Part 2
—Boundary wall, Observatory, [Thousand Eyes] branch shop.
"To the showers! NOW!"
Wearing the Japanese-style apron, the assistant shop keeper who had been waiting started baring her teeth and shouting as soon as she saw Asuka.
"There is no way on earth I'm allowing you to enter the shop looking like that! The clothes are placed here! You better wash yourself cleanly! You must be thankful, it can help you replenish your weariness! — Ah? What? Wounds? It can be healed just by bathing! So please wash your body cleanly or else you will dirty the shop's interior!"
—........Just like this, Asuka who was forcefully half-undressed was brought to the bathroom.
Holding onto a clean towel that was given to her, Asuka went into the open-air bathroom that could see the sky, clearly speechless.
".......That's right, my body is indeed dirty."
Stained with mud and rat's blood, it was very unkempt of Asuka.
This type of treatment however still kind of hurt Asuka's heart as she was still a maiden.
Asuka sighed, the wounds on her body started to heal up as she repeatedly rinsed the water on herself. This dramatic effect allowed Asuka to admire the bath in the bathhouse.
"This is wonderful, it can't even be compared to the treated water from the water tree. Worthy of being called a [Thousand Eyes] bath."
Sighing again, Asuka dipped her shoulders into the huge bath, letting her body rest.
..........Today, Asuka experienced fun she never had for a long time, making her happy for the whole day.
Not caring about anyone, able to stroll around freely and admire the strange culture of this place.
Out of the many days, only today had made Asuka experience something that was similar to the dream life she always had.
Lovely reticent friends, always being noisy; interesting friends that made fun of each other, foes that throw sarcastic comments at each other.
Although the elected leader was still immature and young, he was an upright and honest boy.
Towards Asuka who was a problematic child that was isolated in her home, Little Garden was truly a wonderful retreat from her world.
(......But, this relationship was formed because I had a gift.)
Asuka looked at the night sky with a tinge of loneliness. In the first place the biggest reason she was summoned here was—
The hope that Kuro Usagi and the others carry---[To save the community], that's why they needed them. It wouldn't be strange if their relationship was severed if the gift she possessed wasn't even usable.
Opponents who weren't affected by the gift were a great threat in subverting Asuka's worth in staying here.
(Those rats just now.......Why didn't my gift work on them?)
Asuka thought back to the time before the surprise attack. Her powers had not been effective for two times before.
The first time was when she faced against [Perseus] leader, Laius Perseus.
The second time was when she used it in [No Name] workshop on the slumbering sword, holy gun, magical bow and etc gifts.
Needless to say, Asuka's gift wasn't effective against anyone who was stronger than her.
(Although I've not fully understood the concept behind [spirit power(?)], but I should not be losing to rats.)
Asuka gazed at the night sky, recalling what Kuro Usagi once said.
—[spirit power(?)], which was the [Gift] that was received from the world, also known as [Life ranking].
Why would an ordinary person like Asuka have received such a high-class spirit power(?).
When they arrived into the Little Garden, Kuro Usagi once deduced this:
"In order to receive the spirit power(?), there are about two methods:
First, [Based on the impact of the world, you get to receive it through influence, contribution, compensation and reward].
Second, [A miracle had happened during birth].
There are other reasons, but the most of them fit into both categories. To give the former reason an example, those that are closely related with birth are mainly types of well-known demons and extraordinary individuals. By using a life sacrifice or sacrificial offering method to gain immortality, these kind of spirit power(?) users would eventually become Rakshaha demons. Yeah, but humans are almost always because of the second reason."
"Then, so it was because when I was born a miracle happened....?"
"YES! Like [Perseus] who we once fought, he was the son of Zeus in Greek mythology. Technically it was impossible to breed between a human and a god, but it was possible to distort this unreasonable rule to achieve reproduction. They would be living higher than an ordinary life——These hybrids, they are addressed as divine beings until the fifth generation.....Well, Perseus also gained merit for defeating Medusa, though.
People had speculated that the spirit power(?) Asuka-san received during birth is mostly a special circumstance, or your ancestors are most likely the Shura deities and the like extraordinary individuals."
"Really......What kind of special circumstances happened during my birth...."
"Aiyaya, no need to think about it that complicatedly! Basically as long as you have the understanding level of knowing that [Heritage] is equal to [Merit], then there is no problem."
Kuro Usagi concluded with another example, a [Moon rabbit] with the devotion to jump into the fire in this case.
——As an extra, a bit of digression. The rank of those that are part of the family or are given weapons by the gods or Buddhas seems to be called [Divinity]. It seems to raise their power to the highest level of their class race, but Asuka did not pry for details.
Kuro Usagi guaranteed that if Asuka had the power to even force [Fores Garo] Galdo Gasper to listen and kneel down, she definitely possessed a high-level spirit power(?).
(Then........There is only a reason to that.)
Just by thinking of unacceptable facts, Asuka bit down on her teeth. Because the most reasonable answer as to why the orders were ineffective against the rats——Was that they were probably [Influenced by someone stronger than Asuka].
(................Guuu!)
"Plop!" Asuka sank her body underwater.
Asuka had already realized that out of the three, her powers were the most useless. The two of them could be described as having [Hidden Unknown potential], but the development of her gift was——[A gift to dominate other gifts] with such a position, if the opposition had a stronger gift, then exerting out 100% of it's strength was totally impossible.
Having said that, Asuka was unable to manipulate the high-level slumbering gifts in the [No Name] workshop. After inquiring, she then knew that the items inside were all divinity-class, which was still far away from getting manipulated by her gift.
It's wrong, getting to the bottom line, [Weapons] are simply meaningless.
Asuka could only think of martial arts accomplishments on the level of a normal human.
Even if she could extract a weapon's power, she was still unable to fight on par with Izayoi or Kasukabe.
(.......Was my decision incorrect?)
Gurgle*Gurgle*, Asuka aspirated air out while hugging her knees.
It's still possible to amend now. This strength is currently strongly biased towards [Manipulation of people's heart], if it continues to enhance, eventually it would turn into a devilish gift capable of making all kinds of races surrender.
If that happened, Asuka would have to shine as a witch capable of manipulation.
"......I don't really wish for that kind of ending."
The tender sound, together with the steam from the bathroom, raised up and dissipated.
Aside from self-respect——Asuka's sense of justice was also particularly strong.
What was the value of using it if the opposition couldn't even resist but say "Yes"? It was because Asuka had strong self-esteem that she grew up without having to distort her heart.
(The enemy will continue attacking as long as the immature faerie is here. When that time comes I will have to emerge victorious....!)
Asuka lay down her hair originally on her head, getting up from the spring. This was when the changing room started getting noisy.
"Asuka-san! Your wounds aren't serious right!"
Kuro Usagi, who had a towel wrapped around her body after undressing, rushed into the bathroom with her ears on end.
"Wait wait wait wait! Kuro Usagi! What is the meaning of stepping into the bath before the master OHOHOHOHOH!!"
"Wayayayayaya!"
Plop! Crash!
The equally naked Shiroyasha forcefully embraced herself on Kuro Usagi, making both of them fall and tumble into the bath after rolling for three and a half rounds. Especially Kuro Usagi, who looked like she went down head first.
Asuka hurriedly rushed to Kuro Usagi after hearing her fatal cries.
"Wait.....Wait a moment! Kuro Usagi! Are you all right! You hit your head on the ground!"
"Am (I'm) ..........Am ogey (I'm okay)! Achuka-an, aw u ogey (Asuka-san, are you okay)?!"
Kuro Usagi was still worried about Asuka even when her head was inserted into the bottom of the bath and constantly spitting out bubbles.
Shiroyasha elatedly grabbed Kuro Usagi's rabbit ears, forcefully pulling them.
"Hei!"
"YAHAAAA!"
Kuro Usagi was also yanked out of the bath.
Looking like she was about to cry, Kuro Usagi grabbed onto Asuka's shoulders and making a thorough inspection.
"How......How is the wound? Are.......Are there any infections? Are there any scars on your maiden skin? Are you barely tolerating it? Are you really fine?"
"It's......It's fine, it healed after bathing here."
Kuro Usagi kept touching Asuka's body discourteously, knowing that Kuro Usagi was doing this out of good will, Asuka didn't push her away.
When Asuka was thinking when was the good time to stop, Shiroyasha was intently observing every part of Asuka's body.
"......Yup, Asuka's body development is not like a 15 year old girl."
"Huh?"
"You're quite developed from your collarbone down to your breasts but your curves towards your belly button are quite tight and normalized yet your skin has a soft womanly feel to it. Not to mention if one were to take a handful of that wonderful meat that lies between your thighs and buttocks you'd see that young skin overflow between your fingers and......."
*BLAM!!*
Two wooden barrels struck home on Shiroyasha's face.
The sexual harassment speech lasted for about one second from the start to the end.
Asuka stared at Shiroyasha with a cold gaze, while unintentionally blushing.
".......Eh? What? Shiroyasha was this kind of person?"
"Unfortunately, yes......Shiroyasha-sama is very impressive, but her character is very unimpressive."
And just like that, Kuro Usagi coldly assented.
Asuka was planning to leave the bathroom, but more people started coming in from the changing room. The people who entered were Kasukabe Yō, Leticia as well as the pointy-hatted faerie.
"Asuka!"
"Tap, Tap, Tap". The faerie came running and climbed up Asuka's body.
Ignoring the itchy sensation on her back, Asuka turned her head to face Kasukabe and the others.
"What happened? Did everyone come to bathe together?"
"Yeah."
"It's fine once in a while. Some more it's hard for everyone to gather, so we should chat about what happened today or schedules for tomorrow........Are you heading out, Asuka?"
Oh, so that's what it was. Asuka shook her head, returning back to the bath.
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