Bath Break – The Specialty of Ares, Dungeon Baths

Bath Break – The Specialty of Ares, Dungeon Baths

“Hey Touya, wanna go to a bath?” Yukina asked that on a day when the city was bustling with excitement for the arms competition. She couldn’t help but be worried for her older brother, Touya, who was ignoring the competition in favor of other responsibilities that were keeping him busy. The bath she was referring to was not the Unlimited Bath, but a public bathhouse in Ares.

Anyone could tell at a glance that Touya was exhausted, and those around him were suggesting that he take a break, so he agreed to take the day off. He couldn’t take the entire party with him though, so he brought Yukina, Haruno, Clena, Roni, Sera, Rakti, Rium, Prae, and Rulitora with him.

Sera had initially turned down the offer, but she was the most fatigued out of all of them. They wouldn’t take no for an answer. Rulitora was going with them because he’d heard that the sand lizardmen of the Merek tribe liked to use this bathhouse.

The public bathhouse was, of course, in the underground cave. It was located in a small town right outside the city center. It was a popular leisure spot for the people of Ares, but since the arms competition was in session right now, there were fewer customers than usual. The receptionist must have been curious about the competition as well, since she didn’t seem too focused on her job at hand.

“...And why are you two here?”

“There are no noteworthy competitors in the matches today.”

When Touya’s party entered the building, they crossed paths with the demon lord and the White-Faced Ogre. It’d be impossible for them to ignore each other and go their separate ways, so they went inside together.

The dressing rooms in this bathhouse were separated by men and women, but they would change into swimsuits and enter the same bath. Rulitora and the demon lord wore loincloths, while Touya changed into a pair of swimming trunks.

“This is amazing...!”

This natural cave had been turned into a bath. The floor was tiled, but the walls and ceiling were just the cave walls.

“Hmm, I think I’ll be fine using a bath like this,” Rulitora said, blinking his eyes. The bath was open and ventilated, so very little moisture built up from the steam as a result.

Though sparse, there were other customers in the bath already, including some from the Merek tribe. At the deeper end of the bath was a group of dark elves enjoying a board game that looked similar to chess. If it weren’t for the arms competition, this place would have been much more crowded.

Touya approached the edge of the bath. He dipped a finger in the water and found it to be moderately warm. The temperature of the water was slightly higher than a heated swimming pool. It wasn’t very deep, though, so it would be difficult to swim in like an actual pool.

“The water here is said to have beautifying effects, so I bet everyone’s going to be here for a while.”

In the meantime, Yukina and the other girls had changed into their swimsuits. They hadn’t bought new swimsuits just for this occasion, so the only ones Touya was seeing for the first time were the ones belonging to Haruno, Sera, Prae, and the White-Faced Ogre.

“How do I look, Touya?”

“Oh, um... It’s really pretty on you,” Touya answered, flustered. Hearing that, Haruno broke into a wide smile. She was wearing a side-tie bikini. The white color drew a pleasing contrast to Clena’s black halter neck bikini. Perhaps this was another symbol of their rivalry.

Sera was wearing a white swimsuit like Haruno’s, but hers was a one-piece.

“Um, please don’t stare at me...”

“Oh, sorry...”

Sera turned away in embarrassment when she noticed Touya looking. However, the swimsuit she was wearing appeared to be a one-piece from the front, but was cut to look like a bikini from the back—something called a monokini. Though she was trying to cover herself, she was exposing even more skin from her backside.

“Kyah!” She noticed this soon afterward and hid behind Prae. Judging from her reaction, she hadn’t chosen this swimsuit by herself. Haruno or Rin had likely picked it out for her.

Prae’s swimsuit was a tankini with a big ribbon on her chest and frills on her bottom. The swimsuit itself was cute and childlike, but Prae herself was mega-sized.

The White-Faced Ogre walked in front of them, her silver hair flowing behind her. She wore a V-necked one-piece, where the V reached all the way down to her navel. The swimsuit was black with orchids printed on it, and it made her white skin stand out even more. Her bold, or rather gallant, figure made her seem more cool than sexy.

They cleaned themselves, then went inside the bath. Rulitora looked uncertain at first, but soon enough, he sat back and relaxed in the water.

There was a tunnel in the wall; water seemed to be streaming into the bath from it.

“Oh, the receptionist was saying that the water flows from the hot spring through there.”

They’d been told that the tunnel led to several more smaller rooms, and the deeper you went inside, the hotter the water became. It would be more accurate to say that the water cooled by the time it reached the main bath, making it about the same temperature as a heated swimming pool. This bathhouse was all natural, so this must have been the result when they’d built a waterway from the hot spring source to this cave.

“That’s not all, Touya.”

“This is beautifying water... And the closer you get to the source, the stronger its effects are!”

Haruno and Clena spoke one after the other, then nodded at each other.

“Do you want to come with us, Touya?” Their eyes sparkled as they asked.

Touya sorrowfully declined their invitation. Judging by the size of the waterway, Rulitora, Prae, and the demon lord wouldn’t be able to fit inside. The four of them remained behind while the rest of the girls went deeper inside. They couldn’t resist the temptations of the beautifying water. Rakti and Rium weren’t as curious about it, but Yukina dragged them with her.

Prae was the only girl left behind, but she hardly seemed down about it. She embraced Touya from behind and enjoyed the opportunity to hog him to herself. Touya imagined that she might be sad about being left out of the group, so he let her do as she liked.

“This is a good opportunity. Why don’t you tell me more about yourselves?” The demon lord approached Touya with his tongue flickering. These days, he was often taking Clena to see matches in the arms competition with him, but in reality, there was still some awkwardness between them. He was also being careful not to make her uncomfortable. He wouldn’t pass up this opportunity to speak with Touya, someone who knew her well.

Touya couldn’t move from his embrace within Prae, and Rulitora was having his fill of his first warm bath. This would likely be a very long bath for the whole group, so Touya willingly became the demon lord’s conversation partner.

In the meantime, the girls had entered the waterway. The White-Faced Ogre, who was a frequent visitor, led the way so that they wouldn’t get lost. The deeper they went inside, the hotter the water became, and the walls and ceilings were covered in a pure-white froth.

The froth was hard to the touch. Haruno realized that these were minerals from the water that had built up over time. It signified just how rich the water was. This was how the water had gotten its reputation for beauty.

At this point, however, Yukina called out that she couldn’t handle the heat. The others also realized how hot the water had become, so they waded into an empty room near them. The water here was about the same temperature as the cedar wood tub in the Unlimited Bath. The room was dimly lit and much more humid than the main bath outside.

“This is... pretty big...” Rium commented.

“They have lots of different rooms to accommodate different group sizes,” Roni replied as she stroked the wall. The rock walls here were smooth, indicating that it had been constructed using earth cleric magic.

The White-Faced Ogre sat down near the room’s entrance, and the others waded farther inside.

“This isn’t as spacious as the bath outside, but it’s nice and quiet here,” said Sera. She was probably also thinking that no one would stare at her swimsuit in here. She was right that this was the perfect place to soak in the bath in peace and quiet, though.

After they sat for a while, Clena started fidgeting.

“...It’s been a while since I’ve taken a bath without Touya.”

She couldn’t stop thinking about how she wasn’t with Touya today. She had been embarrassed about it in the beginning, but now it had become a part of her everyday life. The Unlimited Bath had grown much bigger now, so there was honestly no reason why they had to continue bathing with Touya. In fact, the demon lord’s group took their baths separately from Touya’s party.

“You’re so used to it now, Lady Clena...” Roni teased.

“Yeah, I can’t relax until Touya washes my hair...”

“Actually, I’m jealous that you’ve been able to take baths together so often that you’re this used to it...”

Haruno was clearly envious of her. It would be boorish to ask why.

“Heheh~ I’ve been bathing with him for ten years now~” Yukina stood up with her hands on her hips, striking a triumphant pose. She was including their previous lives in her experience, so there was no way anyone else could compete.

“Well, I bet I have you beat in intimacy! In the beginning, we had to squeeze ourselves so closely to each other in a tiny bathtub! Right, Roni?”

“Don’t bring me into this!”

“W-Well I... Oh no, it was only Sera who took a bath with him back in the temple!”

“Huh?! I only took the children inside for a bath! I kept my clothes on!”

Sera was actually the first one in this group to go into the Unlimited Bath with Touya. Though just as she had said, they had remained dressed at the time.

In any case, Clena and Haruno found their new rival in the form of Yukina, and they continued chattering about Touya throughout the rest of their bath. Clena would tell them stories about when they traveled together alone, then Haruno would bring up memories from back in Jupiteropolis, to which Yukina countered with episodes from her previous life. The White-Faced Ogre stayed silent throughout the discussion, but she was in fact eavesdropping on them. Perhaps she was going to report it to the demon lord later.

“Um, are none of you embarrassed? I still get so shy about getting in the bath together with Sir Touya...” Sera timidly asked when they finally reached a pause in their conversation. She had started bathing together with Touya at the same time as Haruno, but she was still self-conscious about it.

“...Embarrassed?”

“I’ve never minded it~”

Rium and Rakti tilted their heads.

“Rium, you’re not a kid anymore...”

“...Haruno’s not a kid either, so it’s not a problem.”

Rium happened to be 14 years old. In Japan, she would be in her second year of middle school. Yet she was not the least bit ashamed about bathing together with Touya.

“Um, I’m not as bad as her, okay? I do get a bit embarrassed, too.” Haruno had gotten bold enough to proclaim something like that.

The girls calmed down thanks to Rium, and their so-called “battle of recollections” came to an end. Clena and Haruno sat next to each other and began talking again.

“It’s embarrassing, but when you think about the future, I feel like I can’t back down...”

“Right. I don’t have anyone I can rely on other than Touya.”

Haruno was strong enough that she didn’t need to rely on anyone else, but that was better left unsaid. She was still a young maiden who wanted to rely on the boy of her affections.

“And even if we stopped taking baths with him, you wouldn’t stop, right, Yukina?”

“Of course not!”

“Oh, but you don’t need to force yourself, Sera. We did promise to take a bath with Touya, but that’s already been long fulfilled...”

“You’re right, but...”

“But?”

“......If Sir Touya stopped washing my hair, I don’t think I’ll be able to survive the coming busy days...”

“Ohh...” Everyone but the White-Faced Ogre nodded in understanding at her words.

“I was raised by Touya’s finger tech, after all!” Yukina proudly exclaimed. She was referring to her previous life, but it still counted in this world.

“I know what you mean, it’s like I’m addicted to it... But it heals me!”

“I know, I know! When he washes my tail, I can’t get enough of it!”

“I like it when he dries my hair...”

“Ohh, that’s nice too...”

Their next battle was a passionate war of words about what they liked best about bathing with Touya.

The White-Faced Ogre was supposed to be rooting for Clena due to her social position, but she was astonished by the levels of her competition and wondered if she could do anything to back her up.

“Eheheh~ Touyaaa~♥”

“Ahh, I’m being buried... but I’m also being healed...”

Meanwhile, she had yet to realize that there was another formidable opponent in the form of the childlike Prae...