The Fervent Sand Baths

by Nagaharu Hibihana

  “It’s powered on... So this is running off my MP, too.”

  We had a change of clothes, so we should try washing whatever was meant to be laundered today in here. We just needed to take out any important items we couldn’t risk losing in case something went wrong.

  And then I turned around to the sight of a surprisingly spacious changing room. It was a big step up from the previous changing room, where the three of us had to bunch up if we wanted to sleep.

  On the opposite end was a large shelf stacked with bath and hand towels. There were empty shelves as well, perhaps for placing your clothes while you were changing.

  And lastly, there was one shelf stacked with something other than towels. I took one out to see what it was, and found something called a “yuamigi.” It sported a colorful design.

  “Clena, take a look at this.”

  “What’s up? ...Er, what’s that? A dress?”

  It might have looked like one based on the shape. There were a variety of designs in there, as well as ones for men.

  “This is called a yuamigi. You wear it when you take a bath.”

  “S-something you wear when you take a bath? And it’s not a swimsuit?”

  Clena seemed confused at my explanation. Due to cultural differences, this might have been hard to comprehend for her.

  “We’re wearing bath towels right now anyway, right?”

  “Oh, I see.”

  Clena understood once I explained that it could be used instead of a bath towel.

  “I mean, do you wanna bathe with girls so badly that you’d create those things?”

  “What do you mean? These are common where I come from.”

  “But the thing that made them was your gift.”

  “Hmm...? Oh, is that what this means...?” I noticed after Clena pointed it out to me.

  Indeed, I had the thought that using just a bath towel to cover ourselves was inconvenient, and the tub was too small for three of us in the previous version of the Unlimited Bath. I had wanted a washing machine after seeing Roni do our laundry, and I had thought about the fact we didn’t have decent toothbrushes or toothpaste. This supposedly improved Unlimited Bath solved those problems.

  There were some issues left, though. It was still inconvenient to sleep in and Rulitora said it still hurt to enter. But this Unlimited Bath had indeed become more user-friendly.

  “So it’s granting my wishes?”

  “It might be more correct to say that your gift is growing according to your desires, Touya.”

  “Hm, that sounds about right.”

  Rulitora and I both agreed with Clena. You could say it was the power to gain what you wish for.

  “Is it really that convenient of a power?”

  “I’m no expert, but I’ve heard that gifts are a manifestation of the traits of your soul.”

  “Your soul, huh...”

  “In other words, your desire to bathe with girls goes down to your very core, Touya!”

  “Hey!”

  “Isn’t it true, though? This Unlimited Bath is proof.”

  Clena accused me smugly, to which I drew my face close to hers in anger, but she remained unwavering as she replied to me nonchalantly.

  “...You’re such a pervert, Sir Touya,” Roni muttered as she turned away from me, her face red like a ripe apple.

  I wasn’t just imagining it, Roni’s bashful remark had pierced my heart more sharply than Clena ever could with words.

  We inspected the facilities thoroughly after that, but found no particular issues with the power, water supply, or detergent selection. You could say the Unlimited Bath just grew bigger and gained new powers. It didn’t grow stronger, but rather became more convenient. I was kinda done with hearing about its power over and over again.

  Now that we had a sink, I could wash my face in the mornings more easily.

  I was going over the instruction manual of the washing machine with Roni, and we did a test wash on some clothes that’d be fine even if it failed. It was an automatic machine that did everything including drying, so all we had to do was wait.

  Roni couldn’t believe that you could do laundry by just putting things inside a box. As soon as the machine started turning and making noises, she latched on to me in surprise. It didn’t take long until she and Clena were entranced by the tumbling clothes to the point that their heads were spinning.

  Most surprised of all was Rulitora, who almost burst into the Unlimited Bath ready to attack after hearing the washing machine. He had assumed an enemy appeared due to the unfamiliar, non-human sounds coming from within. For me, it was a nostalgic but familiar sound, but for the people of this world, it must have been a bizarre noise they hadn’t ever heard before.

  “Hey, when we send the message to Haruno, how about we request a status card upgrade as well?”

  “Good call. Let’s do it.”

  The Unlimited Bath’s growth must have been connected to my own. Was the timing just a coincidence, or did it happen as a result of me getting a good night’s sleep?

  We had a late breakfast because of the time spent on investigating the new bathroom, then the four of us headed out to find a temple cleric.

  “A message for the Hero of the Goddess in Athenapolis? I don’t mind.”

  We asked the designated cleric and she graciously granted our favor.

  Knowledge had already spread to the various temples of Haruno arriving and beginning her duties at Athenapolis. Her party had established their base in Athenapolis, and together with the pilgrims they were currently helping fix the damage incurred in the city from monsters.

  I was disappointed that the message couldn’t be a love letter. It was a new experience for me, so I was pretty excited.

  That said, the message was sent by carving it onto a clay tablet, and transmitting it onto the destination temple’s own clay tablet. So the temple sending it out would have to read my message. Not only that, the receiving temple would need to check the contents of the message as well, so they could read every word. Thus, the contents of the message had to remain discreet. I couldn’t send any declarations of love, of course, but I also couldn’t send her anything about the desert kingdom.

  In the end, I decided to tell Haruno about how I managed to save the Torano’o tribe and about my two new party members, Clena and Roni. And that I wouldn’t be staying in Ceresopolis for long, and would be heading out to meet her soon.

  “Soon” referred to after we finished our investigations in the desert kingdom. I couldn’t tell her about that detail in the message. I didn’t know what we would find after our investigations, but in any case, it was something we needed to talk to Haruno about directly.

  I was the one who dictated the message, while Clena wrote it down for me, and then we handed it over to the cleric. I hadn’t been able to write too smoothly yet.

  Even though I was a “Hero of the Goddess,” we paid the fee necessary to send the message. Thanks to that I also knew that it was a pretty hefty fee, one that an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to easily pay.

  Afterward we had our status cards updated. Clena and Roni had gained one level each, probably thanks to subduing that monster army.

  Clena was level 20 and Roni level 19. Clena was a top-class party member, but Roni was only a step behind.

  Clena’s stats were higher than average across the board, with her MP and MEN particularly high. Roni, on the other hand, had lower numbers in MP and MEN, but her TEC soared above the rest.

  Unfortunately, Rulitora was still stationary at level 29.

  My status card update was to be done under the presence of the temple elder. This might have seemed unnecessarily grandiose, but apparently it was normal for a Hero of the Goddess.

  The newly updated card came out the same blue color it had always been, which unfortunately meant that I had yet to reach level 20.

  Level 19.

  I matched with Roni, but that was hardly the end of it.

  “...The hell is th
is?” Clena exclaimed in shock after she peered at my card from my right.

  The problem was my stats. The graph drawn on my status card was jutting out.

  “Your MP and MEN are off the charts.”

  My other stats had grown across the board, but just as Roni said, my MP and MEN were outstanding... no, they were literally shooting beyond the border of the card.

  Even the temple elder from Jupiteropolis still had his stats contained within the card. Looking at it from that perspective, I could tell how extraordinary this case was.

  I had been anticipating the extent of my growth since training in the Torano’o tribe’s settlement, but this came completely out of left field.

  The temple residents couldn’t hide their surprise either, as several of them lauded me with words of praise.

  “Was this from using your gift so much in the settlement?” Rulitora wasn’t able to contain his surprise either, as he looked at my card from over my head.

  That was the only explanation I could think of myself. That must have done it.

  “Ah...” Clena said faintly, as if she had just thought of something. “Sir temple elder. Please prepare the guide we had asked for earlier. We shall be taking our leave now to make preparations.” Clena said in an uncharacteristic tone, then grabbed my hand and promptly exited the room.

  It probably involved something she couldn’t talk about right then and there. We inferred as such and followed Clena back to our room as she dictated.

  Once we entered our room, Clena sat down on the sofa with a troubled expression. Roni and I took place on the sofa across from her, while Rulitora sat down beside us on the ground, seeing as his tail wouldn’t allow him a spot on the sofa. Assured we were all sitting down, Clena began to speak.

  “Touya, you were conjuring water in the settlement for about half of every day, weren’t you?”

  “Yeah, six to seven hours, to be specific.”

  Clena sighed deeply. She found something troubling about my answer.

  “To be frank, even I can’t continuously use my magic for more than an hour. I might be able to pull it off with some breaks in between, but that would knock me out for days.”

  “The Unlimited Bath doesn’t put too much of a strain on me, though.”

  “Even so, you were using it constantly. You wore your MP down to the last drop every day.”

  “I managed to fill the reservoir with enough water in just half a month thanks to that. I’m glad I did so.”

  Come to think of it, I had increased my water output to fill it up faster. I had probably used more MP because of that, seeing how I didn’t scale back the time I spent on it.

  “I was naive. I should’ve realized when you healed all of my burns, leaving not a single scar behind...”

  She cradled her head in her palms.

  Speaking of which, my Healing Light was the most basic of healing spells. Achieving such results using only that spell implied immensely powerful MP.

  She probably hadn’t been in the right state of mind. You couldn’t blame her for not noticing at the time.

  “Oh yeah, Sir Touya. After we’d left the settlement, you were using the dryer fan to dry our clothes, right? Does that use MP, too?”

  “Yeah, it does. Anything you can use in the Unlimited Bath requires my MP.”

  The washing machine was running at the moment, and was being powered by my MP as well.

  Roni was probably just asking me an honest question.

  Rulitora simply looked on with a dubious expression.

  But Clena’s eyes grew wide after hearing my answer.

  “I-it’s true that there are some long-term spells out there, but...”

  Clena was a top-class magic user, but maintaining a spell for that long would put a huge strain even on her.

  In comparison, I was draining my MP dry every day for six or seven hours straight. Even after leaving the settlement, I was using my MP while we were traveling. What’s more, I even used it while we were taking breaks and bathing together, and for ventilation during our sleep. I hadn’t paid it any mind, but I might even have been using MP to keep our goods stored inside the bathroom.

  Seeing how the Unlimited Bath had increased its features, I’m sure it would continue taking its toll on my MP. Thinking about it now, this was all pretty incredible.

  “Your MP has gotten to the level of someone who’s been using magic for decades, Touya. It’s on the level of legends.”

  My MP and MEN shooting off the edges of my card were the results of that.

  People blessed by the Goddess of Light were said to progress faster than others, but apparently I had already soared past those limits without realizing it. And if I kept using my powers, I’d keep growing.

  “What kinds of spells could you use again?”

  “Just your basic light spirit summoning, Healing Light, and Antidote.”

  The main problem was that, even if my MP was legendary, I had no use for it past my Unlimited Bath.

  I was tempted to take a bath in the new bathroom since the conversation kind of wore me out, but our cleric guide had arrived, so we went ahead into town.

  We had decided to sell the cactus fruit, dates, and lesser boar fur, as well as the aloe that could be used to make medicine. Last was the gold ox fur. We weren’t going to sell it unless we got the going price, but since that turned out surprisingly high we decided to do it anyway.

  Clena took charge of judging the prices. Gold ox were only encountered in the void, so you could get a pretty penny for their fur in northern countries like Junopolis. Their price here in Ceresopolis rivaled Clena’s estimations, so we decided to sell them all off.

  This country had no royal family, and instead was ruled by a council made up of the greater landlords. That in itself wasn’t an issue, but nobles from other kingdoms within the Olympus Alliance tended to look down on countries without a king. As a result, the upper class in this country reveled in showboating by dressing up in extravagant clothing and accessories. Gold ox fur fetched such high prices because its golden color was perfectly in line with their fashion senses. You could just write it off as vulgar excess, but their economic influence covered a much wider breadth than that of the useless nobles of other kingdoms.

  The fur trader took us for amateurs and tried to haggle us down, but Clena saw through it and called his bluff. He grew flustered, but when I saw he still tried to slip in some miscalculated prices, I spoke up. Ultimately we managed to sell the fur off to him at a slightly boosted rate.

  A lack of compulsory education in this world meant that illiteracy was through the roof, so you’d often encounter people who couldn’t even do simple math. But you shouldn’t ever try to swindle a high school student from modern Japan.

  As for our own shopping, we first purchased some items that we’d been wanting for a while—a tent and a folding screen. After that, Clena and I purchased a full set of hard leather armor. We had learned the agonies of traveling through the void in metal armor.

  We then went to the shop of the grandmaster pervert—the Ficus Brand shop—so Clena and Roni could get some nice, breathable underwear. They had also suffered some personal, painful experiences during our stint in the void.

  I somehow got dragged into helping them pick out their underwear.

  The shop had plenty of designs to choose from as far as breathable underwear went. Roni came up to me sporting an innocent smile, and a selection of said underwear.

  “Sir Touya! Which of these colors do you like?”

  Roni had brought me three sets with different colors. They were top and bottom matching sets, decorated with a cute heart pattern and ribbons. The colors were white, light blue, and pink. I imagined the warm tone of the pink one would match well with her custard cream-colored hair, and said as much.

  “How about the pink one?”

  “Got it! As long as you like it, Sir Touya!” Roni said, then went back to Clena with a happy smile, waving around the underwear that I picked
out for her.

  Her smile was innocent as usual, but beyond that, I felt like the distance between us had shrunk just a bit.

  “Hey, Touya. If you’re going to help us pick, then come over here.”

  “...If you’re fine with that, Clena, then sure.”

  Rulitora, the cleric and I assumed the girls would feel embarrassed, so we were guarding the bags at a distance. But if Clena wanted me to come with her, what choice did I have?

  I left Rulitora and the cleric, and made my way toward Clena. I couldn’t take the cleric along, and Rulitora was far too big to fit through the aisles. Actually, the aisles here were much narrower compared to the shops back in Jupiteropolis.

  “This place is pretty cramped compared to the one in Jupiter.”

  Clena looked around in response, then finally caught on to my remark on the aisles. She probably hadn’t noticed before, since it didn’t hamper her own browsing.

  “Hm? Oh, that might be because demi-humans don’t come here.”

  “They don’t? Why not?”

  “Ceresopolis has a distinct lack of demi-humans. It’s a farming country, so they’re probably not interested.”

  “Is that it?”

  “I think most of them would prefer hunting to farming work,” Roni said with a tilted head.

  Basically, since demi-humans had little interest in this agricultural country, shops weren’t built with demi-humans in mind, either. Come to think of it, Roni and Rulitora were garnering a lot of stares from people. Especially Rulitora.

  “Anyway, what do you think of this?”

  “...They’re big.”

  “Not that,” She retorted in exasperation as I blurted out my thoughts on the bra she’d picked out.

  “Er, I mean, I think it looks good. Though I don’t think I’ve seen you wear white before.”

  “That’s because I’m so pale.”

  Clena was showing me a pure white bra. She didn’t normally wear that color, but she seemed to have taken a liking to the frilly design. Apparently she liked underwear in deeper colors, due to her pale skin and silver hair.

  Sure enough, her skin had gotten a little red when we were traveling through the void, but you could barely call it a tan. It was just the way her body was.