By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 9 - Chapter SS2

Girls’ Night

One winter night, Eliaria and her four friends were invited to extend their visit to the Jamil estate to a sleepover. After taking a bath and changing into their sleepwear, the girls had reconvened in a guest room, where Elise and a few maids entered with several boxes in hand.

“Thank you, everyone. Here are the beauty products from Ryoma I was telling you about,” Elise said. “How was your bath?”

The five girls all responded that they enjoyed the bath, and Michelle, whose mother was a pharmaceutical researcher and had a scientific mindset herself, made some observations. “I feel much warmer than my regular baths—right down to my fingertips. I believe I can attribute this to the materials mixed in before we got in. I have never experienced it firsthand, but I’m feeling effects similar to what I have heard hot springs provide.”

“I can tell you are a Wildan; your assumption is correct. The bath bomb turns ordinary water into something closer to what is known as a ‘carbonated hot spring,’ which improves circulation and warms you up to the very tips of your fingers. I don’t know too many of the details, but it’s easy to use and perfect for this time of year. That’s one of Ryoma’s creations as well, just like the sugar scrubs I had you use to wash yourselves.”

“Those felt great on my skin. The ingredients are simple and easy to come by, but I never imagined you could use them in such a manner.”

“Michelle... Curiosity is all well and good, but do exercise caution.”

“You got so wrapped up in trying to analyze them that you almost passed out in the bath.”

“C-Can you blame me?! They were terribly interesting, especially the bath bomb. The sugar scrub was simple enough, but it looked like the bath bomb’s been processed in some sort of strange refinement process. I assume he extracted specific parts of the ingredients, but the purity, or efficiency—”

“Michelle, that will do. Save the chit-chat for bedtime. If the bath bomb interested you so, surely the other products would have you interested as well?”

“Hm... I suppose so.”

“Well, Mother, can you show us Ryoma’s other beauty products?” Elia asked, seeing that the conversation had been forced away from Michelle.

“You girls are experts,” Elise smiled as the maids lay out various containers on the table. “We have quite a few specimens here, but these are prototypes focused on moisturizing and anti-perspiration. Ryoma wants to know how they feel on your skin, so be honest with your feedback. Of course, that could vary depending on your skin type... Does anyone have any concerns about these?”

The girls exchanged looks.

“If I may.”

“Riela, is something bothering you?”

“This isn’t a major concern, but I sweat easily, maybe because I train with my sword every day.”

“So do I,” Michelle joined. “Whenever I work with the furnace, I end up drenched, even in wintertime.”

“Then you should try this baby powder. It’s made from ingredients gentle enough for a baby’s skin.”

Elise daubed the powder onto a strip of fabric and slid it across Riela’s and Michelle’s arms.

“It’s so soft!”

“Yes, isn’t it? It absorbs unwanted moisture—i.e., sweat—but without drying out the skin. I think it would be great for preventing rashes.”

“It feels nice.”

“Here’s another one for sweat—deodorizing cream for your underarms.”

“I do feel a bit self-conscious going to class after exercising. There are even some boys that come so close I think they’re trying to smell us.”

“They’re a real pack of creeps... I think Ryoma’s onto something. Nobles and rich kids use perfume, but those can be a bit too harsh for beastkin like us. And that’s not even mentioning the price.”

“Spoken like a true merchant, Miyabi. I’m sure this will be a more reasonable option. There is one problem, though; one of the ingredients can only be supplied by Ryoma, but the rest are very common in the market.”

“There’s a special ingredient?” Michelle asked.

“One could say so. Ryoma likes to use materials from his slimes in most things he makes. For example, he uses anti-bacterial solution extracted from medicine slimes in that cream, and dried-out mud from mud slimes for the baby powder.”

“Well, then...”

“I’ve been told he called himself a ‘slime scientist.’”

“Sounds about right.”

“Let me show these other ones...”

The six of them cheerfully discussed mud masks, cleansers, primers, and more, as the night grew ever thicker outside...