Whether or not she realized how excited I really was, Haruno sat down across from me, and, with a solemn face, told me why she had come to visit. “Touya, did you hear about Cosmos? About how he was attacked?” It was cute how she tipped her head to the side when she said ‘Cosmos.’
“Yeah, I did. What about it?”
“...Touya, why do you think Cosmos was attacked?”
“Well... Because he’s a hero. But maybe they were after the princess, or merely using it as a way to get into the castle.”
Haruno nodded as she listened. It seemed she had been thinking the same thing. “But if he was attacked because he was a hero, then I really need to hurry now. It could be me who gets attacked next, after all.”
“...It’s definitely a possibility.” I should have just said something cool there like “I’ll protect you,” but unfortunately I wasn’t even sure whether I’d be able to protect myself, so I didn’t have any room to talk big. But as I listened to her, I started to understand what Haruno really wanted to say.
“Anyway, I know that I declined yesterday, so I really shouldn’t be saying this now, but... Would it be possible for you to let me bathe in the Unlimited Bath?”
I knew it. She said exactly what I had expected her to.
After talking to her for the first time yesterday, I learned that Haruno wasn’t excited about being summoned into another world. On the contrary, she felt endangered, especially since she was the only one who still had yet to awaken. After hearing about the attack on Cosmos, she must have felt the same fear that I did – that if she was attacked, she surely wouldn’t survive.
“I wasn’t able to awaken my gift today. All I can do now is ask for your help, Touya...” Haruno said with teary eyes.
The way she implored me almost made me feel like I had done something wrong. Or wait, am I about to? I’m going to bathe with a beautiful girl, all for the lofty purpose of helping her awaken her gift. Honestly, I’m the one who’s benefiting from this. I couldn’t possibly ask for better luck. I tried to act calm, but I kept feeling like all my inner excitement was going to bubble up to the surface.
“...Oh.” Suddenly, I realized something. Haruno’s shoulders were softly trembling.
Seeing how helpless she looked extinguished all my excitement in no time. There’s no way Haruno could be unfazed by asking me for such a favor. She came to me out of pure desperation, and look at how I’m reacting!
“Haruno, I’m sorry!”
“N-no... You’re a man, so I suppose it’s to be expected.”
Haruno did her best to cover for me, but the way she was holding her gown shut made it almost look like she was afraid of me. Maybe she’s been afraid of me since the very beginning? The moment that thought came to me, I realized I couldn’t possibly do anything that might hurt her.
“Okay, I know!” I leapt up and opened the door to the Unlimited Bath within my room. I’d been using it in the courtyard for the past several days, but I could open it anywhere.
I took out one of the bath’s white towels and wrapped it around my head. I couldn’t see Haruno’s face, but I’m sure she was perplexed by my sudden actions.
“Haruno!”
“Y-yes?”
“I won’t look! No matter what! I even have my eyes closed under the towel! You don’t need to worry now! Go on and bathe in the Unlimited Bath!”
“...You really don’t mind?”
“Of course not. This is all I can do for you right now.”
“Th-thank you very much!” I hope that Haruno was actually as happy as she sounded when she thanked me.
Once I entered the Unlimited Bath and sat against the wall of the changing area, Haruno followed me in. In this world, people wore shoes even when they were inside buildings, so we were both wearing sandals. We took them off before we entered the Unlimited Bath, though.
“Excuse me...” Haruno said.
Once we both got inside, I realized just how small it really was. She was standing right next to me, and I felt like the tips of our noses would touch if I wasn’t careful. Suddenly, something else touched me. It felt like the hem of her gown.
“Uhh, do you see where the bath towels are?”
“Um... Oh, yes. I see them.”
“Okay. Now, in order to use the bath... Oh, sorry, I’ll shut up. Just pretend like I’m not here.”
“Oh no, please, you can relax...”
It felt like we were both acting strange. Guess I’m not the only one who’s nervous here. I kept my mouth shut like I promised, but due to that, it only seemed to make the smaller noises stand out more – namely, the sound of clothing sliding off her body.
That just sounded like the fwump of clothing hitting the ground. Was it a skirt? No, her pajama bottoms. Does that mean she’s wearing nothing but her panties right now? I sharpened my ears and put my imagination on full throttle. After a moment, I heard the curtain that separated the changing area from the bath open and shut.
Sounds like Haruno’s entered the bath area. In other words, she’s completely naked right now, and her pajamas and underwear are within an arm’s reach.
“Wow...” I heard Haruno murmur, and couldn’t help but feel a bit proud.
I heard the sound of hot water, probably Haruno washing herself, followed by the shower splashing. Suddenly, an idea came to me. With the curtain separating us, Haruno would never notice if I took my blindfold off. She’d probably only be able to see my silhouette.
The devilish suggestion made my fingertips twitch, but I clenched my fist and withstood the temptation. No. I can’t betray Haruno’s trust here. As a desperate struggle unfolded in my heart, I heard louder splashes coming out from the bath, signaling that Haruno had entered it. This is bad. Just hearing those sounds is making me imagine her bathing. I’m getting too excited... At this rate, I won’t be able to last. Quickly, I remembered some of the basic bits of knowledge from the textbook I had just been reading and repeated them inside my head. I didn’t want to scare Haruno, so I kept perfectly quiet. I couldn’t keep myself from reacting to every little sound that came out from the bath, but I stood strong and kept repeating the knowledge inside my head as if it was a Buddhist chant.
“Touya. Touya!”
“...Huh? Haruno, are you done already?”
I had repeated the textbook chant about a hundred times before Haruno’s voice shook me back into reality. It felt really strange. My mind was focused on the chanting, but my ears could still clearly hear what was going on in the bath. I couldn’t see, so I wasn’t sure about what was happening, but I clearly heard her let out a small squeal. I took off the blindfold and opened my eyes. – there she was, standing in front of me with warm, reddened cheeks. Her wet black hair made her look even more enchanting than usual.
“Thank you very much. And... I’m sorry.” As she said that, Haruno bowed her head deeply. I had no idea why she was apologizing.
“Um, why are you apologizing?”
“Well... The truth is, I was worried you might try to do something weird to me.”
“Oh, right.” Even though I hadn’t done anything, I’d certainly been thinking about it, so I couldn’t really argue.
“But you didn’t do anything, Touya, so I want to apologize for doubting you.”
“Nah, it’s okay. I can’t really blame you, considering the situation. Instead, I want to thank you for trusting me.” As I thanked her, Haruno agreed with an embarrassed smile. I felt like I could stare at that shy smile of hers forever.
“So, how was it?” I asked. “Do you feel like you might awaken your gift?”
I wasn’t just blushing, my heart was pounding in my chest as well, so I tried changing the subject in order to cover it up. I felt like there was no way I’d be able to hide how red my cheeks had gotten, though. Still, Haruno looked pretty red herself, so it looked like we’d be able to move ahead without touching on it.
“I’m not really sure, but... I felt like it helped me somehow.”
“I don’t really know how to explain it, but when I awakened my gift, it felt like an instruction manual got pounded into my head. All of a sudden, I knew how to use it.”
“That sounds very strange...”
Some might even say that was stranger than the experience of being summoned into another world. “I don’t know what happened with the other three, but I awakened my gift the next morning after I finished my training. Maybe you should wait and see if something happens tomorrow morning?”
“Okay, I think I’ll do that.”
I didn’t understand the logic behind it, but it seemed like proper rest was important to growth. Haruno seemed satisfied, and bowed once more before she returned to her own room. The bath towels were high quality, so I gave one to her as a gift. Once I was alone, I closed the door and started taking deep breaths inside, in the hopes that I could catch a whiff of any lingering scents before I reset the Unlimited Bath. There’s probably nothing wrong with doing this, right?
The next morning, Haruno managed to awaken her gift without any other problems. When I went out to the courtyard in order to train, I ran into Haruno and Sera, who both thanked me at the same time. Sera grabbed my hands and gave them a tight squeeze. It looked like she was about to cry as she thanked me. She’d been so worried about Haruno that she must have been truly overjoyed. They had wanted to come and tell me even before they went to the temple elder. I’m not sure if the Unlimited Bath really had any effect or not, but it certainly felt nice to receive their thanks. Looks like all my desperate patience paid off.
Afterwards, they left to go and report to the temple elder. Once I started practicing a little magic in the courtyard, I realized that I had somehow become able to use some basic light-based cleric magic. The hundred chants I did in my mind yesterday must have been more useful than I realized. Was I really that desperate for some light to cast the darkness of my blindfold away? Despite the success this day had brought, I was still a bit depressed by how badly I had wanted to peek at her in the bath.
Second Bath – With a Bare Heart
“Ha ha ha! That kneel of yours looks perfect, right down to the positioning! Who taught you how to do that?”
Thankfully, our guide had taught us proper manners ahead of time, so we didn’t end up doing anything rude when we had our audience with the king. He looked very dignified with his long black kaiser mustache, and basically said he would support us if we either went to defeat the demon lord, or prevent his revival. It didn’t look like we had any other choice, so we nodded solemnly in response.
After we left the audience chamber and heard the door close behind us, we let out huge sighs of relief. I glanced at Haruno, who was standing next to me. Sweat was running down her forehead. It seemed as if I wasn’t the only one who had been nervous.
The audience had ended quicker than I thought it would, but there was a reason for that. The sacred king’s royal family and the Temple of the Goddess of Light had worked together in order to perform the hero summoning, but they didn’t have complete solidarity. In fact, normally, the temple acted independently of the kingdom. The reason they had summoned five heroes was so they could split them up between the royal family and the temple. It all came down to who would have the right to claim the prestige when a hero managed to achieve something great. Maybe the reason they were both eager to support us was because they were competing with each other.
The sacred king’s side had already claimed the self-titled Cosmos, Natsuki Kannami, and Ritsu Nakahana. That’s probably why he had been so quick to dismiss Haruno and I. After all, I had awakened my powerless Unlimited Bath ability, while Haruno had just barely awakened hers. I could understand why the sacred king decided he didn’t need us. Still, he’d required us to come for an audience, and had stationed the other heroes he’d chosen within the castle for the sake of ‘preparations.’ It was definitely a little less than subtle. That also might have been part of the reason why he had the princess join Cosmos’ party. Meanwhile, the bearded temple elder had taught me cleric magic in order to try and make me as strong as possible, despite the fact that I couldn’t use my gift to fight. Either way, I was just grateful that I didn’t have to part with Haruno.
Outside the audience chamber, two people awaited us.
“Lady Haruno!”
“Sera!”
One of them was Haruno’s party member, Sera, who was clad in her loose, white robe. The other was a sharp-looking old gentleman with a trimmed mustache. He was wearing a white temple knight uniform, and had a sword sheathed at his side. An unusually calm aura made me relax when I saw him, despite the fact that he was armed.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Just a humble temple knight. Today, I have the honor of acting as a guide for you heroes.” As he spoke, the gentleman gave us a gracious bow. He almost looked like he could be someone’s butler, so I decided to call him ‘Mr. Butler’ in my mind.
“...You seem like you’re someone really important,” I said.
“I’ve just been at this a long time,” Mr. Butler said with a smile. Honestly, I found it hard to believe, but I doubted he’d tell me the truth no matter how I retorted.
“Would you two like to depart? We could talk as we travel, if you like.”
It appeared that he was to be our guide for the day. First, he took us to buy armor. Making sure we could defend ourselves was important, but since size adjustments were necessary for certain items, we had to decide on our orders first. Mr. Butler drove us out from the castle in a carriage, then pointed the horses toward the best armor smith in the Sacred Capital, often visited by nobles and the royal family.
In the carriage, Haruno and Sera discussed what they planned to do from here on out – namely, whether or not they would try to find a way for Haruno to return home. It wasn’t like I didn’t have any lingering attachments to my home, but I wasn’t sure if I’d actually want to throw this all away if I found a way back during my journey. My home world and this world... I’m not really sure how to compare them, so I guess I should hold off on a decision for the time being, at least until I learn more about this world.
As I continued to ponder, the carriage entered a block filled with craftsmen and smiths. This block was the craftsmen’s town, a place where not only smiths, but leather dressers, tailors, and other craftsmen with their own workshops all gathered and worked. It had been built under the seventh sacred king’s orders, and allowed people to take care of all their traveling preparations, aside from food, right in one block.
“We’ve arrived,” Mr. Butler said, as we got out of the carriage.
In front of us stood a workshop with a very elegant atmosphere. I guess the royal family doesn’t shop here for nothing.
Upon entering we found ourselves in a reception area, with several armor samples displayed on racks. The sound of hammering could be heard from beyond the counter. Seeing how this was a smith, I thought we’d be greeted by a curt craftsman-type man, so I was surprised to see a man behind the counter with a friendly, professional smile. There were also female staff members who handled the measuring. When I took a closer look at the samples, I realized there was female armor on display as well, meaning this world also had its share of females warriors.
Instead of using a tape measure lined with millimeter increments, they measured us by making marks on an object called a ‘stute string,’ which was about one meter long. The stute was this kingdom’s unit of measurement, and was equal to the distance of three of the king’s steps. This made it seem like the length of a stute would change each time a new sacred king claimed the throne, or even just grew older, but according to the clerk, the length of a stute didn’t really change that much from king to king.
After I got measured, I ordered a piece of armor known as a brigandine. With multiple steel plates weaved in between two pieces of leather, it was a great piece of armor with a good balance of flexibility and defensive power. I also ordered an open-faced helmet with good visibility, vambraces and
gauntlets to protect my arms, greaves to protect my legs, and a large round shield. Since equipping them boosted my blessing power, it was surprisingly easy to move around in full armor. At first I never thought I’d be able to go on a journey with a bunch of heavy equipment on, but it appeared that this world operated on a different set of rules.
Haruno, however, couldn’t equip as much weight as I could. She chose a piece of torso armor made out of hard boiled leather, a small round buckler shield, and a circlet for her forehead that Sera recommended.
Fearing that her arms and legs would be left defenseless, I suggested she pick up some more armor. “You can’t go wearing just that. You need to protect your arms and legs, too.”
“I guess I’ll just order some gauntlets and greaves, then...”
Sera ordered the same thing. Apparently, the smith had agreed to give our orders top priority.
There was something else I noticed during my time at the smith. I had already figured out that Sera was the type of woman who looked slimmer when she was in clothes, but now it hit me that Haruno, wearing her thick cardigan, was also a force to be reckoned with. Two beautifully curved mounds rose up from beneath her blouse, and her bra was faintly visible. Below, I could see a thin waist, a round bottom, and two long legs. I had never seen someone with such a well-proportioned body in my home world, let alone this one. The mere fact that she was standing in front of me almost felt like a miracle. Considering I only met her because I got summoned here made me feel just a tiny bit glad about it all – never pass up a good deal, I always say.
Afterwards, we went next door to place orders at the weapon shop. After speaking with Mr. Butler and the clerk, I chose a one-handed broad ax, which could do damage even if wielded by an amateur. Although it was made for battle, the clerk recommended it because it could also come in handy while camping.
Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension: The Hero of the Unlimited Bath Page 4