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

by Nagaharu Hibihana

  “I came to thank you for saving my people and the settlement...” The elder narrowed his eyes. “There are some oral traditions that we elders inherit, but they’re all related to tribe leadership, so I’m not sure I can be of any help...” He slowly shook his head.

  Unfortunately, the Torano’o tribes possessed no oral traditions related to the desert kingdom – but Clena stubbornly stood her ground. “Hold on a minute! I heard that you people descended from the inhabitants of the desert kingdom!”

  “Oh yeah, I heard that too. But is there any truth to it?” I asked.

  The elder casually denied the claims. “I’m afraid that’s incorrect.”

  According to the elder, the Torano’o tribe moved to the wasteland after it had already become a void. Their ancestors had journeyed across the coastline and entered the void from the south, and had even circumvented the desert when they journeyed to the northern end. One oral tradition of the tribe warned about going near the desert due to the dangers that lay within, but this was simply a warning about the dangerous monsters that existed there.

  “But...” Realizing that we’d come up with nothing, Clena let her head droop down, while Roni frantically supported her.

  “Oh, but there’s one... I’m not sure if it’s connected to the desert kingdom, but there’s one oral tradition that talks about the demons,” the elder said.

  “Not related to the desert?”

  “Not directly.” Clena and Roni looked to the elder as he spoke. “Like I told you, our ancestors entered from the south.”

  “After it had already become the void.”

  “Yes. They reached this land after going west around the desert... But along the way, they were attacked by demons.”

  “Attacked by demons? Not in the desert, but in the wasteland?” I asked, and the elder gave me a big nod.

  “I’m not sure of the details, but on the west side of the wasteland there was a large gate that was overflowing with demons. And beyond the gate was a massive underground tunnel.”

  “An underground tunnel... That led to the desert?” The elder nodded again, affirming my guess.

  Clena seemed to also understand what this meant. She was leaning forward and resting her chin on my shoulder as she listened. I could feel something soft really pushing into my back. In fact, it felt like two large mounds were smushing up hard against it, but she didn’t really seem to mind.

  “Then, the elder at the time worked together with the warrior chief to destroy the gate so that no one could ever pass through it again.”

  “So it wasn’t sealed off completely, then?” Clena asked, just to be sure.

  The elder laughed and shook his head. “We don’t have spells or techniques that could achieve such things.”

  When Clena and I heard that, we looked at each other and nodded. “It’s worth checking out... Can you tell us where the gate lies?” I asked.

  “It’s a part of our oral traditions, but I suppose we could make an exception for you, Sir Touya...” After saying that, the elder looked at Clena and Roni. He felt indebted to me, but didn’t seem to want to tell Clena and Roni as well.

  Once she realized she was being watched, Clena stood up. I felt the softness leave my back and turned to look at her.

  Then, she said something entirely unexpected. “That’s fine! I don’t care! After all... I need to risk my life on Touya to pay him back for what he did for me!”

  “Risk your life?!” Roni shrieked.

  In response, I weakly muttered: “...What?”

  Along with the elder, Rulitora and Dokutora, who had been sitting next to him the entire time, were all blinking their eyes in confusion. I’d recently realized that lizardmen blinked more than usual whenever they were surprised.

  I realized I had to do something, so I stood up and turned to Clena. “Hold on a minute. Just what are you talking about?”

  “You did enough for me to earn this. That’s all I mean.”

  “And what exactly did I do?”

  “Like I said earlier, you saved ‘both’ of my lives, remember?”

  In other words, all I’d really done was saved Clena and Roni and healed their burns, but to Clena, I’d also saved her from the fate of being a noblewoman covered in ugly scars.

  “Right now, I can’t pay you with money or anything like that. Technically, in a situation like this the best thing I’d be able to do is become your wife, but I’m still...”

  “Um, no, I think risking your life is still way more than necessary.” When I thought about it as saving a damsel in distress, or how in stories parents offered their daughters up to the people who saved them, I could sort of understand it. In Clena’s case, even though she was disowned, she still had pride in her noble birth. “There’s no reason for you to go that far...”

  “You’re the one who went too far.” Clena gently placed a hand on her chest.

  I was speechless. When I looked at her face, I understood everything. Clena wasn’t saying this because she felt she had no choice. She really was offering herself to me in exchange for saving her life. I looked down a bit, and couldn’t help but notice how plump and curvaceous her body was. And she was only 15 years old.

  Clena really was a cute girl, with her soft, bouncy silver bob that curled inwards, her big bright eyes, and her adorable face. Let me be honest here – she wanted to risk her life for me, and that feeling alone was enough to make me super happy.

  “Let’s table the whole ‘life’ thing for a moment,” I said. “Does this mean you’re willing to help me look for the desert kingdom?”

  “Yes, of course,” she answered. “I want to find it too, you know.”

  In the end, I decided to close things by accepting her as a party member for the time being. Don’t call me a wuss, okay? She just started talking about risking her life for me all of a sudden, so I was really at a loss. Clena and Roni had both been looking for the desert kingdom from the beginning, so they’d already been risking their lives even before I’d gotten involved – which meant that Rulitora and I going along would give them a better chance at survival. And besides, why would I turn down a chance to travel with two girls who were that cute? Gaining more party members and getting strong enough to bathe with them all was right in line with the original promise I’d made with Haruno, Sera, and Rium.

  Once we came to a decision, I turned back to the elder. “Elder, these two are my party members now. If you still insist on not telling me with them present, I’ll send them back to the tent.”

  “Hmm... So be it. Even though it’s part of our oral traditions, this isn’t exactly one of the most important lines.”

  Since the Torano’o tribe mainly lived on the northern side of the void, information that pertained to the west side wasn’t that important to them. Still, it wasn’t just something he could tell anyone, but I was prepared to take responsibility for Clena and Roni now that they were my party members.

  “It’s located in the west...”

  We all had trouble following as the elder explained the exact location of the gate. Lizardmen seemed to have very unique ways of giving directions.

  Luckily, Rulitora had been listening, so we didn’t need to worry. “It’s okay. I know where that is.”

  Roni brought out a map from the tent so we could confirm the location.

  “Rulitora,” I said. “Where exactly is the gate on this map?”

  “I can’t be sure of the exact spot with this map... But I believe it’s around here.” Rulitora and Dokutora peered down at the map, then traced a circle around the west side of the void. It ended up being a pretty big circle.

  “No, I think it’s a little more down to the south.” The elder extended his hand and tapped a claw on the southern end of the circle. We didn’t have an exact location, but it certainly narrowed things down. At this point, the next course of action was to actually go there and find it for ourselves.

  “So once we go west out of the void, we just need to go down south a bit?
” Clena asked, as she traced a route along the map.

  “We can head toward Ceresopolis, then move east from there,” Roni said, pointing to one of the large town markers. It looked the same as Jupiteropolis’ mark, and had ‘Ceresopolis’ written beside it.

  “What kind of a kingdom is Ceres?” I asked.

  “They’re known for their agriculture,” Roni answered.

  “So, a nice rustic kingdom, eh? Guess that’ll be our next stop!”

  We couldn’t leave until I finished filling the reservoir, but we could certainly begin preparing. The elder was kind enough to have the entire tribe help us prepare. We had no choice but to gather food for our journey from the settlement, so I was truly grateful. Of course, due to the locale, we had a rather limited selection, but I wasn’t worried.

  “I’m going to head back to the tent and rest a bit. What about you, Rulitora?”

  “Could I stay and drink with Dokutora and the others?”

  “Sure, why not? I won’t need you to guard me as long as we’re in the settlement.”

  “Thank you very much!”

  Even though he was my raver, I had no intention of robbing Rulitora of his freedom, and now was the perfect time to let Rulitora do as he pleased.

  “Clena, Roni, what are you two going to do?”

  “If you’re going back to the tent, Touya, then we’ll go with you.” Clena was so tired that she didn’t have the energy to enjoy the banquet.

  “Please support yourself on my shoulder, Lady Clena.” Roni seemed to still be in good shape, but she’d decided to head back to the tent with Clena and rest with us.

  Once I got back to the tent, something occurred to me. What are we going to do about baths tonight? I don’t have the energy to go all the way back out to the reservoir... I’ll be okay without bathing for a day, but what about Clena and Roni?

  “Clena, Roni, do you want to wash yourselves off? If so, I’ll go outside.”

  “Oh? Good point...” Clena looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then crossed her eyes and looked down, deep in thought. Finally, she raised her head. “...Do you want to use the Unlimited Bath? ...Together?”

  She was acting casual, but I could hear how shrill her voice had gotten. Her face was bright red, and her eyes looked very worried.

  “Huh? What?” Roni anxiously looked between Clena and I.

  “Calm down, Clena. What is this, all of a sudden? I mean, I’m happy... Really happy, but...” Faced with her sudden request, I wasn’t exactly unfazed, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good for us to both lose control of our emotions. I did my best to talk in a soothing voice, in order to try and calm Clena down. “First you talk about risking your life for me, and now this... You’re getting way too ahead of yourself.”

  “But, I...”

  “I know you have your pride as a noble. And I’m not trying to make light of the fact that I healed your burns... In fact, I’m proud that I was able to remove every last wound and make your boobs pristine again.”

  “In that case–!”

  “But hearing you say you’re going to risk your life for me is just too heavy to deal with. Do nobles cause people trouble in order to pay them back? They don’t, do they?”

  “Urk...”

  “Neither of us are calm right now. We need to cool off.”

  “...Fine.” It looked as if I’d managed to calm her down for the time being. Next to her, Roni patted her chest in relief.

  I spread out a large cloth on the ground inside the tent and sat Clena and Roni down on it. I decided to prepare some cold water in order to help them relax, but when I opened the door to the Unlimited Bath, Roni’s shoulders twitched. “That’s rude, Roni,” Clena scolded her.

  Roni let her shoulders droop back down. “S-sorry.” It was so cute how her ears and tail always moved in accordance with her emotions.

  I took three cups, entered the Unlimited Bath, filled them to the brim with cold water, then passed two to Clena and Roni. I spread a cloth across from them, took the remaining cup, and sat down on it.

  After Clena drank some water, she called out to me in a calm voice. “Okay. Now I want to re-discuss the bathing together business.”

  “I can’t really use the Unlimited Bath unless I’m there inside it. Still, I would hate to have to keep my party members outside while I use it alone.”

  “I guess I can understand that,” Clena said, glancing at Roni. “Roni, or I suppose lycaons as a whole have a similar custom.” She was referring to wolf demi-humans – Roni’s race. “They always think about rank first when several people are present. They’re extremely loyal, so they’re often hired as servants in Junopolis.”

  “Interesting...” I guessed it was similar to how pet dogs ordered people in terms of ranks even within families, and in some cases, the dogs considered themselves to be at a higher rank than their masters. Of course, saying “That sounds like a pet dog” to her would be like saying “You’re acting like a wolf” to a human, so I restrained myself.

  “I want to treat Roni more like a friend, rather than a servant, but she just can’t seem to stop acting reserved, so it makes me feel bad that she’s the only one acting her part all the time.”

  “I see you have your share of problems, too, Clena.”

  “I guess.” Clena and I looked at each other and laughed. You know, we may be able to get along pretty well...

  “But we are master and servant!” Roni protested.

  “It’s true that you’re my personal raver, Roni. She was the only one who came with me when my family disowned me.”

  “Is that so?” I didn’t know why Clena had been disowned, but it seemed better for me not to touch upon it. In any case, Clena and Roni’s master-servant relationship was exactly how I imagined it to be.

  “I wish we could just be closer, without worrying about our status,” Clena said.

  “But I...”

  “See how she acts?”

  Clena was Roni’s master, so it was only natural of her to act like a servant. But since Clena wanted them to act like equal friends, she was dissatisfied with that.

  “Can’t you use your authority as her master to free her from raver servitude?” I asked.

  “You need money to do that. And since it’s tied to citizenship, it costs a pretty penny,” Clena answered. I supposed that meant it was out of the question, since Clena had been disowned. “I just wish we could be a little more friendly with each other, that’s all.”

  “It’s impossible. I’m a lycaon...” Roni drooped once more.

  She wanted to be good friends with Clena too, but apparently her lycaon heritage prevented that. When I took this into account, I could see that from Roni’s point of view, she and Clena belonged to a group in which Clena possessed the higher rank. Due to that, Roni’s lycaon customs left her with no choice but to act like a loyal servant to Clena. This was probably one of the reasons why lycaons were such popular servants in Junopolis.

  Is there anything I can do for them? Soon enough, I came up with an idea.

  “Clena, Clena, hold on a minute.”

  “What is it?”

  “Lend me your ear for a moment. I just thought of something.”

  “What?” Clena crept toward me, and I whispered my idea into her ear. “I see. That might work?”

  “Really? You like my idea?”

  “I have no problems with it! How about you?”

  “Why would I complain at this stage?”

  “Guess you have a point. In that case, we might as well try it.”

  And so, my sinister plot succeeded. Well, it wasn’t that sinister, I guess.

  Clena turned to Roni with a big grin on her face. “Roni, listen to what Touya has to say.”

  “O-okay!” Roni did as she was told and hurriedly adjusted her posture.

  I stared across from me to Roni’s face, then looked at Clena’s poker face, and began to speak. “Roni, Clena, I want you to become my new party members. But forget all that talk about
risking your lives for the time being. We okay so far?”

  “That’s fine with me. I won’t forget the two lives you saved, though.”

  “Me either!” Roni added.

  I knew I couldn’t do away with all the ‘debt’ talk, since it would infringe on Clena and Roni’s pride, so first I wanted Roni to agree to become my party member, just as planned. “And Clena is your master, right, Roni?”

  “Yes!” Roni said with a happy smile. They were master and servant, but I could tell that Roni really admired Clena.

  “But I think Clena wants to be a little friendlier with you, Roni.”

  “Y-yes...” The smile on Roni’s face quickly changed into a depressed frown. She was so easy to read.

  It seemed as if Roni wouldn’t be able to relax unless she knew that someone was a higher rank than her. This came from her lycaon blood, which made it a difficult problem to fix – but it also gave me the chance to try one specific strategy.

  “Roni, you and Clena owe your lives to me,” I said.

  “Huh? Oh, yes. Of course.”

  As I watched how nervous Roni looked, I continued. I felt a little guilty, as if I was bullying her a little, but Clena had already given me permission, so that was my excuse. “Our other party member, Rulitora, is my raver. With that in mind, who do you think has the highest rank within our group? Who’s the party leader?”

  “That’s... you, Sir Touya.”

  “Well then, as your leader, I have an order for you. From now on, I want you to act like Clena’s friend.”

  “Got it, Roni?” Clena grinned. She looked really satisfied.

  Roni looked as if she’d been taken by surprise, but once she understood what was going on, a smile rose to her face, and she answered with enthusiasm. “Okay!”

  When Clena heard that reply, her face began to sparkle. Roni’s lycaon instincts had been the only reason why she acted like a servant. In the end, she personally thought of Clena as a friend, too. “Roni, from here on out, we’re going to be friends, not master and servant,” said Clena. “I’m looking forward to it!”

  “Yes, Lady Clena!” Roni was still referring to Clena in the same way, but her attitude seemed to have become a lot softer.