Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension: The Hero of the Unlimited Bath

by Nagaharu Hibihana

  And now I have to jump right in the middle of this mess... With the Unlimited Bath, a gift that’ll be absolutely useless in every battle. A shiver ran down my neck, and I decided not to over-analyze it for the time being.

  In between the two pillar circles was a corridor filled with spectators. Every time there was a development in the performance, they’d cheer loudly.

  Am I the only scared one here? Or maybe everyone who’s afraid simply didn’t come to watch this. I guess the people who are enjoying this just think this danger doesn’t apply to them.

  Either way, I didn’t like it. I decided to leave as quickly as possible, to my guards’ chagrin. It really did seem like enjoying that violent festival was the normal thing to do here.

  Afterwards, I stopped by an open café near the square. The two guards recommended a drink known as con panna. After waiting a bit, I received an espresso in a small white cup that came with an even smaller cream-filled cup. Apparently, the cream was meant for the coffee, but people also ate the leftover cream afterwards. And it was all made using magic.

  I guess magic can be pretty convenient...

  I poured half of the cream into the coffee and gave it a sip. It tasted good, and the cream was just sweet enough. After I poured the cream in, I realized it was the exact same thing as Vienna coffee.

  There weren’t many customers around, so we could really kick back and relax. It seemed like most people had gone off to watch the performance. The only unfortunate thing was that I had to sit and drink my coffee with two other guys. Could you really blame me for wishing they had been Shinonome and Sera instead? Now that I think about it, I probably should have invited them along with us. It seemed like Shinonome was frustrated over how she couldn’t awaken her gift, so it might have been the perfect way for her to take a break. Maybe it would have been strange for me to invite her, but Sera probably would’ve been considerate enough to push things in the right direction.

  After we ate some more and did some shopping, I returned to the temple. Back in my room, I started thinking about what I would do from here on out. After narrowing it down, I realized I basically needed two things: money and power. Since there was no way for me to go back home, I was forced to build a life in this world. The money I used for shopping near the square was all given to the guards by the temple elder. They’d probably keep helping me prepare for my journey, but that would be it. I might gain more support later by doing heroic deeds, but there was no way I could beat the demon lord with the Unlimited Bath. I had to accept that all my support would be cut off the moment I departed. I needed to find a way to keep making money on the road, not to mention protect myself.

  In this world, monsters didn’t drop money and stuff when you killed them. There did exist hunters who took meat and skins from the monsters they killed, and sold them in order to make a living, but I doubted I’d be able to compete with them.

  “Hold on a minute...”

  Suddenly, I realized something. The Unlimited Bath didn’t just allow people to bathe, it also created bath products such as soap. Everything inside was created from my MP, which meant that even if some items were taken out, I could just close the door and reopen it again later, then use my MP to make more. The key here was whether the soap would remain intact even after removing it from the bath.

  I might be able to sell this stuff.

  Even if it used up my MP, I’d only need to rest in order to replenish it. I had the mathematical knowledge of an average high schooler, which meant that I at least had a fighting chance of becoming a merchant. And so, I decided to become a soap merchant in this strange new world, and live out a modest life far away from any heroes or demon lords. I also planned to find a cute wife and start a happy family.

  If Shinonome never awakens her gift, I’ll look after her. No, wait, I should just marry her.

  I walked over to the temple elder’s room with footsteps so light I almost felt like skipping. The idea was just so perfect, I could hardly contain myself.

  “–thus, I’m going to live out a modest life as a soap merchant!”

  “It’s true that soap that effective doesn’t exist in our world. We probably wouldn’t be able to recreate it.”

  “Right? Right? I’m sure I’ll be able to sell a ton!”

  “But, how much would you charge for it? If you sell it too cheap, you may run into problems with the people you hire to prepare and peddle it.”

  “Urk...” The elder’s words had left me speechless. “Well then, maybe I could sell it as a high end product...”

  “So you’d be targeting nobles and wealthy people. Considering its high quality, it could get rave reviews and become a hit.”

  “Then my plan would be a success!”

  “Perhaps... But it may be hard for you to live a modest life, in that case. If people found out that a hero was engaging in such a venture...”

  Oh no. This is bad. I can see it now... ‘If you’ve got time to do that, then why don’t you go and defeat the demon lord?!’ People will gossip and call me a coward behind my back.

  I thought it would’ve worked as long as no one found out I was a hero, but it seemed as if things wouldn’t be that easy. And so, within a matter of minutes, the temple elder had shattered all my hopes.

  “Incidentally, do you have any interest in learning cleric spells?” After we finished our discussion, the elder spoke up again.

  “You want me to become a cleric?”

  “Cleric spells are techniques. Becoming a cleric is a way of life. They’re two different things.”

  According to the cleric, some of the people who hunted monsters had access to basic cleric spells, such as Healing Light. As you might have guessed, that spell produced a light capable of healing wounds. Usually, people needed to make contributions to temples in order to learn such spells, but the elder was willing to teach me some as a means of support. I had comparatively high MP and MEN stats, which both affected magic. Since the Unlimited Bath required MP, it was a given that those stats would keep rising over time, which meant that learning more magic would be a pretty good idea. I am in a fantasy realm, after all... I guess it won’t hurt to learn a few spells.

  “Okay. Please teach me all you can.”

  “Ho ho ho! Just leave it to me.” Once I agreed, the elder stroked his long beard and let out a gentle laugh.

  Of course I wouldn’t be allowed to go on living in the temple long enough to learn every single spell they had to offer. I couldn’t force the elder to stick with me for that long, either. So on the next day, aside from my magic lessons with the elder, I acquired a cleric spellbook and started studying on my own. At first, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to read it. But for some reason, even though I didn’t recognize the script at all, I was able to understand the book without any problems. It was really strange.

  I later discovered that the Goddess of Light’s blessing also allowed summoned heroes to read and understand the common language. It felt very odd to understand letters that I had never seen before, but I definitely wasn’t complaining. I also had the goddess to thank for giving a modern Japanese guy like me the ability to use cleric spells. Even the people in this world needed to be blessed in order to use them.

  The elder later taught me that magic in this world could be split into two big categories: cleric spells, and everything else. Cleric spells existed as a systematized set of techniques, while all other magic was sort of lumped together.

  As I started learning, I came up with another idea. Instead of wash bowls, I could take some barrels into the Unlimited Bath, fill them with water, then sell them to water merchants. That’s right – even though the elder had just told me that my soap plan was a bad idea, I was already cooking up something else. The water that came out of the Unlimited Bath didn’t have any special powers. It was just pure water. But unlike modern day Japan, there weren’t any water purifiers in this world, so pure water still had a lot of value.

  I guess if someone went into the rem
ote wilderness, they might be able to find some, so it isn’t completely unattainable, but... If I can match up the price and quantity to the demand, I should have no problems selling it. I hope.

  Of course, I only planned to do this in order to save up some money for my travels. The elder told me that the other heroes weren’t planning things that thoroughly, but without money, I wasn’t going to get anywhere, so I just let his words roll off me. Long story short, I had the elder introduce me to a merchant who had dealt with the temple before, and who’d also be interested in buying my water.

  I’m educated, so I should have an advantage over these people in terms of mathematics... then again, I’m going up against a pro. Are my math skills even going to matter to a professional merchant?

  I sat nervously in the temple’s reception room, until a portly man walked in.

  “Hello there. I heard all about the details. Are you the hero?” He gave me an affable smile.

  The merchant looked to be on the late end of middle age, with balding white hair and a white beard. His shirt was also white, and he wore a very sharp, straightened vest over it. He was short and stout, but he looked like an experienced traveler, so I imagined there was some muscle mixed in with that fat.

  He sat down across the table from me, and we began our negotiations. “Nice to meet you. My name’s Touya.”

  “Sir Touya, yes? My name is Kopan.”

  Kopan had come to this state in order to sell goods he gathered in another state. Jupiter was a big city, but it didn’t have many specialties. The state provided food and other living supplies, but didn’t seem very interested in adding new products to their lineup.

  “But Goddess Spring Water is a different story altogether!” Kopan said.

  That was the name I had given my new product. I couldn’t just call it ‘pure water,’ now could I? I thought about calling it ‘Touya Water,’ but that was too embarrassing, so I went with my next best idea. Besides, it came from a gift that was given to me by the Goddess of Light herself, so it wasn’t like I was lying or anything.

  “You did well calling on a merchant such as myself! Speaking of which, Sir Hero, it’s been a while since I began my journey, and I’ve noticed that the monsters have been getting more and more ferocious as of late. In fact, just the other day...”

  “Y-yes?”

  A torrent of words began spilling out from Kopan’s mouth. I expected it to be business talk, but all of a sudden he switched over to talking about the current state of the world. I couldn’t help but feel that he was trying to put the squeeze on me a little, especially considering the topic he’d chosen.

  This is bad. He’s overwhelming me... And he’s quite the chatterbox.

  “H-hold on a minute!” I forced Kopan to stop talking. I wasn’t sure if this was the right way to do things, but I had a feeling that it’d be dangerous to let him keep a firm grip on the reins of this conversation.

  “Yes? What is it?”

  “Uh, err... First, I’d like you to take a look at the product.”

  “Oh, may I see it already?!”

  Good, he seems interested. Wasting no time, I had a temple servant bring in a jar of the water.

  “Oh my goodness!” Even this chatterbox was silenced once he took a look inside the jar.

  Purified water was a rare sight in this world. Even the elder had agreed that it was pure enough to earn the ‘Goddess’ title.

  “Well?”

  “There’s no need to discuss this any further! Please let me purchase it!”

  I had planned to settle the terms little by little while he was still awestruck, but Kopan regained his composure much quicker than I’d expected. Oh well. At least he’ll definitely buy. Now we just need to negotiate a price.

  “I know you mentioned how rare and valuable it is, but if the price is too high, it’ll become difficult to do business. We aren’t dealing with a jewel, after all. So, here’s what I was thinking...” Kopan began.

  “That should work. I have five whole barrels, after all. How much will it be?”

  “Don’t be silly! We’ll be able to sell all that Goddess Spring Water in a single day!”

  “That’s okay! I can prepare more every day.”

  “Oh my!”

  “Anyway, if you buy it for this much, I could sell it exclusively to you until my departure...”

  “Hmm. That’s a very attractive proposal... Okay, you win! You’ve got yourself a deal!” Kopan slapped his knee and announced defeat.

  Possibly due to the fact that I had an overwhelming advantage, I managed to sell the water for a higher price than the elder had suggested. For the time being, it looked like this business venture would be a success.

  Afterwards, we decided on the details, such as the time of collection, and made the terms official. When we shook hands at the end, Kopan was smiling. He seemed to think this was a pretty good deal as well. I also decided I’d save the money I made for travel expenses.

  Finishing my discussion with Kopan, I left the reception room and headed back to my quarters. After mulling it over, I decided I’d have them make me a hose while I was still building up support funds for my preparations. A hose would make it much easier to transport water from the bath, and would surely come in handy for future business. Even if they couldn’t make me something like the rubber hoses back in my world, I was hopeful they’d at least be able to create something similar.

  As thoughts kept crowding my mind, I suddenly heard a voice behind me. “Um, may I have a moment of your time?”

  “Yes?” As I turned around, I was startled to see who was standing there, and hurriedly sat up straight. Sera was standing right behind me, clad in a loose, white robe. “Wh-what’s the matter?”

  She was 18, one year older than me, a beautiful, ‘big sister’ type with a gentle air to her. Her voice sounded a bit shrill, possibly out of nervousness.

  “I, um, I have a request for you, Sir Touya...”

  “What is it?”

  Sera fidgeted nervously as she spoke. This side of her was pretty cute as well.

  Maybe her request has something to do with Shinonome?

  “Um... Could you allow the children to use your bath?”

  “...What?” Now I sounded a bit shrill, for an entirely different reason.

  Sera went on to explain that the orphans who lived at the temple had become very curious about the Unlimited Bath. Barrels full of clean water kept coming out from the door in the courtyard, so naturally they were interested. It wasn’t just children, though – there were a lot of curious adults gathered around watching.

  “By the way, where’s Shinonome?” I asked.

  “I don’t want her pushing herself too hard and getting hurt, so I gave her the day off.”

  “Oh...” I was glad to hear that Shinonome was resting, but I hoped it wasn’t because she felt she couldn’t go on anymore.

  It seemed that word of the Unlimited Bath had already spread around the temple, so I didn’t mind letting children use it. “It’s a bit cramped, though.”

  “That’s fine. It’s only a few kids. They’re very curious about that ‘shower’ thing, so I hoped you could let them use it.”

  In this world, there existed large bathhouses, like the kind you’d see in Ancient Rome. Aside from those, the only people who owned their own private bathtubs were a handful of wealthy people. Compared to those, the Unlimited Bath was much smaller, probably even more than Sera imagined.

  “It’d be dangerous to let small children use it on their own, so we’ll need someone to watch them,” I said.

  “I understand. I plan to take care of them myself.”

  “...You’re going to go in with them?”

  “But of course.”

  “Just so you know, I have to be inside in order to activate the bath, so that means we’ll be in there together.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  My heart began to pound as I watched Sera calmly give me a small nod of confirmation. Just
for the record, I wasn’t hiding any nefarious motive – I really had to be inside in order to create any water, be it hot or cold.

  “I-it really is cramped, though, so we’ll have to split them up into smaller groups.”

  After I showed her the inside of the Unlimited Bath, she looked around and suggested splitting the kids into groups of three. The bath was only large enough to barely fit two adults, or about four small children. Sera was right in guessing that three would be the limit for a comfortable dip.

  It must seem cramped to her. She’s from a world where there are only big public bathhouses and luxurious private bathtubs, after all.

  In the end, I agreed to let the children into the Unlimited Bath, and I couldn’t deny that knowing Sera would be joining them gave me a little motivation. Sera was going to take care of them, not bathe herself, so she wore a shirt and shorts like yesterday, rather than stripping naked – but I had no regrets. This would be fantastic in its own right. It allowed me to see her pale thighs extending out from her shorts, as well as her well-shaped, perky breasts pushing up from beneath her thin shirt. Despite how her usual robe attire made her seem, Sera was someone who looked slimmer when she wore clothes. She had her hair tied behind her head in a chignon, which allowed me to see a rare sight – the back of her neck.

  Still, I knew enough to realize that if I gave her any weird, long stares, she’d only return them with cold, disapproving eyes. The Unlimited Bath was cramped to begin with, but now we were just one degree removed from being smushed up against one another. I even felt like I could get a whiff of Sera’s wonderful scent mixed in with that of the soap. I almost lost it for a moment, but struggled to keep my legs firm and retain my composure. I needed to keep my mind calm, act normal, and explain how to use the bath. They certainly wouldn’t know how to use the shampoo, and it could hurt them if it got in their eyes, so I needed to explain every last detail.