus Alliance, I should say, had established this system, and the people of this kingdom were split into two categories: citizens, and everyone else. Most of the ravers belong to the ‘everyone else’ category, and unless they were criminal ravers who had been demoted to that status as punishment, they could gain citizenship once they completed their work period. After listening to the explanation, it sounded like each raver was bound to a sort of service contract. They seemed similar to the apprentices and indentured servants that I had often seen in historical movies and TV shows.

The truth was that aside from the clerics, the rest of the temple’s servants were ravers. The raver system also had apprenticeship aspects to it, so some of the ravers who served the temple could study to become clerics as they worked. On top of that, once they became licensed clerics, they could shorten their work periods and gain citizenship sooner than normal.

According to Mr. Butler, an evil moneylender had tried to purchase a girl in order to pay off her parents’ debt, but Cosmos’ party had gallantly stepped in and saved her. It was legal to become a raver in order to pay off a debt, but only if you were the person who had originally incurred the debt. Having another family member become a raver instead was illegal, so if the girl had actually been the one in debt, then Cosmos’ party would have been in the wrong for stepping in.

It all sounded so cliché, like an episode from some TV show. Regardless, Cosmos’ party had infiltrated the raver market and managed to capture the evil moneylender. Honestly, it sounded a bit different from a typical heroic deed, but it was still a noble feat. On top of that, after investigating the moneylender, they found out that he had also been capturing travelers and forcing them to become ravers.

“I didn’t see anything myself, but I heard that there was an elf found among the kidnapped travelers,” Mr. Butler said. Apparently, the elves of this world were beautiful, slender, and had long ears – just how I imagined them to be.

“I can’t believe he found an elf outside of the woods...” The temple elder seemed surprised that an elf had shown up in town.

“Is it really that rare?” I asked.

“It’s more than rare. They say that elves never take a single step out from their woodland territories unless they have a reason to.”

According to Mr. Butler, elves only left the forest right before big disasters would occur, so in some areas, they were seen as harbingers of misfortune. This elf was no exception, and had come in to report to the sacred king regarding the resurrection of the demon lord. After completing her mission and delivering the report to the sacred king’s heroes and the sacred princess, the female elf decided to assist in the battle with the demon lord, and joined Cosmos’ party.

I was a bit curious about this beautiful female elf, but it seemed like she was dead-set on fighting the demon lord, so I wasn’t that envious. At the very least, I was a good loser.

“...Oh, maybe this will help you find some party members,” Mr. Butler said.

“What will?”

“Just hire what’s called a battle raver. They usually only take temporary jobs whenever there are big wars, but some hire themselves out on specific contracts. I’m sure they’d make fine party members for a hero.”

“R-really?”

I wasn’t sure what it would look like if a hero such as myself started dragging ravers around with him, but the temple elder explained to me why hiring a raver was a good thing. It was seen as something that only middle class or higher people could do. They would entrust chores and farmwork to the ravers, while going out to their civil jobs. This kingdom – no, the entire Olympus Alliance – thought of it as a virtue. Perhaps some considered it an opportunity to give others a chance at citizenship. The fact that I had to ‘purchase’ people really stuck in my mind, but I could also see how I was merely paying for a contracted term of work up front. Of course, there had to be people who didn’t care about virtue, and abused ravers by working them too hard so they could live easier lives, but I couldn’t just reject this system based on a few rotten apples. I guess I’ll just have to accept it as part of this world’s culture.

The next day, I took the temple elder and Mr. Butler’s suggestion and went out to search for a raver. As I sat down in the carriage, I let out a deep sigh. Is this what they call a ‘culture gap’? I continued to ponder the recent turn of events, until Mr. Butler spoke up from the driver’s seat.

“I forgot to mention yesterday – the craftsmen and clerks we saw at those shops were all ravers too, you know.”

“Really?! Oww!” I accidentally stood up and smashed my head into the ceiling of the carriage.

Cradling my head, I sat back down and listened to Mr. Butler. He explained how the buildings in the craftsmen’s town all belonged to either the sacred king’s family, or another noble, so all the craftsmen there were ravers. “Things differ a bit in the other kingdoms, but that’s how craftsmen are treated here in Jupiter.”

“...In order to protect their know-how?”

“Exactly, Sir Touya.”

The king and the nobles were able to hire craftsmen ravers and hide their skills by keeping them together, while also cleverly using the master-apprentice system to make sure craftsmen continued to pass on all their talents. In this regard, one could say the royal family and the nobles were protecting, or perhaps monopolizing the craftsmen and their abilities, and it became clear how much they valued it. Perhaps the craftsmen’s town was created mainly in order to gather all of them in one place so that it’d be easier to protect them.

On another note, when you think of a fantasy world, the first thing that comes to your mind is an adventurer, right? Those kinds of people existed in this world too, but there weren’t many who went on adventures back to back. Most of them had a base somewhere, from which they hunted monsters and fulfilled citizens’ requests in order to make a living. If there happened to be a big war taking place somewhere, they’d participate for pay, as battle ravers.

That’s right – the adventurers of this world were all battle ravers. When there weren’t any big battles, they worked as normal adventurers. But if they happened to achieve great feats in battle, a noble could spot them and hire one as a permanent raver. Then, after gaining citizenship, they might even be able to rise up to knighthood. It was a high risk, high reward scenario, and there were many battle ravers who sought it. With that in mind, it’d be dangerous for one to join a hero’s party, even though it also worked as a long-term contract, and there was a chance they could achieve something truly great, so it wasn’t that bad a deal.

Female battle ravers also seemed to be pretty common. Since the power of blessings boosted innate physical ability, it allowed women and men to fight on equal footing. It sounded crazy to me, but it was also commonplace for people to use ravers for sexual services, and some were even hired for that purpose from the very beginning. In this world, women had as much power and rights as men, so that aspect went both ways.

No wonder this world has so many aggressive noblewomen. You know, I never really thought of anything beyond bathing with a girl, but on second thought, this scenario of mine is starting to look a little half-baked. If I can’t find anyone willing to meet my modest condition, then perhaps I need to take things a little further. With ravers, I could put my conditions on the table from the very beginning. Besides, when it actually came time to bathing with a woman, who said I’d be able to hold back? Despite my excuses, as I sat in the rattling carriage and mulled it over in my mind, I realized that I’d been feeling extremely excited ever since the previous day.

There was also talk about how demi-humans who were captured in battle sometimes became ravers as well. Due to that, there was always a chance one would appear at the raver market, but at the time, I didn’t have the composure to think that far ahead.

“Sir Touya, we’ve arrived.” Before I knew it, the carriage had arrived at the raver market.

I glanced out the window to see a towering building that looked like a giant coliseum. There was a stage within where the raver auctions supposedly took place, and inside the circular building that surrounded the stage were several business rooms that housed ravers split up by category.

After knocking on the door to the room I wanted to enter, the merchant in charge came out holding a small box filled with bundled-up papers and told me to sit down. The quality of the paper looked similar to washi, or Japanese paper. Apparently, it was used quite often in this world – introduced by the first sacred king, perhaps.

Doing as I was told, I sat down, and Mr. Butler walked up and stood next to me. He didn’t say a thing to the merchant. Is he just acting how a subordinate is supposed to?

“Now, what sort of battle raver would you be looking for?” the merchant asked.

“Do you have any demi-human battle ravers?” Mr. Butler was the first to answer. When I looked at him, he turned to me and said: “They probably don’t have many, so we should get this out of the way first.”

I was really after a female battle raver, but I’d still happily check out a beast-eared female, so I decided to stay quiet and leave it to him.

“Demi-human battle ravers? I’m sorry, but...” the merchant began evasively.

Not only were they rarer, but demi-humans who became ravers were mostly captured for doing something bad, which meant that the bulk of them were criminals. Battle ravers were basically free, so becoming one was hardly a punishment.

“Most of the demi-humans become labor ravers. They get comparatively harder physical labor.”

When I glared at Mr. Butler, he kept his cool and replied: “That’s why I wanted to get this out of the way first.” He probably already knew all this, and just thought it would be a nice bonus to actually find one. “In that case, could we see your human battle ravers next? The females, if you don’t mind.” Having given up on demi-human ravers, Mr. Butler quickly moved on to the next category.

The merchant did as he was told and started picking the female ravers out from his list, then suddenly stopped and gazed up at the ceiling, as if he’d remembered something. “That reminds me, we do have an unusual lizardman among our labor ravers.”

“Unusual?”

“He sold himself to us. He said he’d do any manner of hard labor just as long as we bought him for a high price.”

“...Why would he say that?” Curious, I asked another question. “Do lizardmen bathe?”

“Um, if you’re asking whether he’s a swamp type or a desert type, he’s a desert type. A male sand lizardman.”

I thought it was a strange question upon posing it, but apparently the merchant didn’t think so, and gave me a thorough reply laden with terms unfamiliar to me. I later learned that lizardmen lived together in different settlements created by them. Swamp types constructed homes in wetlands and near riverbeds, while desert types lived in dry terrain. Both types were optimized for their terrains. Swamp types were great swimmers, while desert types had toughened bodies that allowed survival in harsh climates.

“Desert lizardmen don’t like moisture, so they don’t bathe. They do rinse regularly, though, so you don’t need to worry about them getting dirty!” the merchant explained.

“I-I see...” As the merchant leaned forward and tried to sell me the lizardman, I couldn’t help but recoil a bit. He must have thought I asked about bathing because I was worried about how filthy the lizardman might be. Things had certainly taken a strange turn, considering how I’d only come here in search of a female raver.

“And he isn’t a criminal raver?” Mr. Butler asked.

“Huh? Oh, no! No, of course not! He’s a very hard worker, and only came here because he wanted to make some money!” The merchant started rubbing his hands together as he answered the question. It was the first time I’d seen someone actually doing that.

With exaggerated gestures, the merchant continued to explain how there was nothing wrong with the lizardman. Did he have some vested interest in this? For whatever reason, he was desperate to contract this raver to someone, which only ended up making the raver seem more suspicious in the end.

As if he’d been thinking the same thing, Mr. Butler interjected. “Are there any other problems with him?”

“Well, he is a demi-human raver, so he has no oath magic cast on him. That makes a lot of people nervous, you see...”

Oath magic. It was the first I’d heard of the term. I looked to Mr. Butler, who quickly noticed and started to explain.

“It’s a type of cleric magic. When you cast it on someone, oath terms appear on their forehead. If they break the oath, they’ll suffer extreme pain.”

“That sounds horrible...”

“Really?” After he heard my honest feelings, Mr. Butler just stared back at me with a serious face. At first it sounded like this magic infringed on human rights, but when I heard his next line, I realized my error. “Oath magic is only allowed when criminal ravers are hired to do work. Without that, they’d be put to death, you know?”

“...I see.” Hearing that, I had no choice but to agree.

It made sense, though. I’d certainly be too afraid to keep a criminal raver by my side without some sort of leash like that. Oath magic allowed people to turn criminals into ravers and punish them with work instead of death. It seemed cruel at first glance, but this oath magic was saving criminals’ lives. And since most demi-human ravers were criminals, it made sense why so many people would feel nervous that the lizardman didn’t have oath magic cast on him, even if he wasn’t a criminal.

“Incidentally, can he fight?” Mr. Butler asked.

“He told us he was a warrior in his tribe, so I believe he can. But he said he needed a lot of money fast, so instead of becoming a battle raver, where he would only be hired temporarily, he became a labor raver, since it’d allow him a long period of employment.”

“Hmm. What do you think, Sir Touya?”

Honestly, I wanted a female battle raver, but it was true that this lizardman was a male that I wouldn’t have to bathe with. It’d require a bit of courage for me to say ‘No, please show me the women instead.’

“...Okay. Should I go to the labor raver room, then?” I asked.

“Oh no, I’ll bring him right here at once!”

In the end, my curiosity won out, and I decided to meet this unique lizardman. Oh no, it wasn’t because Mr. Butler and the merchant were glaring at me with disapproving eyes. Not at all. I’ll admit that I was afraid about what Haruno and Sera would think if they found out, though.

According to the merchant, as long as the lizardman agreed, we could hire him as a battle raver even though he was registered as a labor raver. Apparently, it was normal for people to gather up strong labor ravers and use them as soldiers when they needed more help.

“As long as you aren’t hiring me temporarily, I don’t mind being hired as a battle raver.”

That was the first thing the lizardman said once he entered the room. Perhaps it was because I was listening through a translation provided by the goddess’ blessing, but he sounded surprisingly well-spoken.

He was kneeling on one leg, but looked close to two meters tall, or two stutes in this world’s terms. He was muscular, with a large frame, and was apparently on the large end compared to other sand lizardmen. The area underneath his chin, his chest, and his stomach were all ribbed like a snake, while the rest of his body was covered in amber scales. Was it protective coloring? It seemed like that color would blend right in with the desert. He seemed a little forward-bent, and basically had the upper body of a human. His skeleton looked much different, especially on his lower half, and his legs reminded me of bipedal dinosaurs or perhaps even kangaroos. He had the face of a lizard, a large mouth filled with small fangs, and his horizontally long, scarlet eyes were staring right at me. Black lines enclosed his eyes, reminding me of the eyes of an Egyptian king. This was what a sand lizardman looked like. I had no idea how to judge them by looks, but he looked strong and brave. The only thing he wore was a loincloth to cover his lower hips. Apparently, it was common dress for lizardmen.

“May I first ask why you need money? I want to make sure it’s for nothing bad,” I asked.

Now that I had seen what a demi-human looked like, that was the next thing on my mind. According to the merchant, it was quite unusual for demi-humans to sell themselves.

“...Water. Right now, no rain is falling in the land where my people live.” The moment I heard the lizardman say that, I imagined a savanna where there were dry and rainy seasons. “We rely on a reservoir to survive the dry seasons, but this year, we were attacked by a large monster, and the reservoir got destroyed. We managed to kill the monster, but failed to recover the water we lost.”

“So that’s why you want water...”

“I asked the merchant to deliver to my people water equal to the price I sold myself for.”

I looked to the merchant, who promptly confirmed this with a file. “It appears that he made that agreement with the merchant in charge of the labor ravers.”

When ravers sold themselves, they could take the profits with them to their places of employment, or pay a service charge to have it delivered somewhere else. It certainly sounded like an emergency, so the lizardman had changed all the money into water and sent it off right at the start. It seemed like a bit of a special case, but the raver market had been happy to accommodate him.

“But will selling yourself suffice to buy enough water for your people to survive on?” Mr. Butler asked.

The lizardman shook his head sadly. “Absolutely not, but it’s better than nothing. At the very least, it’ll help some to survive.”

“I see you’ve put a lot of thought into this... Well, Sir Touya?” Mr. Butler turned to me. It seemed like it was time for me to decide on my purchase.

“Please buy me!” The lizardman looked straight at me and bowed his head deeply.

I’ll be honest here. Personality and ability-wise, I thought I’d struck gold. His strong, muscular body was big, even for a sand lizardman, he was a warrior, and he also seemed to be a genuine, hardworking person. The public opinion of demi-humans must have been really bad if no one had bought him just because he didn’t have oath magic cast on him.

But... I wanted a female raver to bathe with. And if it had to be a demi-human, then I at least wanted a girl with beast ears. Maybe I’d even settle for a lamia-type or a mermaid with fish scales, as long as she was beautiful.

I had never once wished for a bulky lizard guy.

Despite all that, I still managed to realize that my Unlimited Bath might have what it takes to save this lizardman’s people. After all, it allowed people to bathe anytime, anywhere. As long as I had the MP to cover it, I could create as much hot water as I wanted, and even take it out from the bath. I couldn’t become a permanent water tank for them, but perhaps I’d be able to help them until they got out of the crisis they were currently in.

Allow me to repeat: I wanted a female raver who I could bathe with. A beautiful, young girl. Pleasantly plump. Nothing like this buff lizardman.

But I didn’t have enough courage to ignore someone in need of the help I could provide and say: “Give me a woman!”

“...Fine. I’ll buy you.”

“Thank you!” The moment he heard my voice, the lizardman’s head shot up. Then, he bowed it back down so far it looked like he was going to kiss the ground.

“Ohhh! Then let us make a contract right away! However, I already sent the water out, so I won’t be able to lower his price any further,” the merchant added in a calculating tone. Not like it mattered – because I wasn’t the one who was going to pay.

After giving the merchant a side glance as he prepared the contract, I called out to the lizardman, who was still bowing his head.

“I don’t think I got your name. I’m Touya. What’s yours?”

The lizardman raised his head and looked straight at me as he answered. “I’m Rulitora, a warrior of the Torano’o tribe... Or I was, at least. It’s very nice to meet you.” As he introduced himself, I saw that his scaled tail was covered in black stripes.

“Now, I’ll bring out the female ravers,” the merchant said.

“No, that’s enough.”

“...Are you sure?”

After buying Rulitora, I took him and Mr. Butler to the craftsmen’s town. I could have purchased a female raver as well if I’d wanted to, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it. How could I just help someone and then say “Now, I’d like a woman to bathe with me?”

Soon, we arrived at the weapon smith. Rulitora had always used a spear back home, and said that the ones at this smith felt too light. Once he heard that, a competitive fire started to burn in the blacksmith’s eye, and he pulled out a large glaive, a long weapon with a single-edged blade on the end, which was extremely difficult for a single human to carry.

Rulitora picked up the super heavy masterpiece as if it was nothing, and gave it a few sharp swings. Even to my amateur eyes, these swings looked much different from those made by someone swinging a light weapon.

“I guess you like it?” I asked.

“Yes. This feels much better.” I could sense how happy Rulitora was.

Yep, this is definitely a buy. I had the blacksmith put a scarlet cloth on the joint of the blade to match Rulitora’s eyes, then bought a hand ax and a knife for him.

After leaving the weapon smith in high spirits, it was time for us to pick out armor. Since Rulitora’s body was covered in scales, he wouldn’t be able to wear any clothes under his armor, so that meant metal armor was out. Meanwhile, leather gear would only be a downgrade from his naturally protective scales.

In the end, I bought him a set of half plate armor made from a giant scorpion’s carapace. It was a monster native to Rulitora’s land that also possessed a carapace that was as strong as steel. As long as the armor was created from natural sources, we could use the perverted master Ficus’ magic to prevent any chafing, which would allow Rulitora to wear it without any clothes underneath.

The armor would all have to be made-to-order, so it seemed like it’d end up being a little expensive, but again, I wasn’t the one who had to pay. It might have been a problem if it became really expensive, but Mr. Butler didn’t say anything, so it must have been okay.

Lastly, I bought him a change of clothes from perverted genius Ficus’ famous brand – a few simple robes and some spare copies of the loincloth he had been wearing.

After we left the smith and Rulitora changed into a robe, we headed to the temple. The people there seemed surprised to see Rulitora, but after I explained that he wasn’t a criminal raver, they calmed down.

When I introduced him to Haruno, she ended up running and hiding behind Sera’s back. After we spoke a bit, she calmed down and laughed at herself a little. “I’m about to depart, so I need to prepare myself for even bigger surprises, don’t I?”

Rulitora was assigned to the room next to mine. Before he went in to rest, I took him to the temple elder’s office and explained how I was a hero who had been summoned from another world. “The problem is my gift... Oh, I guess it’d be easier if I just showed you,” I said, then created a door to the Unlimited Bath on the wall.

The moment he saw the door, Rulitora instantly poised himself. He was definitely fast.

“You don’t need to worry. This is my gift, the Unlimited Bath. Look inside.”

After I opened the door to the Unlimited Bath and went inside, Rulitora cautiously moved up to the door and carefully peered inside – then scowled and pulled back. It appeared that the steam of the Unlimited Bath didn’t mix with sand lizardmen.

“Is this a human bath? I’ve never seen one before.”

“Yeah, this is what they look like in my world. With this, I can take a bath anywhere, anytime I want. That’s the only thing I can do. Can you believe they expect me to fight the demon lord with this? Hilarious, right?”

“I-I suppose...” Rulitora hesitated to join in as I made fun of myself. I imagined the gift seemed even more worthless to him, since he never bathed.

“But it also allows me to do this,” I said, as I turned the faucet and filled a wash bowl up with water. “Look. The temple elder used his magic to confirm that it’s safe. Tasteless, odorless, completely pure water!”

“Pure water?” Rulitora took the wash bowl from me and pensively stuck a finger into the water. “Y-You’re right... It was so humid in there, yet this water is cold! And so is this vessel!”

Even the wash bowl had surprised him. After all, it was plastic, so it must have looked like something bizarre. I’d long since gotten used to it, but even the temple elder and his aides had acted the same way when they first saw it, too.

“The Unlimited Bath can create as much water as my MP will allow. Do you know what that means?”

When he heard this, Rulitora looked up at me. It seemed that he had figured it out. “With this, my people could make a new reservoir!”

“Just so you know, I can’t keep supplying water to you forever.”

“That’s fine, as long as we have enough to get through the crisis!”

“Yeah, that should be manageable. That’s why I chose you.” When I said that, Rulitora placed the bowl down, then knelt before me and bowed his head respectfully. “Thank you so much, Sir Touya. I, Rulitora, pledge my loyalty to you!”

“Thanks, Rulitora. I’m a total amateur when it comes to adventuring and fighting, so I’ll be counting on you.”

“Yes sir!”

It had been even more effective than I was hoping – now he sounded more like my subordinate, rather than my ally. But he’d always acted like a proper raver from the start, so I wasn’t really worried. We hadn’t known each other for very long, but I could already tell he was a very sincere person. I was happy to accept Rulitora’s demeanor, since it meant that I had found myself a trustworthy ally.

“But finding a third party member is going to be even harder now,” the temple elder said. “An average warrior will only serve as a nuisance to a powerhouse like that. You’re going to have to think of a new approach.”

“...Are you serious?”

Those with skills aside from fighting probably went down completely different career paths, unless they were extremely curious about the adventuring lifestyle. It made perfect sense.

“Um... I’m sorry?” Rulitora stammered.

“No, Rulitora, you don’t need to apologize for anything.”

I had the temple elder make a status card for Rulitora. His was light purple, and he was already at Level 29, a whole level higher than the temple elder.

My card was green, but the temple elder’s was also purple. According to him, colors went in this order: green, blue, purple, red, orange, then, when someone surpassed human boundaries and got to Level 50 or above, their cards turned gold permanently. Not even the temple elder had ever seen a gold card, but legend claimed that the first sacred king had possessed one.

Instead of automatic updates, status cards had to be updated manually at a temple. It cost quite a bit to get a new card issued, but simply updating was cheap. Some nobles created status cards for newborn babies and updated them every year in order to celebrate their growth.

On Rulitora’s status card, I could see that he had hardly any MP, but his other stats were pretty high. His HP, STR, and VIT were all even higher than the temple elder’s, but his TEC was the highest. He had average MEN for a Level 29 person, but it certainly wasn’t low. According to the temple elder, Rulitora had a standard warrior build, and his scores were all impressive.

With that in mind, I understood how instead of lining another average warrior up beside him, simply letting Rulitora swing his glaive around like a madman would allow him to unleash his full power as my front line. I could let Rulitora take the front and line another person up next to me, but in that scenario I’d need to get stronger myself, or I’d end up dragging my partner down.

Also, I still hadn’t mustered up enough courage to ask for a female raver to bathe with me. I could have just looked for a non-warrior party member, but I’d still need to ask them if they’d be okay with bathing together. And if I could do that, then I wouldn’t have needed to purchase a raver to begin with.

In other words, I had taken a huge leap back from my bathtime dreams.

The next several days went peacefully, without any big incidents. The one piece of noteworthy news was that Natsuki Kannami, who had gone undefeated in his search for party members, had finally been bested by the kingdom’s greatest military leader, an elderly old general. Natsuki Kannami had asked the old general to train him then and there. The old man agreed, passed on his inheritance to his son, and joined Natsuki’s party as a means of ‘retiring.’ It sounded so dramatic – painfully melodramatic, that is. I wondered if Natsuki’s status card had turned blue already. Apparently, they’d both decided there weren’t any more strong people in this kingdom, and had already departed. I felt like Rulitora would be powerful enough to take them on, but I guess they hadn’t taken a look at the raver market – in a way, Rulitora and I had both been very lucky.

I was doing pretty well, too, aside from finding party members, that is. Rulitora had taken part in my training with the temple elder, and I’d learned how to use a basic light-elemental cleric spell called Summon Light Spirit. It summoned a spherical light spirit which could be used to attack enemies. It wasn’t what I had imagined – but that was my problem. I needed to be able to heal with my cleric magic, or there would be no point in having it, so I learned another spell: Healing Light. This was a basic healing spell, and could heal any wound that the caster could touch. As long as I managed to successfully summon the spirit at the start, I’m sure I’d be able to get used to the rest with time.

After increasing my water stock daily, I got a sense for how much MP it sapped from me. Using magic or my gift required MP, and I started to feel mental fatigue after I dropped below 50%. When I dropped down to a third remaining, physical inertia set in. In the beginning, I didn’t know how to pace myself, and often used up so much MP that it left me immobilized. According to the temple elder, in those moments, I had been down to 10% MP remaining.

If someone ever used up all of their MP, it would knock them unconscious, which made it virtually impossible. A good night’s rest was enough to recover MP. Depending on how much was lost, one night might not be enough to recover everything, but it was currently working for me.

In other news, my hose was almost complete. Rubber existed in this world, but if they tried to make it as hard as a Japanese hose, it’d end up too stiff to bend. That might have been perfect for the part that attached to the faucet, but in the end, a craftsman suggested using sea monster intestine covered in skin to create the hose.

‘Sea monster’ was the term they used to refer to all giant monsters that lived in the sea. Their smell wouldn’t pass into the water, and it was durable enough to keep the water from spilling out, so it seemed like I had acquired a first-rate hose. The water skins I had bought the other day were also made out of sea monster skin. Apparently, it was common sense for all travelers to carry two skins: one filled with water, and one filled with alcohol.

Meanwhile, Haruno was in a tough spot. A ton of people had gathered up around her, claiming that they wanted to ‘join the heroine’s party.’ Sons of nobles were spilling into the temple non-stop.

Cosmos was protected by the princess, while the other two heroes had already departed. And since my condition was so ‘special,’ perhaps everyone just thought that Haruno was their last chance. Haruno understood that, so she went out to meet every single person – and refused them all. After seeing how exhausted she was, I suggested having Rulitora give them a skill test to turn them all away, but she refused that as well.

I asked her why, but she just said she had her reasons. Perhaps she merely wanted to get out of this mess on her own. She had enough energy to come to my room and complain every night, so I assumed she was still okay. Actually, I was happy that she had chosen me as her complaint box. Still, there were some pretty tenacious people out there, and things had gotten so bad that Haruno couldn’t even walk outside of the temple in peace.

Thankfully, the temple elder came to her rescue and ordered a group of people known as the Goddess of Light Pilgrims to guard her. It was a group solely composed of women who visited temples in various lands in order to ‘allow the Goddess of Light to borrow female clerics in order to descend to the people,’ and there were even some female temple knights among them. Since their main purpose was to journey around and help people in a world where monsters ran rampant, they had filled the group with the most skilled members of the temple. They had been contacted immediately after Cosmos was attacked, and the nearest faction had just arrived in the nick of time.

The pilgrims who had come to guard Haruno and I and were also some of the party member candidates that the temple had recommended. But since I already had Rulitora and was busy cooping up inside the temple with my training, I just wanted them to focus all their efforts on protecting Haruno. Of course, the Unlimited Bath was still in the back of my mind. It’d be more than a little difficult to go up to the female temple knights in their prim and proper white uniforms and say: “Please bathe with me.” In the end, Haruno started going out of the city daily with the pilgrims in order to train – partly so that she wouldn’t cause any more trouble for the temple. People treated the Goddess of Light Pilgrims as vessels of the goddess, which meant that they possessed great authority. Angering them meant angering basically everyone else in the vicinity. This rendered the noble families’ sons powerless, which certainly put me at ease.

Several more days passed, until yet another incident occurred. This time, though, it wasn’t a bad incident. While training outside of the city, Haruno had managed to save a girl who had gotten attacked by a group of monsters.

“All I really did was embrace the girl and shiver, though...” Haruno said bashfully, but I still thought she deserved praise simply for not running away.

Sera and the pilgrims were the ones who actually fought the monsters. On top of that, when one of the monsters lunged for Haruno, the one who destroyed it was none other than the girl she had saved.

“Umm... Allow me to introduce my new party member,” Haruno said, then guided in a girl who had been hiding in her shadow.

She was petite, with cocoa-colored hair that came down to her shoulders, and only stood as tall as my chest. She also wore a rough-looking cloak that looked a bit too big for her tiny body.

“Her name is Rium. She can use magic!”

“...I’m Rium. Nice to meet you.”

“Uh, nice to meet you, too, Rium.”

Rium’s self-introduction had been brief, and she hadn’t moved a muscle in her face as she spoke. I guessed that she was just the calm, silent type. I wasn’t sure of Rium’s status, but she looked like a little girl, so I spoke on a first name basis right from the start, and she didn’t seem to mind. I later learned that she had journeyed here from Athena, another kingdom in the Olympus Alliance, after garnering an interest in the rumors about the newly-summoned heroes.

Sera put a hand on Rium’s shoulder. She looked really happy. “She’s only 14, yet she’s already become a skilled crystal mage.”

“Crystal mage?”

I soon learned that Rium could use what was called ‘crystal magic,’ which had the power to create magic items. The name came from how the mages used special crystals charged with magic, otherwise known as magic crystals, to create all sorts of different things. When Rium defeated the monster that attacked Haruno, she’d pulled what had looked like a silver skewer from her pocket. In the next moment, she’d transformed it into a silver spear and skewered the monster. On a side note, the tools used to make status cards were all created by crystal mages.

Still, if Rium was 14, that’d make her a second-year in middle school in my world. Visually, the small girl looked like an elementary schooler. She seemed rather cold, especially in contrast to how giddy Haruno and Sera were. They both must have thought Rium was the most adorable girl they’d ever seen, and perhaps they were even starting to look upon her as a little sister.

From the next day on, Haruno’s party started training in the temple courtyard. The temple elder had convinced her to train within the temple grounds since it was so dangerous outside. While I was busy tending to my daily duty of carrying water out from the bath, Haruno and Sera took on Rulitora in sword training. I readjusted the location of my door so that I could watch them as I worked.

Haruno looked very dignified when she held a sword – and very cool. I had heard that she used to do archery, but it was hard to believe that she’d been a complete swordfighting amateur until a dozen or so days ago. Haruno’s movements already looked clearly sharper than Sera’s.

“B-but you’re making good progress too, Sir Touya!” One of the temple servants encouraged me as they waited for the current barrel to fill up with water.

It was true that compared to when I had first started, I could keep up with Rulitora and the temple elder much better now. But I had no intention of getting conceited and believing that I actually had some sort of hidden potential. Haruno probably wasn’t a hidden sword master either. Like the temple elder said, it was all thanks to the blessings we’d received from the Goddess of Light, the most sacred being in this world. At first glance, Haruno looked like a quiet young lady, so watching her gallantly swing a sword toward a huge lizardman made for a pretty impressive scene.

Meanwhile, Rium became interested in the Unlimited Bath for some reason, and had gone inside. Within the bath, there was only a single curtain that separated the bath from the changing area. At that moment, the curtain was open. I had placed the barrel in the changing area, and was using the shower to fill it up with water as I sat next to it on a plastic chair I had brought in from the bath area. Where was Rium? Well, she was crawling in the bath area, seemingly unconcerned by how wet she was getting, and staring intently at a certain object.

“What is this?” she asked, snapping my eyes away from Haruno’s training. In her hand, she held a shampoo bottle.

“That’s shampoo,” I answered. “It’s basically soap that’s meant for washing hair.”

“...But it feels like there’s liquid inside,” she said, as she shook the bottle next to her ear and tried to listen to what was happening. Her eyes made it seem like she was confronting me about something. Since liquid soap didn’t exist in this world, it must have seemed like I was lying.

“No, I’m not lying. Here, give it to me, and stick your hand out.”

Rium suspiciously handed the shampoo bottle to me. When I pressed down on the nozzle and a little shampoo squirted out onto her tiny hands, her eyes grew wide. She probably didn’t even understand how the nozzle worked.

Next, I scooped some hot water out from the bath and trickled it over her hands. “Here, try lathering it up.”

“...Like this?” As Rium moved her hands around, they slowly became covered in white bubbles.

The soap in this world was more primitive than what I knew, and didn’t lather up this beautifully. The male servants who were still waiting for the water to fill up also curiously gazed at the bubbles. As Rium stared at it, her eyes lit up. Despite the fact that she had been so curt up until now, I felt like I was finally starting to see traces of an expression that befit a girl her age – it even looked a bit childish. No wonder Haruno and Sera find her so adorable.

“Hey, don’t eat that! It isn’t cream!”

The moment I saw Rium pop open her mouth and move some bubbles toward it, I frantically stopped her. As I quickly washed off the bubbles, Rium glared at me again, but for some reason, this time she looked strangely childlike and cute.

“What’s going on in there?” Finished with their training, Haruno and Sera peeked inside the Unlimited Bath. Rulitora hated the steam, so he was standing a bit behind them.

“Oh, well Rium just tried to put shampoo bubbles in her mouth.”

“Oh... Sorry. Rium, that isn’t food.” Once Haruno corrected her, Rium drooped and stared down at the ground.

She looked like a pouting puppy, so I tried to cheer her up. “I’m sure any other person from this world would’ve thought it was cream, too.”

“Perhaps. They don’t have much soap to begin with, and it doesn’t make many bubbles,” Haruno added. She bathed in the temple everyday, so I figured she knew what she was talking about.

“Touya...”

“Hm? What is it, Rium?” Rium yanked on my sleeve, so I crouched down and listened to her.

“It’s interesting. I want to try this bath from another world.”

“...What?”

“Rium?!” Haruno screeched.

Without warning, Rium had dropped a huge bomb on us, and it had left Haruno reeling.

Still, I could tell Rium was dead serious by the way she was staring so intently at me. It seemed like she really didn’t mind bathing with me. Haruno tried to talk Rium out of it, while Sera also fell into a panic.

“Um, Rium... I think you should wait to become better friends with him before you do something like that...”

“We aren’t friends?”

“No, you are! Touya’s your friend!”

“Then we can go in together!”

“But, um, that’s different!!” Haruno shouted, as she swung her arms up and made a big X. It was fun to see her acting so surprisingly unladylike and cute.

Unable to go on watching, Sera tried a simpler approach. “Rium, think about it for a moment. Bathing together means that you and Touya both need to get naked and sit next to each other in that tiny bath. Doesn’t that sound embarrassing?”

“No.”

“Well, it is! It’s extremely embarrassing! I’m getting embarrassed just thinking about it!”

Unfortunately, nothing seemed to work on Rium. Sera only seemed to be making herself more and more embarrassed with her own imagination. Even she had her dense moments. In contrast, the two of them made the ever-nonplussed Rium seem colossally brave. And I must say, I was starting to feel a bit sad at how desperately they were trying to change Rium’s mind. Guess I shouldn’t have stared at their chests so much...

“You need to be better friends than you are now!”

“I don’t understand.”

“Understand! Please!”

“Why do you keep shouting at me?” At last, Rium cocked her head and started questioning Haruno’s frantic protests.

In response, Haruno looked at me, and blushed again. Where had all her thunder gone?

“Umm...” I began. “If there’s something you don’t want me to hear, I guess I’ll just leave...”

“No, it’s not that! It’s nothing like that!” Haruno began swinging her arms madly.

Eventually, she seemed to calm down a bit. Clearing her throat, she looked back to Rium and started to speak in a quiet voice. “Rium, you aren’t a child anymore, so you need to take better care of yourself. Bathing together is something you can only do with someone you really trust.”

“You don’t trust Touya?”

“I’m embarrassed! I feel like I might be able to trust him, but that’s a completely different topic altogether!” So she did trust me. That made me a little happy. “And besides, you’ve just barely met him. You don’t know him enough to decide whether or not you can trust him, right?”

“...” Rium looked between Haruno and I, then slowly nodded, as if she understood.

Sera patted a hand on her chest in relief, then looked at me and bowed her head. “I’m so sorry for all the commotion, Sir Touya...”

“Oh no, it’s fine. More importantly, here. This is a present for you.” I handed a bath set that contained soap and shampoo to Sera.

“What? But this is...”

“If I run out, I can always just create more with my MP. And I’ve already proven that the items won’t disappear even if they get taken out from the bath. I also know that this soap is on a whole different level from the soap in your world.”

After watching Haruno for the past several days, I realized that her hair had lost the luster that I’d remembered seeing when I first met her. It was probably due to the lower quality of soap she was using. If she used the shampoo that came from my Unlimited Bath, I was sure her black hair would be shining again in no time.

“You know how to use this kind of shampoo, right? Don’t try to eat it like Rium did, okay?” I tried throwing in a little joke, but Sera listened to every word with a very serious face.

“It this really okay? It seems like such a valuable item...” She had a point. In this world, it was impossible to find such a thing. But I still wanted her and Haruno to use my soap.

“Well, as long as you only use it between yourselves, and don’t make a big deal out of it...”

“I understand. I would never do something to betray your trust, Sir Touya.”

“Okay, thanks. I trust you, too, Sera.” She was taking this all so seriously, I felt like I should be thanking her instead.

On second thought, this might lower my chances of getting to bathe with them... But it doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to for a while, so I’m sure this was the right decision.

“Thank you very much, Touya,” Haruno said.

“...Thanks.” Rium followed Haruno’s lead and came up and thanked me on her own.

“It hurts if you get it in your eyes, so ask Haruno how to use it, okay?” I told her.

As I watched them rejoice over the soap, a thought occurred to me. If I had bought a female raver just so that I could have someone to bathe with me, I would have never been able to look them in the eyes ever again... And so, I decided to make as much soap as I could and create a stock so that I could keep giving them lots and lots of presents.

In the days that remained before my departure, I went out to do some shopping and continued to train. I wanted to acclimate myself to this world as quickly as possible. I went with Haruno’s group, of course, who had three pilgrim knights guarding them. One of these three was a friend of Sera’s, and she was close to Haruno in age, so they were already on friendly terms. I feared that going out in full armor would make the townspeople afraid of us, but there were a lot of people walking around with battle ravers to guard them, so we didn’t even stand out. Rulitora, the giant sand lizardman who was walking beside us, definitely got the most attention.

One day, we went to the open café that served con panna, which I had visited on the day of the festival. Haruno seemed to like it too, and her face kept breaking into a smile. So far, so good.

Rulitora struggled with the tiny cup, but he wasn’t adverse to drinking coffee. Of course, I paid for everything. I wanted to get a grasp on the average cost of things in this world, so I used the money I’d made from selling water. Haruno tried to pay for her portion at first, but I was stubborn and told her that my honor as a man was riding on this. I paid for Rulitora as well, but only because I was his employer.

Next, in order to help Haruno get a sense for the price of things as well, we went shopping together. Since I was the more experienced one, I had no choice but to guide her. It really felt like we were on a date, so I was a little nervous.

While we were shopping, I got caught up in staring at her as she scanned the products lined up in the storefronts. Should I try to hold her hand? No, if I tried something like that all of a sudden, it might make her hate me... Then, as I continued to hesitate, I felt someone grab my hand.

“...Together.” It wasn’t Haruno, but Rium.

Before I knew it, she had Haruno holding her other hand, and seemed quite satisfied. As we walked on together, I couldn’t help but notice how the three pilgrims watching us sighed in disappointment.

Several more days passed, until the hose I had ordered was finally completed. Covered in grey sea monster skin, it looked more similar to a fire truck hose.

I also had the craftsmen prepare me a rickshaw. I thought about what we’d need to do in order to get to Rulitora’s homeland as quickly as possible. In the end, I decided that just having Rulitora run would be faster than using horses.

Once I packed the food and other items we’d bought into the rickshaw, we were finally ready to depart. We’d be leaving a bit earlier than Haruno, but this was in order to save Rulitora’s homeland, so we had no choice. Besides, she had Sera, Rium, and the pilgrims with her. The same went for Cosmos – the more party members a hero had, the more time it took them to get ready to leave. But it was all worth it in my eyes, as long as it meant that Haruno would have a safe journey.

The temple elder offered to lend me a few of the pilgrims as well, but I turned him down. If the temple ordered them to bathe with me, they’d probably do it, but that’s exactly why I couldn’t accept it. Bathing with someone who was ordered to do so would be no different than bathing with a raver. Besides, if I got any more party members, we wouldn’t be able to ride in the rickshaw. I wanted to save Rulitora’s people as quickly as possible, then keep Haruno as safe as I could, and in order to complete both goals to the best of my ability, Rulitora and I had no choice but to go out on our own.

I’d already talked to Haruno about it, so it was a done deal. She said she felt guilty about how she was the only one who had so many people protecting her, but when I explained how the Unlimited Bath worked, she understood. When I closed the door to the Unlimited Bath, it became impossible to access from the outside. I even had the temple elder do a little experiment – not even magic could trace it. This also made it impossible for me to make contact with the outside, but if it was Rulitora fighting, he’d probably be better off without me there to drag him down. The Unlimited Bath was cramped, so not many people would be able to hide inside at the same time. With that in mind, journeying as a party of two was definitely the best option.

The night before we departed, I rolled around in bed, unable to get Haruno out of my mind. Ever since she entered the Unlimited Bath that day, we’d discussed a lot. Haruno had been a first-year in high school back in our world. She went to a very prestigious girls’ academy known even to me. She mentioned that she’d been in all-girl schools since she became a middle schooler, so she hadn’t talked to a boy this much in a long time. It also turned out that she was the daughter of a politician. She’d always had that sort of high society air about her, but now I knew for sure that she was from a well-to-do family.

I didn’t want to make her do all the talking, so I also told her about my family. I was just a normal second-year in a public high school, with a salaryman father and a mother who worked part-time. Honestly, we had nothing in common aside from the fact that we were both born in Japan – yet we had encountered each other in a completely different world.

It must be destiny. Am I being too romantic for my own good here?

I... think I like her...

Her glossy black hair and soft-spoken, docile demeanor... the fact that she had a good head on her shoulders, and a good upbringing... how strong she was deep inside, and how surprisingly funny she could be. When I thought about how the shampoo I created had helped her black hair regain the shine it’d temporarily lost, I felt proud. I couldn’t deny the fact that I felt close to her since she was from my homeland, but she had also been a source of comfort to me over the past week.

Most importantly, I wanted to bathe with her from the bottom of my heart. I wanted to take out what she had imprisoned under her chest armor, her surcoat, and her cloak, and let them float in my bath. I wasn’t joking around here – I was deadly serious. Haruno had been the reason I had decided not to buy a female raver to have someone to bathe with. I just wanted to bathe with Haruno, and no one else.

“Ahhhh! Owww!” Once I got to that point, I accidentally rolled off the bed and fell on the floor.

Spreading my arms and legs on the ground, I continued to ponder my problem. I was troubled – troubled about Haruno. I liked her, but if that was all there was to it, I wouldn’t have needed to worry about a thing. We had shared a very fantastic meeting – it was a classic ‘boy meets girl’ scenario.

“But Sera’s really nice, too...”

My problem was that Haruno wasn’t the only one I liked. I knew how much effort Sera had put into helping Haruno. She had a very strong sense of responsibility, but that wasn’t all. After all the teamwork they’d done, they’d most likely become best friends.

Sera wanted to help her friend. It was probably the most powerful emotion that Sera was feeling. She was so kind – and she was also 18, one year older than me, with blonde hair that reminded me of warm sunlight. Her wavy hair had become even more brilliant after she started using my shampoo. Her skin also looked tender and lustrous, and since she had a reputation as a young, beautiful cleric, it only made her look all the more radiant. But what stuck out most in my mind was the bountiful, round derriere that she hid beneath her cleric’s robes.

I wanted to bathe with her – not just with Haruno, but Sera as well.

“But how could I forget Rium?!”

I couldn’t allow myself to neglect Rium, Haruno’s other party member. She was only 14 years old, with straight, cocoa-colored hair that came down to her shoulders. In modern Japan terms, she’d be a second-year in middle school. Her petite frame made her look more like an elementary schooler, though.

Rium was just so lovable, and I wanted to adore her. She seemed stoic at first glance, but I knew that there was more to her. Her eyes lit up when she saw bubbly shampoo, and she showed me an expression that looked much younger than her age. I bet if I taught her about more things, that curiosity would glimmer in her eyes again. I would’ve never been able to do it in front of Haruno, yet I still sort of regretted not bathing with Rium when she had requested it. But it was too late now, and there was no sense in crying over it.

So, I don’t just like Haruno... I like her entire party. How can I be so unprincipled? But no matter what I told myself, I couldn’t forget the paradise I had seen in that dream. If I had to go on living with the Unlimited Bath, then I least wanted to try and make that into a reality.

As I firmed my impure resolve, someone knocked on my door.

“Um, it’s me, Haruno. Are you awake, Touya?”

Haruno... She always comes to visit around this time. I hurriedly jumped up and let her in.

“Thanks...” She was in her pajamas, as usual, and held her gown closed with both hands. Perhaps it had just become an unconscious habit for her to always hide her chest. “Touya, your eyes...”

“Err, sorry!” Panicked, I looked her straight in the eyes and apologized.

“You’re... a pervert, aren’t you, Touya?”

“I can’t deny that.” After all, I’d just been dreaming about how I wanted to bathe with her.

“I guess that’s a better answer than denial,” she said with a sigh.

According to Haruno, she had the ability to sense ulterior motives within people. It was just something that came naturally to her. Due to that, she preferred it when people were open versus trying to hide something as petty as a glance toward the chest area. Of course, it would have been better to simply not look at all, but it was important to apologize honestly when one accidentally did.

“I have a request for you, Touya. You can summon light spirits, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

“Could you try attacking me with one?”

“...What?” I stared at Haruno blankly.

This made her a bit flustered. “It’s fine, really, just try it.”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold on a second here. I accidentally got hit by one in my training, and those things really hurt.”

“Please, just... trust me.”

“I do. Probably more than anyone else in this world. But this is different. There’s no way I’d ever be able to attack you, Haruno.”

As she listened, Haruno started to look a little embarrassed. In retrospect, I suppose I’d said something pretty big there. I was just being honest, though.

“Grr... You’re so mean, Touya.”

“I’d be mean if I actually attacked you.”

“Well... Yes, I guess you’re right.” After thinking for a moment, Haruno finally seemed to agree with me. “I’m sorry. Can you open up the Unlimited Bath instead, then?”

“Huh? Sure.” I didn’t know what she wanted, so I simply did as I was told and opened the door.

“Now then, if you’ll excuse me. Oh, Touya, please come inside as well. I want to use the water.”

“Okay.”

Haruno walked into the bath, scooped some hot water into a wash bowl, then splashed it all over her face.

“Whoa!”

I had no chance of stopping her. I hastily handed her a towel, but she refused it with a hand gesture. When I looked at her hand, I realized something – she wasn’t the least bit wet.

“Look closely, Touya. I’m not wet at all,” Haruno said, then spread open her hands to show me. With that, her gown opened up a little, and I could clearly see just how big her hidden breasts were. “Not there!”

“S-sorry!”

“Come on...”

She was right. And it wasn’t just her hands – her beautiful black hair, porcelain skin, her gown, and her pajamas were all dry.

“What in the...?”

“Unlimited Reflection... I have the power to avoid influence from anything that’s created by MP. This means that no magic, magic items, or even gifts can touch me.” I’d heard all those terms before, and it made sense. I looked at her, and she nodded. “This is my gift.”

Haruno stared at me with serious eyes. It was such an amazing ability, I didn’t know what to say. Then, I realized something.

“Wait, hold on a minute! Haruno, if magic doesn’t work on you, then does that mean you can’t heal yourself with magic? That’s no good!”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. If I choose to let it touch me, it will. Watch.” Haruno rolled up a sleeve and put her hand into the water. When she took it out, it was clearly dry. “It’s just like how you can open and close the door of your Unlimited Bath. In my case, this gift automatically reflects everything unless I focus on it.”

I passed a hand over my chest in relief – apparently, she could turn it on and off. “Phew... If your gift prevented magic from healing you, I would have stopped you at all costs from departing.”

“Sorry for making you worry.” Despite her apologetic tone, Haruno was beaming.

Incidentally, after some time, it became impossible for Haruno to deflect soap and other things that had been taken out of the Unlimited Bath. Haruno suspected that it was because something created from MP had gone to being ‘an ordinary object.’ Over the past few days, Haruno had asked numerous times to give her soap – turns out that it was all part of an experiment to test out her gift.

“Well that’s news to me. But how come you decided to ask me for help? And tell me about your gift?”

“Um... You trusted me and told me about your gift, so I didn’t want to just keep mine a secret.” Haruno fidgeted as she answered my question.

It appeared that she had told me about her gift because she trusted me. The elder and the others knew about my ability, mainly because I didn’t see the point in hiding a gift like that, but apparently Haruno hadn’t taken it that way. Regardless, I was grateful that it had given me brownie points with her.

“Oh. Thanks, Haruno.”

“No, thank you, Touya.” After thanking each other, Haruno and I looked each other in the eyes and laughed.

Once we left the Unlimited Bath, I closed the door and made it disappear. Instead of returning to her own room, Haruno sat down on the chair in mine. Since I only had one chair, I sat on the bed.

“Touya, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Is the reason you’ve been having trouble finding party members... because of your gift?” She hit the nail right on the head.

“Well, you know how small it is. I just can’t imagine myself bathing with another guy in there. I had the temple elder and his helpers enter in order to confirm how my gift worked, but I can’t really say it was any fun.”

“So that’s why you picked Rulitora?”

“Yeah, otherwise I’d feel guilty about not letting someone into the bath. Rulitora hates damp places, so he can’t enter baths like these, which means I can keep my conscience clear.”

“I see...” Haruno nodded, then looked downwards as if she was thinking about something.

She was a smart person, so I worried about her figuring out my ulterior motive, but I also felt a little happy that she’d put so much thought into something related to me. Eventually, she brought her head up a bit and looked at me.

“...You’d really rather bathe with a girl, huh?”

Another bullseye. But I knew that hiding something would be the wrong decision here – so I decided to come clean about everything.

“Well, I’m a guy. If I had to bathe with someone, I’d rather it be a girl.”

“So that’s also why you went to buy a raver, huh?”

“...At first, I thought about buying a female raver. But not anymore. I’m done entertaining the idea of buying a raver just to bathe with me.”

“Why is that?”

“If I did that, then I wouldn’t be able to look you straight in the face.” It made me really embarrassed to say this out loud, and I knew that my face had turned as red as a cherry.

Haruno was also blushing to an extreme degree. “...It’s not fair for you to say something like that at a time like this,” Haruno said in a pouty tone, as she pursed her lips.

“Really, I’m just telling you the truth!” I argued, desperate to get her to believe me.

It was the bare, naked truth. Haruno’s face turned even redder as she looked downwards. It appeared that she believed me.

With her head down, she started to speak. “The truth is, at first, you scared me. You know, when I asked you to let me into the Unlimited Bath.”

“Oh... Yeah, I guess that makes sense, considering what happened.”

“But then you told me that there was no need to hurry, remember? That’s when I realized you weren’t so scary after all.”

Good. Seems like I made the right decision back there.

“You did some really considerate things for Sera and I after that, as well.”

“I just couldn’t ignore you,” I said, as I unconsciously averted my gaze. Now it was my turn to be embarrassed.

As I flitted my eyes around, I caught Haruno smiling and looking back at me. “It’s been fun so far. Thank you very much. I was happy to get all the soap, too.”

“No, the pleasure was all mine... I’m glad that that you got your beautiful hair back.”

“It’s all thanks to your shampoo, Touya.” Haruno looked downward again. Seeing her thank me so politely left me at a loss. Then, she smiled, and her expression turned serious. “Touya, I have something important to ask you.”

Bewildered at her sudden change in tone, I fixed my posture and got ready to listen to her. My Japanese instincts had me sitting cross-legged on my bed.

Haruno looked deep into my eyes. I felt so nervous as I waited for her to open her mouth again.

“Would you... like to bathe with me?”

I fell off the bed. “You got all serious for that?!”

“This is important! Extremely important! To me, at least!”

“Well, that may be so, but come on, look at how tense the situation got!”

“I just thought it’d be the proper atmosphere for what I was asking!”

“Urk...” Haruno’s momentum had left me reeling.

She had probably already figured out that I liked her. I hadn’t told her straight out, but I wasn’t hiding it, either. I didn’t know what was going on in Haruno’s mind, but if she considered the details surrounding my Unlimited Bath, there was no way she could feel indifferently to it. In other words, she was exactly right in approaching me this way.

I sat up straight and answered her honestly. “I want to bathe with you.”

As she listened to my words, Haruno turned her head down in embarrassment, and her face took on a fiery red color.

If I go any further, she might end up hating me. But I chose to be completely honest with her... Deciding that it’d be impossible for me to keep hiding things from her, I strengthened my resolve and kept speaking.

“I also want to bathe with Sera and Rium.” Haruno’s eyes went wide, probably either from shock or surprise.

I knew I shouldn’t have said that! I thought, when suddenly, she burst out laughing.

“...I’m supposed to get angry here, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, I mean I know I’m the one who said it, but it’s okay to be angry, you know! The only reason I said it was because I felt like I wouldn’t be able to hide it.”

Right after she heard that, Haruno’s face went blank. As I wondered what I’d said wrong, she asked me in an accusing tone: “Are you afraid of me?”

Apparently she thought I felt like I couldn’t hide anything from her because I was afraid of her. Haruno was so sharp that I couldn’t help but wonder how hard it must have been for her to deal with people up until now.

Again, I decided to take the honest route. “I’m afraid of you hating me because I hide stuff.”

I was sure that Haruno wouldn’t have liked it if I hid something from her, so I decided to be honest about everything. I didn’t want her to hate me. I knew that what I was saying sounded crazy, but that was the biggest reason why I was saying it. I should have just done away with my impure desires, but if humans could purify themselves that easily, we all probably would have attained enlightenment by now.

Haruno let out a sigh, then started speaking in an awkward tone. “...Sorry. I was testing you, Touya.”

“You already knew, huh?”

Haruno gave me a small nod. “If you had hidden the bathing stuff from me, I probably would have had second thoughts about staying friends with you.”

Haruno seemed to feel bad about this, but considering it from her side, it was only natural that she’d want to ascertain that, and I wasn’t intolerant enough to judge her for it.

“But since you told me the truth, I feel like things look positive for your request, even if I may not be able to grant it right away,” Haruno said, then let out another sigh. “But I didn’t expect you to be so honest about Sera and Rium as well.”

“But you knew, right?”

“Well, yeah. Sometimes your eyes look really perverted...”

I was aware – that’s exactly why I decided to be completely honest with her, since I’d just end up giving myself away.

“What do you think I should do in this situation?” she asked.

“Uh, I don’t think I’m the right person to answer that.”

“Do you think I should bathe with you?”

After her possibly reconsidering our friendship, then thinking positively about it, this is where we had arrived at. Honestly, I was torn. I felt that if I let this chance go, like I did with Rium, I’d only regret it in the end. But at that moment, I only had one answer.

“I don’t want to bathe with you while you still have reservations.”

It may sound like I was being a wuss, but I wanted to treat her feelings with respect, even if it meant wimping out. Luckily, it seemed like she understood this.

As her cheeks turned a bashful shade of red, she gave me such a teasingly sweet look. “...You’re so unfair, Touya.” Although she averted her gaze again, she didn’t seem pouty like before. After a moment, she turned her face back to me. She looked a bit calmer. “I think I’ve been relying a little too much on you, since we’re from the same world and all.”

Of course, I also had special feelings for her because we were from the same world, but my feelings went much farther than that. “I’m in the same boat – but that’s not the only reason I started to like you.”

“The same goes for me. You’re perverted, Touya, but I also know that you’re kind and trustworthy.”

We stared at each other in silence for a moment. I could feel my face getting hot. Wait a minute... did we just confess our feelings for each other? And is it actually turning out to be a success?

I had no words. I felt like if I got any closer to her, it might ruin everything, so I remained perfectly frozen on my bed. Haruno was still red, with a very meek expression on her face.

Eventually she looked up, and stared at me with serious, determined eyes. “What I’m afraid of... is getting to the point where I rely on you for everything.”

“But I never really...”

“No. We’re surviving now because the temple is supporting us, but it’s almost time for us both to depart,” Haruno said in a placating manner.

She was right. The only reason we were surviving now was because the temple was covering all of our living expenses. We wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for them. Perhaps I could have survived by selling water, but maybe that’s why Haruno felt like she would end up relying on me for everything.

“Honestly, I wanted to depart with you. But if I rely on you here, I’ll only end up making trouble for you.” Clearly, Sera wasn’t the only one in their group who had a strong sense of responsibility. “I want to get strong. Strong enough so that I don’t need to rely on you or my allies for everything.”

“I understand. I’ve only made it this far thanks to Rulitora as well.”

Despite the fact that Haruno and I were summoned as heroes, we still had a long way to go. My daily training with Rulitora had taught me that through and through.

“Once my party is ready, we’re going to travel to Athenapolis,” Haruno said.

“Rium’s homeland?”

“Yes. Apparently that’s where her teacher is. You’re going to Rulitora’s homeland, right, Touya?”

“Yeah, they’re in dire need of water. A perfect match for me and my gift, wouldn’t you say?”

Haruno agreed with a chuckle. “Touya, let’s meet again once we both get stronger.”

“Once we get stronger, huh? Sounds good to me.”

There’s no way I can fight the demon lord. Once I learned just how weak I really was, that thought never left my mind. When I depart, I’m just going to be running for my life. But if I think about it as a way to gain confidence for the next time I meet Haruno, maybe it’ll give me a more positive outlook on my journey. I need to get stronger in this world. Rising in social standing is a good option as well. With power and capital, I’ll be able to take care of Haruno and her party members. Just thinking about it made me smile.

“Are you thinking about perverted stuff again?” Haruno was so sharp. Or maybe my face was just that easy to read.

“I just thought that if I got stronger, I might be able to bathe with you, Sera, and Rium.”

“Oh, come on... Well, I’ll think about it. I can’t vouch for Sera and Rium, though.”

“Huh?”

Haruno looked straight at me, then nodded her blushing face slowly, as if she’d decided on something. After taking a few steps toward me, she pushed her body up against mine and moved her face in close. “We won’t see each other for a while, so I’ll just do this...” she said, then closed her eyes. It was plain to see that she was waiting for a kiss.

“Whoa, Haruno?!”

But she wouldn’t say anything, which left me at a loss for words as well.

If I don’t kiss her here, what’ll that make me? I shook off my embarrassment and pulled her body in so close that I could feel her soft, voluptuous chest pushing up against me.

My face is still a bit too far away, I thought, then put some muscle into the arm I had around her waist and pushed us even closer together. Despite how formidable she’d looked when she was fighting, she had an unbelievably thin waist.

“...Haruno.” With my heart beating in my chest, I moved my face in, closed my eyes, and pressed my lips to hers.

I had no recollection of how much time passed after that. Whether we stayed like that for a moment or an eternity, eventually, I slowly pulled my lips back, opened my eyes, and looked her in the face. She slowly opened her eyes as well and stared back. We were so close that we could feel the tickle of each other’s breath.

As I stared at Haruno’s pink cheeks and moist eyes, a thought rose into my mind. I need to get strong enough to earn her respect.

“Touya...” This time, it was Haruno who pressed her lips to mine.

We had said all we needed to. Just looking into each other’s eyes and calling out each other’s names was enough to make us happy. My heart was beating so fast. Back in my home world, I’d been pretty jaded when it came to love, but I think I simply never had a chance to really experience it.

I must be a really possessive person. Right now, I feel like I don’t want to hand Haruno over to anyone. I even wish we could depart on our journeys together. But if I did that, I’d be preventing her from reaching her goal of getting strong enough to not have to rely on anyone, and that’s the one thing I don’t want to do. I’m afraid of the demon lord, but I don’t just want my journey to be a means of escape. I want it to be a way for me to achieve one of my goals. And someday, I’m going to bathe with Haruno’s entire party.

“...Your eyes look perverted again.” Suddenly, Haruno was looking at me with accusing eyes.

“Yeah, I was thinking about bathing with you,” I answered proudly, filled with indomitable confidence.

“I guess this is what they mean when they say love creates weakness.”

“You can say that again. Honestly, I don’t want to leave your side. I wish we could depart together.”

In response, Haruno gave me a dazzling smile. It was so adorable that it made me hug her with all my might. Haruno seemed surprised and shivered for a moment, but then quickly moved her arm around my body and hugged me back. I didn’t want to leave her, but I felt that if I didn’t let go soon, I would never be able to. We kissed one last time, reconfirming how we both felt, then pulled our lips apart.

Suddenly, I heard a rattle. Haruno looked toward the door, and my eyes quickly followed. We were inside the temple, so I doubted it was some kind of intruder, but I gave Haruno a dagger just in case, moved in front of her, and opened the door.

“Ha... Ha ha ha...” On the other side of the door we saw Sera, Rium, and the three temple knights.

Apparently, they’d been waiting there the whole time, hoping something would happen on our last night before we departed. Hoping ‘something’ would happen? It was obvious what they were after, although I couldn’t help but wonder how they were able to hear us.

Haruno quickly shot away from me and bowed her head down. I tried to play it off as best I could.

“Errr... Uhh, I’m sorry you all had to see that,” Haruno said.

“Oh no, it was quite the... Um, I mean...!” Sera stammered.

“Yeah, you don’t need to apologize for anything, Haruno! If anyone should be sorry, it’s me!” I shouted.

“But, Sir Touya, you seemed so serious and manly, even I... Err, wait, no!” Sera seemed really confused.

“Sera, just calm down. Deep breaths,” I said.

“Hooo, haaa...”

Following my advice, Sera raised both arms, stuck out her chest, and started breathing deeply. When she did this, her chest pushed up through the loose robe, allowing me to see its curves quite clearly. Next to me, Haruno hid her own chest with her hands and glared at me. It appeared that both Haruno and Sera had a habit of hiding their breasts.

Recently, however, I’d noticed something. Compared to Haruno, who purposefully made her big boobs hard to see, Sera had big boobs that naturally hid themselves from those around them. Due to that, Sera’s sometimes unwillingly revealed themselves, such as with her deep breathing.

“Did that calm you down?” I asked.

“Yes. Please excuse me...” Finally calm, Sera took a long look at my face. “Hmm...”

“Is something wrong?” I cocked my head. It seemed like she was pondering something.

She lightly clapped her hands, then walked forward and embraced me. “I can’t do it as well as Lady Haruno, but...” With that, Sera gave me a kiss on my right cheek. Unlike Haruno’s straight, black hair, Sera had wavy blonde hair that lightly tickled my cheeks, making me feel like it was enveloping me.

Sera moved her head back, smiled at me, then showed me her right cheek. It appeared that she wanted me to return the favor. Nervously, I planted a kiss smack on her right cheek.

“Is it normal to say goodbye this way in your world?” I asked.

“What? No, not at all. I just got a little jealous of Lady Haruno, that’s all.”

“Uh... Okay.”

“I’ll bathe with you eventually as well, because I trust you, Sir Touya.”

Sera’s smile possessed not an ounce of malicious intent. Since she usually acted pretty casual around me, I took it in a positive light, hoping it meant that she trusted and admired me.

Next, Rium yanked on the sleeve of my tunic. When I looked at her, she whispered: “Come down.”

I did as she told and crouched down beside her, then showed her my left cheek. Rium hesitated for a bit, then squinted as if she’d made up her mind and kissed my cheek. Unlike Sera’s, it was a long kiss.

After she pulled her face away, Rium looked embarrassed and restless. She also couldn’t seem to bring herself to show me her cheek. In retaliation, I kissed Rium on both cheeks and her forehead, then squeezed her tiny body in close and patted her on the head. She looked so cute as her eyes bugged out in surprise.

“You be careful, too, Rium. Make sure you get along with Haruno and Sera, you hear?” After I let her go, looked her in the eyes and said that, Rium simply nodded her red face over and over.

Next, I took out something I’d prepared in advance: shampoo and soap that I’d stored up from the Unlimited Bath. With this, Haruno and her party members’ hair would remain protected. When the three temple knights saw that, they cheered. They must have been fans of my soap as well. I had given Haruno’s party so much that they could easily let the pilgrims use some as well. When I told this to the three knights, they were overjoyed, and thanked me with beaming faces.

After they finished thanking me, Haruno shot me an exasperated look. “...You were pretty popular even back in your own world, weren’t you, Touya?”

“Not one bit. You’re the first person I’ve ever kissed, you know.”

I was certainly getting carried away – but they seemed to be fine with it, which just gave me more courage. I knew that I’d never be able to do any of this back in my home world.

“I-It was my first time, too! So, um, once more!” Did seeing me kiss the other two spur this on – was she merely jealous? Either way, Haruno and I moved toward each other again for one last, intense kiss.

The three knights cheered once more. But once Haruno and I continued to peck at each other, once, twice, thrice, their cheers grew softer, until nothing but silence enveloped us. That was how I ended the final night before my departure.

The next morning, Rulitora and I updated our status cards. I had gotten to Level 7. My stats had all gone up, while my MP had skyrocketed. Level represented strength, which meant this was all thanks to my training. The reason my MP had gone up so high was probably because I had been creating water and soap every day. Meanwhile, Rulitora’s level and stats had hardly changed at all. It seemed that it became harder and harder to rise to each new level, so the training that took me to Level 7 had meant hardly anything to him.

On that day, we were going to depart from Jupiteropolis and head to Rulitora’s homeland in the southern wasteland. I felt sad about leaving, but I knew that I couldn’t stay here forever if I wanted to achieve my goal.

I held my head up high and walked to the entrance of the temple.

“Touya, you’re smiling.” Haruno poked my cheek.

“Whoops.” I tried to make my face look more serious. “But you are, too, Haruno...”

“What, r-really?! Sera, I don’t have any hickeys, do I?” Haruno said with a grin.

“You’re fine. Wait, does that mean you two were kissing again this morning?”

“Sir Touya, please get in,” Rulitora called to me.

“Okay,” I said as I got into the rickshaw.

These were more common in town than carriages. It looked like a slanted bowl, where the passenger sat on a blanket thrown over all the luggage. Due to this, one had to carefully pack things so that whatever was on top could act as a cushion. It could probably fit two or three people without any luggage, but currently it could barely hold one.

I was wearing a brigandine on my torso, vambraces to protect my arms, gauntlets to protect my wrists, greaves to protect my legs, and an open-faced helmet. I placed my broad ax and large round shield next to me on the blanket, so that they were within an arm’s reach. I also had my dagger strapped to my side as a secondary weapon. On top of all my armor, I was wearing a surcoat, mainly to keep sunlight from heating up my metal armor. I had picked a magical one that was especially resistant to heat.

At long last, all my preparations were finally complete. As the children I had bathed threw confetti into the air, we left the temple, accompanied by the cheers of all the people who had come to see us off. They had all gathered to watch the Hero of the Goddess depart. Upon closer look, I spotted Kopan, the water merchant who’d helped me save up some money, and the owners of the shops that I’d visited along with Haruno and the others.

Rulitora gazed into the crowd. It seemed as if he had noticed something as well.

“Hmm...”

“What’s wrong, Rulitora?”

“No... It was probably just my imagination.”

“Oh. Huh? Isn’t that the guy from the raver market?”

“Yes, it is. And the person next to him is the labor raver manager who took care of me.”

Slightly left from where Rulitora was gazing, I found the raver market people. I also spotted the weapon and armor smiths as well. It looked like everyone who’d taken care of us in the Sacred Capital had come to see us off, and I felt very grateful.

I looked back once more, then looked to Haruno, who was standing next to the temple elder and Mr. Butler. Haruno, Sera, and Rium were all waving their hands side by side. Around them, the three female knights had raised their swords in the temple’s customary salute. Looking at them from a distance, I could tell what fine knights they all were.

I need to get stronger, so that I can hurry back and pick up Haruno’s group. With determination pounding in my heart, I set off on my journey across this fantastic world.