I wet a towel with some cold water and placed it on the back of Roni’s neck, under her armpits, and on her thighs, in order to cool the areas that were close to her thicker blood vessels. Slipping a towel in her pants made them wet, but there was no helping that. I doubted it’d be okay if I just pulled her pants down without permission, after all. Finally, I put the wet towel on her forehead, and had Rulitora fan her with a board because we lacked an actual fan.
“You want me to fan her, in order to cool her down with the wind?” he asked.
“It’s more for the heat of vaporization, but yeah, you’ve got the basic idea.”
Rulitora seemed to understand that he didn’t need to be so cautious around the girls either, so he traded out his glaive for a board and started fanning Roni. She was starting to look somewhat relaxed, so it seemed like she would be okay for the time being.
Once I took a break, Clena gave me a suspicious look. “Wh-what are you doing?”
“Treating her heatstroke.”
The temperature control panel inside the Unlimited Bath allowed me to create not only hot water, but cold water as well.
But Clena cocked her head. It appeared that she hadn’t heard the word ‘heatstroke’ before. “She’ll be... okay, won’t she?”
“I’m pretty sure I’m doing the right thing here. After she wakes up, I’ll have her drink some water with salt in it.”
“Salt?”
“Sweat is salty, right? We need to replace the salt she lost from sweating so much.”
“...Okay.”
She didn’t seem convinced, but it at least made her stop complaining. Even though the heatstroke countermeasure was my idea, the Torano’o tribe also knew about the importance of salt, and most of them had some rock salt in their tents.
“So, what’ll it be? Magic or cold water?” I asked.
It was time to decide how I was going to heal Clena’s burns. The best way to heal her would be if she just stopped acting stubborn, stripped, and let me touch her. But I knew I wasn’t enlightened enough to perform such a feat without feeling a little excited, so I couldn’t demand anything like that.
“...I have one condition,” Clena said.
“So it depends on the details, huh? Well then, let me hear it.”
Clena pointed her index finger at me. “I want you to let me into the Unlimited Bath, too.”
“Did you hear a word I said? I need to be in there for you to use it...”
“Exactly! It’s not fair if I’m the only one who has to get naked!”
“Uh, that’s some crazy logic you’ve got there.” Perhaps the heat had gotten to her head a little.
“Well, if you’re okay with stripping, then we can save the bathing for later. First, come over here,” I said. I didn’t want to waste time discussing things any further. At this point, it didn’t matter if I was prepared to get naked or not – she clearly was, so I opened the door to the Unlimited Bath.
“Rulitora, I’m going to close the door for a bit, so I need you to watch over Roni. Don’t forget to give her some of the saltwater, okay?”
“Leave it to me.”
I left Roni with Rulitora, then took two cups with pinches of salt in them inside the Unlimited Bath with me. First, I filled the cups with water, kept one inside, and passed the other to Rulitora – that was what I wanted Roni to drink when she woke up.
Clena still couldn’t stand up on her own, so I had to carry her inside. She was only a bit shorter than me, but without her armor, she was pretty light. After that, I gave her the other cup of saltwater. Her hands were shaking, so I put mine on hers and helped her.
“Can you take off your clothes by yourself?” I asked her after she closed the door. She shook her head.
She wasn’t as bad as Roni, but it seemed that she was suffering from something close to heatstroke as well. Her balance looked off, so I imagined she was at least feeling some sort of dizziness and fatigue. She’d merely been acting tough up until now.
“Okay then, I’ll take them off for you,” I said.
Clena gave me a small nod. She looked delirious, and showed no signs of resistance. I sat her down on one of the stools in the bath, then started taking her clothes off one by one. I’m healing her, I’m healing her, I kept repeating to myself.
Once I took off the clothes she had on under her armor, her slip became visible. Pastel pink. And it felt really soft. The hem was tucked into her pants, so I pulled them off next. I offered her my shoulder for support so that she could stick her hips out, then slid her pants down to her thighs.
After I sat her back down, I moved to the lower part of her legs and pulled her pants off. I feel like a pervert, I realized, perhaps a bit too late. And I certainly must look like one. Despite that, whether she just didn’t care or had simply given up, Clena let me do as I pleased without saying anything. Her slip was short enough so that it wasn’t tangled up into her pants, so I was able to lift her up and easily remove them as well.
At last, I could see her bra and panties. They were red – a dazzling crimson that bled into my eyes. Clena had silver hair and pale skin, which really made the red stand out. Now, if only she was in a healthy condition... Unfortunately, the skin on her chest was also bright red, and the same went for her swollen shoulders and back.
“Looks like you were right on the verge of getting burned.”
“It stings.” I could hear her muttering from above my head as I stared at her chest.
She looked like someone who’d gotten a little too much sun after a day at the beach or the pool. I’d been surprised by how loud she’d been earlier, but perhaps the pain was holding her back now.
Clena’s chest wasn’t as large as Haruno’s or Sera’s, but she had enough to create some cleavage – and they were certainly big enough to be called ‘big boobs.’ She had a nice curve that went from her waist to her hips, but they looked plumper than Haruno’s and Sera’s. Pale, soft, and squishy – those are the words I’d use to describe her body.
As I continued to stare intently at her breasts, I struggled to pull my mind back into reality and hurriedly called out to her. “Okay now, let me try casting some magic on this. I’m going to take your bra off, okay?”
“...Okay.” She was red up to her ears, and had completely averted her eyes from me.
As I undid the front hook to her bra with shaky fingers, her full breasts spilled out. I didn’t know if it was okay to just stand there and stare in admiration, so I held myself back. The parts that had been covered by the bra were in the worst condition. They had clearly been burned, and looked painful.
I felt the fabric of the bra with my finger. Is this what caused her to get so hot? I let out a sigh. I’m going to have to do everything in my power to heal this.
I closed my eyes and focused my mind on channeling healing power into my hands. I decided I’d start with the worst areas first, so I picked both breasts up carefully, as if they were precious gems, and allowed the light to slip through my fingers. I could feel their weight in my palms.
Clena flinched the moment I touched them, as if she’d felt some kind of pain, but she didn’t let out a peep.
“You’re certainly taking your time,” she finally said.
“Not on purpose. Like I said, it’s only been a little over a month since I started studying this magic.”
Clena was right – it was going slowly, since I was still so inexperienced. As a result, I had to touch her breasts for a relatively long time, so I understood her need to say something. Her cheeks were flush with an embarrassed shade of red, and she looked very uncomfortable as she kept her eyes averted. Precisely because of the situation we were in, I wanted to do my very best and not leave a single wound behind. I wasn’t merely trying to act serious in order to touch her breasts for as long as possible. You have to believe me. Once I finished healing the lower parts, I caressed my way to the upper parts of her breasts. As I did so, my fingertips and palms accidentally slid over her nipples.
/> “Mm...” Clena let out a sweet sigh.
I did my best to withstand her voice and focused on the healing. I kept moving my hands upward as I healed her burns, treating her collarbone, neck, shoulder, and back in that order.
“I’m going to look at your arms and legs as well,” I said.
“O-okay.”
Once she gave me permission, I looked at her hands and legs only to see redness around the parts that had been covered. I placed both of my hands on each spot and used Healing Light to fix everything.
“...That should do it.” After healing all the burns and checking to make sure her skin was back in pristine condition, I nodded in satisfaction. “I think I got it all.”
“...” Clena was still silent. She was hiding her breasts with both hands, but since she was pushing them together, it only made her cleavage bigger. She kept fidgeting around, and it seemed like something was up.
“What’s wrong? Tell me if you’re hurting somewhere. I still have some MP left.”
“...” It sounded like she was muttering something, but I was unable to hear it. I moved my ear close to her lips, until I finally heard: “My butt, too...”
“...Remember, I’m merely healing you here.”
“J-just hurry it up. It’s embarrassing...”
Clena held on to the edge of the tub and got on her knees, as I nervously pulled down her panties. She was right. Her big, round butt was red as well, but it looked to be the lightest of all the burns. Still, there was no way I could just stop without healing it as well, so I channeled healing magic into my hands and rubbed them on her protruding buttocks.
Incidentally, after I checked with the Ficus brand store on a later date, I discovered that they did sell female underwear that had high permeability and allowed heat to escape. They even had underwear that was strong against the cold. That perverted genius really had thought of everything.
“Don’t forget, you promised me we’d take a bath together!” Clena said with a crimson face after she wrapped herself in a towel.
Apparently, she thought it was unfair that she was the only one who had to get naked. I could sort of understand, but how she got from that to ‘bathing together’ was beyond me. She was probably saying it as a means of retaliation, but to me, a man who dreamed of bathing together with a girl, it was anything but that.
So I told her the truth. “You do realize that bathing together with you would be a reward for me, right?”
“Urk...”
I had to stay inside the Unlimited Bath in order to use it, but I couldn’t stay in such a cramped place with a half-naked girl forever, so I moved in front of Clena and opened the door – only to see an awakened Roni standing right in front of me.
“Lady Clena!”
“Roni!”
Once she saw us, Roni instantly ran inside, so I stepped back and got out of their way. As long as they weren’t going to use the bath, I didn’t need to be in there, so as they joined hands and rejoiced at how they were both okay, I stepped out of the changing area and went to go find Rulitora.
“It looks like Roni’s feeling better now,” I said.
“She awoke after a while, so I gave her the cup of water, then returned the towel to its original place and had her rest there,” Rulitora replied.
“Good. Judging from what I just saw, she’s going to be okay.” When I looked back into the bath, I saw that Roni had started crying out of happiness, while Clena was still clad in a bath towel, trying to put her at ease.
“Where’s everyone else?” I asked.
“They were just gathered up around the tent, but once that girl awoke, they all breathed a sigh of relief and left.”
“Gotcha.”
When I took Clena into the Unlimited Bath, were they not worried because she was awake? Did they trust me? Or... were they being considerate and simply hoping we’d have a nice time? Lizardmen didn’t really seem to understand how human baths worked, so it must have been the first or second options.
“Did the elder say anything?”
“He left us in charge, but told us to contact him if anything changes.”
“I see...” I looked back to the girls again, and realized that I still had yet to find out exactly who they were. “You two can stay here tonight, but do you mind if we gather up everything besides your clothes? I don’t want the villagers to get nervous.”
“...So be it. But take care of our swords, okay? They’re valuable,” Clena said.
“You saved us, after all, so I don’t mind,” Roni added.
Clena had a lycaon demi-human with her, so perhaps that’s why she so easily agreed to let me gather up her things. I took the two swords and wrapped each one in some cloth for protection. Now there was no need to worry about Clena’s decorative sword getting damaged.
“Rulitora, take their weapons for me. And be careful with them.”
“Understood.”
“Wait, hold on,” Clena said. “Roni, you had some daggers in your bag, didn’t you?”
“Yes, Lady Clena.” When Clena called her name, Roni pulled five daggers out from their bags and handed them to Rulitora.
“Also, I’d like to know what you were doing in the void,” I said.
“...Are you a Hero of the Sacred King?” Clena asked.
“No, I’m a Hero of the Goddess. From the Goddess of Light temple.”
“Oh, a hero from the temple... I suppose that’s the lesser of two evils. Fine, I’ll tell you.”
Does Clena have a problem with my ties to Jupiter or the Goddess of Light temple? She seems like she’s the daughter of a noble family, so maybe they’re wrapped up in some political dispute?
As thoughts ran through my head, Roni spoke up. “Lady Clena, since Sir Touya saved us, we need to thank him somehow.”
“Oh, yeah, you’re right. Does money have value here?”
“It does not,” Rulitora answered. Human currency was rarely used among the lizardmen – they all just shared what they hunted.
“Perhaps we’d better think of a gift, then,” Clena said.
On the following day, Clena and Roni ended up giving daggers to the two lizardmen who’d returned to the village with them. The Torano’o tribe mostly used simple weapons, so I imagined they’d been pleased to receive them. The girls tried to give Rulitora one as well, but since he was my raver, I refused for him.
“And now for you...” Clena said, as she stared me right in the face. She was smirking, as if she’d just thought of something. “Touya... Earlier, you said that bathing with me would be a reward for you, right?”
Yes. I certainly did say that.
“How about bathing with me, then?” Clena said, with a triumphant look on her face. Earlier, she had been as pale as a sheet, but with her energy restored, Clena’s face looked cute and charming.
“Lady Clena?!” Roni’s eyes widened. Her tail also puffed up due to her shock.
Roni, who was also in much better spirits, stood a bit shorter than Clena. Compared to Clena’s plump body, Roni was slim with small breasts. I’d heard that lycaons had sharp, wolven eyes that helped them hunt their prey, but her face looked adorable enough to belong to a playful little puppy – perhaps because she was still young.
“Touya saw me naked,” Clena declared. “It’s not fair unless I get to see him naked, too!”
“Are you sure you don’t just feel like you’ve gone too far to back out now?” I immediately countered. It’s true that I wanted to bathe with a girl – that’s precisely why I refused to budge on my principles. And so, as I restrained my excitement after hearing Clena talk about bathing with me, I looked her straight in the eyes and said: “Listen carefully. I told you once already that I’d bathe with you, and mark my words, I mean to do just that. You could almost say that’s the entire reason I began this journey in the first place.”
“Urk...” Faced with my dead serious eyes, Clena recoiled.
“Did you hear what Sir Touya just said?” Roni looked like she w
as about to cry.
I wasn’t trying to scare them, but I wanted them to understand how serious I was. After all, I knew I wouldn’t enjoy it if I had to bathe with someone who was only doing it reluctantly.
“Th-then that’s all the more reason to do it! You saved both our lives, and even got rid of all my burns before they created any scars! What kind of a person would I be if I didn’t go this far to repay you?”
“I just coincidentally happened to know some cleric magic, that’s all. You don’t need to get so serious about it,” I said, which only made Clena gape at me in shock.
“Don’t you know how hard it is to heal burns? And if it’s done too late, the burns could create scars. Are you sure you’ve only been studying magic for a month?” Clena asked, as she pressed on her chest and held the bath towel on her body.
It was true that recovery magic could stop bleeding and close up wounds – save lives, basically – but it couldn’t restore everything. I had figured that burns weren’t that big of a deal, but when I really stopped and thought about it, I remembered seeing multiple people with terrible burns on their hands and legs when I was a kid.
“You know how a woman with burns on her breasts would be treated, right?” Clena asked.
“...Well, I don’t exactly know, but I can guess.” Next, I decided to confirm something. “Clena, are you a noble from Junopolis?”
“Y-yes! Lady Clena is...”
“No, Roni!” As Roni started to happily explain, Clena stopped her. “It’s true that I was born into that sort of family, but they’ve pretty much disowned me. And besides, I’m only involved with this problem due to a matter of pride.”
“...” It turned out that she really was a noble, just as I had guessed. She seemed to be stuck in a complicated situation, but I had no idea as to what it could be. “Before you decide how to thank me, I want to hear about your situation first. We can talk after that.”
“Fine. Can I change in here?”
“The door won’t close if I’m outside it.”
Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension: The Hero of the Unlimited Bath Page 14