Extra Chapter: The Cal Mira Hot Springs
It was the fourth night since we’d arrived in the islands.
I went to soak in the hotel’s outdoor bath, thinking that it might help my curse heal faster.
I’d been going there every night.
The tubs were large and Japanese-styled. There were large parasols covering the center of the baths, and a bamboo partition ran down the center to separate the sexes. The best part about it was the unobstructed view of the ocean you had from the baths.
The floor of the baths was made from stone, which also gave it all a very Japanese feel. It made me feel strangely homesick.
“Ah . . . .”
I sunk down into the water and sighed, looking up at the sky.
The water was the perfect temperature. It was a great place to relax.
I’d been visiting the baths every day, so I was starting to feel pretty good.
The sluggish feeling that had been bothering me was going away. A glance at my stats showed that I wasn’t fully healed yet though.
Maybe I had just gotten used to feeling exhausted.
I mulled over such thoughts, barely holding onto them for a moment, as I sunk into the water and relaxed.
“Well, well. If it isn’t Naofumi.”
Motoyasu came walking into the baths.
Where was his spear? I looked closer, and sure enough he still had it. He’d changed it into a very small spear, and it was swinging at his waist.
I couldn't begrudge him that. I’d done the same thing. My shield was very small and slung over my back.
I wasn’t allowed to ever set the shield down, but I could change where I held it—so at least I could relax a little.
Motoyasu poured some of the bath water over himself to warm up before entering the full bath.
“How’s your hangover?”
“How can you even say that to me?”
“I never told you to eat them. I was just eating some fruit, minding my own business.”
“Well you’re obviously from a different Japan than I am. I’ll assume there’s some differences in the way our bodies work.”
“Assume whatever you want.”
I’d never been drunk before. Besides, I’m sure Bitch and the other girls were waiting on him hand and foot. He was probably loving it.
He’s lucky he got out of it with only a hangover to complain about.
“Hey! The water is pretty great!”
Motoyasu was shouting to someone. Who was it?
“I already know that much. How many days have we visited the baths now?”
Itsuki and his crew came shuffling in.
They were followed shortly by Ren and his party.
“Master!”
Filo was in her filolial queen form, and she came jumping over the partition into the men’s baths.
“Huh? What do you want?”
“I want to sit with you!”
“You’re a bird. Go to a different bath. Or just leave the baths and go swimming.”
“I don’t wanna!”
She could be a real brat when she wanted to.
“You better clean any feathers out when you leave.”
“Yay!”
“Stuck in a bath with Filo-chan . . . .”
Motoyasu came sliding over, an intrigued look on his face.
Filo used me as a human shield and hid behind me. She was too large to really hide though.
“Filo-chan. Why don’t you turn into your angel form?”
“I don’t wanna!”
Damn he was persistent. I guess he really had a thing for angels.
But why did Filo insist on sitting in the men’s baths? Sometimes I just didn’t understand her.
Motoyasu started to get excited.
“Hey guys! So out of all the girls in our parties, who do you think is the
cutest?”
Oh jeez . . . . They talked about the stupidest things. I sighed loudly. We weren’t on vacation here. Or is that how Motoyasu was treating his time in this world? Ren and Itsuki looked annoyed too. “Hey guys, did you? You know . . . do it? I . . . well . . . heh, heh . . . .” He was getting really obnoxious. What was he after? He sounded like a stupid kid, giggling over everything. Was he really a ladies’ man back in his world? I couldn’t stand his company. I’d just got in the baths, but I was already thinking about leaving. “So did you do it with Raphtalia? “Don’t bring me into this.” We weren’t on such friendly terms, Motoyasu and I. Wasn’t he the one who believed all the things Bitch was saying about me? Did the heroes need to be so light-hearted? This guy was an idiot. “Oh lighten up. Tell us!” Had he forgotten about Bitch? What was with him? “I'll start then. Maybe I should start by telling you my ranking of the pretty ladies?” “No thanks.” “Unnecessary.” “Not my thing.” Ren, Itsuki, and I all refused.
“Well if I had to name my top four, it would be Bitch, Raphtalia, Filo-chan, and Rishia.”
“ . . . .”
What kind of girl did he like? Those four were all over the place.
I guess he just needed a pretty face.
“I understand what you mean. Bitch is a princess, after all. Apparently she has some personality issues, but she was always nice to me.”
Itsuki jumped in on the conversation. Armor leaned over and whispered something in his ear.
I could kind of overhear what he was saying. He was telling Itsuki what kind of girls he liked.
The whole lot of them were idiots.
“Well they say the queen isn’t very nice, but that’s never bothered me.”
Now Ren was joining in too. Didn’t he just say these conversations weren’t his thing?
They were all letting Motoyasu control the conversation.
It was easy enough to complain about it, but I really didn’t want to be included.
“Am I cuuuute?”
Filo asked me.
“Whatever.”
“Boooo.”
“I think you’re the cutest! So why don’t you turn into your angel form?”
“I don’t wanna!”
Did Motoyasu really like her that much?
Why didn’t he just raise his own filolial then? He’d get the same results.
“Rishia is cute too, isn’t she? Itsuki, I’m jealous.”
“No . . . She’s, uh . . . .”
Itsuki looked suddenly embarrassed.
“Who’s Rishia?”
Ren had already forgotten about her. She was the one Itsuki’s whole party treated like a slave.
She was quite soft-spoken, so she must not have made an impression on Ren.
“Sounds like you all pretty much agree with me.”
“I guess so. As long as we’re just talking about their faces.”
“ . . . .”
Ren and I stayed silent and refused to contribute.
What were they talking about? I guess this is just what guys were like.
“I’m gonna go back over with big sister!”
“Yeah, you’d better. This bath is full of dangerous wackos.”
“Okay!”
Filo waved and jumped back over the partition.
Motoyasu shuffled over to the partition.
“If we are heroes and men, it’s an understood rule, isn’t it? We’d better have a . . . peek.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“Come on, you know you want to.”
Itsuki, the warrior of justice, didn’t have anything to say about this?
“You mustn’t.”
Said Itsuki, but he didn’t stop Motoyasu. He shuffled over to join him.
Big surprise there. So the heroes were all horn-balls? Give me a break.
Armor and the other men were all getting excited. They all lined up against the partition.
“Damn . . . . It’s a little too tall. Itsuki, give me a boost! If we jump, we’ll give ourselves away.”
“What are you saying? You’re the taller one. You should give me a boost!”
“But then I wouldn’t get a glimpse of paradise!”
Is that the only issue they had to debate? Who was going to boost who?
“Idiots . . . .”
Ren muttered to himself, but he made no motion to leave.
“I’ve had about enough.”
I said, and I climbed out of the water.
I’d only been in for a few minutes, but I didn’t want to get swept up in whatever trouble they were fomenting.
No sense in playing with fire.
Especially not after all I’d been through, with Bitch framing me and all. I didn’t need to give anyone the opportunity to accuse me of character faults.
If I didn’t leave, I was sure to get blamed for the whole thing.
“What’s up with you, Naofumi? Don’t you want to hang out?”
“Not particularly.”
What were we supposed to do, just look at women’s bodies?
I got sick just thinking about Bitch.
I was sure that I’d have a crime pinned on me if I didn’t get out of there fast.
I would just wait for Raphtalia and Filo to meet me back at the room.
“If you want to peep, do it when I’m not around!”
I said, and I tried to leave for the changing room.
But . . . .
“Huh? It’s Shield Kiddo!”
L’Arc came out of the changing room and into the baths.
“Did you come for the baths too, kiddo?”
He had terrible timing. Why did he have to come now?
“I heard these are the best springs on the island. Therese is here too. Are your friends here?”
I cursed myself silently and then, even though he hadn’t asked, started to explain the whole situation.
“We’re staying here.”
“Oh yeah? You must have some serious cash.”
“I’m about to leave. Those guys are all about to start peeping on the girls. If you don’t want to end up in trouble, you’d better leave too.”
I explained it all to L’Arc and prepared to make my exit. But something about the way he was listening made me nervous.
“Hold on a second. Did you say peeping?”
L’Arc grabbed my hand.
Why? Was he angry?
He seemed like he had a sense of justice and was stubborn enough to stick too it. Was he going to try and stop them?
“And you’re not going to participate in something that fun?”
We apparently had another horn-ball to deal with.
He looked over at Motoyasu, who was trying to position himself to see over the wall.
“I guess they’re my comrades!”
“What?!”
“Come on!”
I could hardly believe my eyes. He was siding with them?
“Come on, kiddo!”
“No thanks.”
“Don’t bother with him! He’s as stubborn as they come!”
“But . . . but this is man’s highest calling? What are we for, if not to worship a woman’s naked body?”
They were so rude! Did they even think about how the women might feel being peeped on?
L’Arc and Motoyasu were so excited that their perspective was the only one being heard.
I liked L’Arc, but I’ll have to knock him down a few ranks.
“Hey Naofumi, how far have you gotten with Raphtalia? Certainly you’ve thought about it?”
“That girl he’s with? I bet he’s gone pretty far!”
It’s like I had two Motoyasu’s to deal with. I slapped my hand to my forehead and sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you that it’s not like that?” “Yeah, well you know that she’s thinking about it.” “Nice . . . . I’ve been trying to get Therese into that kind of mood . . . .” I’d thought they were an item this whole time. They seemed so close, that I had just assumed they were dating or something. But if he was trying to peep, then I guess not. And here they were trying to peep on each other’s party members. It’s like they were trying to ruin my reputation even further than they already had. “Nonsense. This is all nonsense!” “So there’s no action at all? Maybe L’Arc could tell us something?” “Nothing good.” “No, I mean like . . . hasn’t Raphtalia tried to instigate anything?” “Instigate? No. She’s only a child.” “Are you dense? You mean she’s never taken her clothes off or anything? It’s hard to tell with all those clothes and armor on, but she’s stylish under all that, right? I can feel how attractive and classy she is under those clothes. I can’t ignore it!”
If I didn’t tell them something, I’d never get them to leave me alone. What a pain. “Sigh . . . well actually, a while back . . . .”
It was when we were traveling around as merchants.
We were in a village that was pretty famous for its springs.
The hotel had baths attached, so I soaked in them.
“Mr. Naofumi . . . .”
I was back at the room working on accessories, when Raphtalia came in from the pools.
She was wrapped in a towel, and I remember that she looked very embarrassed.
I don’t know what she was thinking, but she stood there and untied the towel. She dropped it, showing off her body.
“What do you think?”
Her body was kept up well. I’d known that her breasts were large from a time we’d hugged, but they were larger than I’d even thought. They must have gotten in the way during battle.
Her whole body was soft though. It was hard to believe she was capable of such power in a fight.
Her hair was wet, and the scars that had been on her back had faded away.
She’d shown me her scars before, and I’d applied medicine to them.
But now she was standing there before me, naked, looking embarrassed.
So I said, “They look much better than before. Compared to when we met, the scars are like night and day—I can’t even really see them.”
“Oh? Is that, um . . . all?”
“Was there something else?”
Her jaw dropped like she couldn’t believe my reaction.
“If you don’t get dressed, you’ll catch a cold.”
“Hey! Big-sister is naaaaaaked!”
Filo ran into the room and started shouting.
Then she pulled off her dress, becoming naked herself, and charged at me.
“I wanna play too!”
“No! We’re not playing!”
They wrestled a little, but that was all.
“So that happened.”
“You idiot!”
L’Arc and Motoyasu were so disappointed they acted like they wanted to beat me up.
I caught their fists and pushed them back.
“What’s wrong with you two?”
“How can you ignore such brazen appeal? What a waste!”
“Yeah, yeah! If a woman shows you her body, you can’t just turn it down! That’s rude!”
“What are you talking about? I already told you, Raphtalia is only a child. Plus she’s so serious she’ll drive you crazy. She definitely doesn’t think about stuff like that.”
I guess it was only natural for men to interpret everything from a perverted angle, but they had to learn to separate reality from fantasy.
Besides, you needed to be careful.
What would happen if we were in the middle of fighting the waves and we found out she was pregnant? Then she wouldn’t be able to fight.
Raphtalia lived with purpose. She didn’t have time for things like that. She hated distraction.
I thought it was my job to create an environment where Raphtalia could best focus on her fighting skills.
“Quite stoic, aren’t you?”
“Hey, kiddo, you don’t play for the other team, do you?”
Motoyasu took that as a sign and stepped back from us. L’Arc was twisting his finger into some bizarre gesture.
How was I supposed to understand his sign language?
“Everyone watch out! This one’s after you! Pervert on the loose!”
L’Arc covered his butt with his hands as if to protect it.
What?! Now I knew what he was saying!
“You calling me a gay? Shut up!”
Why did they have to treat me like I was gay just because I wasn’t doing it with Raphtalia?
I couldn’t stand to be around these people anymore.
“I don’t know how you’re going to explain this all to the girls or to the hotel, but that’s up to you. I’m not going to save you.”
“Are you serious? I don’t believe you.”
L’Arc and Motoyasu were stunned. They watched me prepare to leave the baths in silence.
I couldn’t afford to get wrapped up in another scandal, so I needed to avoid it when I saw one coming.
“Alright then, strategy meeting! Do we try and look over the top, or do we try to make a peephole?”
They all huddled and actually started discussing it.
They had gotten other men adventurers in the baths to get in on it too.
There were quite a few people.
If that was charisma I didn’t need it.
I wondered if peeping was treated differently in this world than it was in mine. Back in my Japan, baths in the Edo period apparently had peepholes installed.
This hotel had the baths separated by sex, but a lot of the other hotels had had unisex baths.
Why didn’t they just go to one of those?
Maybe there was no thrill in that. Maybe they only liked it if they were stealing a glimpse in secret.
Idiots.
I didn’t want to get involved, so I left the baths and went back to my room.
“Whew.” I was cooling off in my room. Eventually, I heard footsteps approaching. Raphtalia came in, wrapped in a towel.
“Mr. Naofumi!”
“What? Did Motoyasu and L’Arc get caught peeping?”
“Oh, yes! L’Arc and the other heroes are all hanging their heads in shame.”
“Yeah? Good. They deserve it.”
Of course they were going to get caught. The girls weren’t stupid.
If Motoyasu was in the baths anyone could tell what would happen.
“But what about you, Mr. Naofumi?”
“What, do I have to peep too?”
Raphtalia looked disappointed in my answer. She stood there, crestfallen.
Her reaction was not what I would have expected.
“Here I thought maybe you’d come around . . . .”
“Come around?”
What was she talking about?
I’d more than come around. I’d heard enough from the other heroes.
“What’s wrong big sister?”
Filo came tottering into the room and saw Rapthalia looking crestfallen.
“I don’t know.”
What was she so upset about?
I don’t know for sure. I mean, of course she would hate to be peeped on by a guy like me.
Did she . . . did she want me to look?
No. Raphtalia wasn’t like that.
She was just confused because of all the nonsense the other guys had said.
“Are you okay? Are you upset that L’Arc and the others were spying on you?”
“They didn’t see me! Filo spotted them and I covered myself!”
“That’s good.”
She looked exhausted, even though she had just left the baths. I guess it was because of all the crazy excitement on the men’s side.
“Whew . . . Mr. Naofumi?”
“What?”
“Considering what’s going on do you want to go to a private bath? It might be kind of small, but that might be nice too.”
“Um . . . .”
I knit my eyebrows together and made my stance evident.
I mean . . . I‘d just gotten out of the baths. Still, it had been a short soak.
“You don’t have to turn it down so forcefully. I just thought it would be good for your curse.”
“Yeah . . . you might be right.”
I was getting a weird feeling about it. She was right about the curse though.
“Come on, Mr. Naofumi.”
“Sigh . . . alright.”
So I lifted myself up from the bed and decided to go to the baths again.
It was good for the curse, after all.
“It’s over here.”
Raphtalia led me down the hall and out to the other side of the hotel, where there was a private room that required a key to get in. It was on the other side of the building from the main baths. It faced the island’s interior, rather than the ocean.
I could see why the hotel didn’t show it off. The scenery wasn’t so great.
It was supposed to be for families, so it was just Raphtalia, Filo, and I.
Raphtalia kept her chest covered with a towel, and Filo was also wrapped in a towel. They beckoned to me from the bath. I couldn’t forget what L’Arc and Motoyasu had said, but they were wrong. Raphtalia wasn’t looking for a sexual relationship with me.
Yeah, she didn’t look embarrassed at all.
They were poisoning my mind.
I pushed their stupid ideas out of my mind and entered the bath.
“The water is very nice.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“How is your curse doing?”
“I think it’s doing a lot better.”
It would probably be a while until it was completely healed. If I kept soaking in hot springs like this, it would clear up eventually.
“Oooh! Master! A star in she sky just sparkled!”
“Huh?”
I looked up just in time to see a shooting star streak by. “Oh . . . it’s gone . . . .” But then there came another. And another. Raphtalia watched the stars streaming through the sky and clasped her hands together as if in prayer. I guess people in this world liked to wish on shooting stars too. You know I could see the stars way better in this world than in Japan.
I’d been so busy since I got here I never had taken the time to look upwards.
“What did you wish for, Mr. Naofumi?”
“Oh nothing. What about you, Raphtalia? Did you wish for something?”
“Yes.”
“I hope it comes true.”
“Yes. Me too.”
It wasn’t hard to guess what she’d wished for.
It was probably for world peace or to reunite with her friends from the village.
The whole scene was very romantic. I leaned back and watched the stars.
Eventually we left the bath and started walking back to the room.
“Peeping? L’Arc, how old do you think you are? You might get away with that back home, but you need to follow the rules here!”
L’Arc and the other guys were all getting a lecture in the hallway.
These was lecturing L’Arc, while Bitch and her retinue were yelling at the other heroes.
They deserved it. How funny that I got to see their punishment.
It wasn’t worth worrying about them. They were going to enjoy life however they wanted.
They would just accept the lecture as a compromise on their part. I’d read about things like this in manga, so I knew how it worked.
Still . . . I wasn’t like them.
“Oh! Kiddo was in a private bath with the girls. Not fair!”
“L’Arc, pay attention!”
He was pointing at me, but Therese wouldn’t take the bait and let him change the subject. She sent on berating him.
So they went on pretending like they caught me in the act, but we ignored them and went straight back to our room.
I was sure there would be plenty of hardship down the road. L’Arc was an idiot, but he was fun. Next time, maybe, I’d join in on their fun—if only a little.
Of course, I’d make sure I had Raphtalia’s permission first to make sure I didn’t end up getting yelled at in the hallway.
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