Chapter 7
“How do I get to the hot springs?”
“Oh, the hot springs are straight down that way on the left. The men’s and women’s baths are separate, so don’t worry—just take a towel and go in~”
After returning to the inn, I asked the clerk at the counter how to get to the hot springs. They kindly pointed down the hallway to the left.
“Ah, thank you~”
I gave a light bow and headed for the hot springs, eager to ease the fatigue that was slowly setting in, even if it wasn’t too bad yet.
Pulling aside the curtain and looking left, I saw the changing room, and beyond it the warm hot spring, steam rising gently from its surface.
With a little anticipation at the sight, I slowly opened a locker and began to take off my clothes...
‘...I-I can’t go in without taking them off, can I...?’
Come to think of it, of course I had to take off my clothes to get into the hot spring...
But this body I was in now wasn’t the familiar male body I’d known. It was Mircania’s body—a woman’s body.
...And one with certain parts quite prominently emphasized, at that.
So I hesitated for a moment, then squeezed my eyes shut and vowed not to open them as I began taking off my clothes, starting with my stockings.
Rustle-
With the fabric that had gently hugged my body sliding down and cool air touching my skin, the sensation felt strangely more vivid with my eyes closed. My resolve didn’t last long.
‘Ugh... I-I’d better hurry up and cover myself with a towel...’
Once I took off my stockings, my thighs and legs were exposed. They might have looked a little thick. Then, as I slowly untied the cord near my neck, the collar of my clothes began slipping off both shoulders.
I lowered the part covering my chest as well, then slowly took off the one-piece outfit and set it aside.
All that remained was my underwear, but I couldn’t bring myself to take that off too. I kept my hand there and started agonizing over it.
Seriously... I really have to take this off...?
My head was full of those doubts, but in the end, I had to be naked to enter the hot spring. So I squeezed my eyes shut, took off the rest of my clothes, and wrapped the towel tightly around myself.
“Um... It’s not showing outside the towel, is it...?”
Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be anyone in the bath, so I hurriedly wrapped the towel around myself, got into the hot spring, and sat down.
“Hngh... It’s so warm...”
I wasn’t sure whether it was because my mind was still Yeonharang’s, despite being in the Iceflower Dragon’s body, or because even dragons could enjoy a hot spring...
Either way, bathing in a hot spring while in Mircania’s body—the body of the so-called Iceflower Dragon—felt quite surreal.
Of course, it wasn’t much of a problem, and nowhere in the story did it ever say that Mircania was weak to heat.
After all, the easiest way to beat Mircania as a boss was to bring an NPC caster who specialized in fire magic.
Well, fire magic had always been a damage-focused type with plenty of high-powered attacks, so there wasn’t much to say about that.
So it didn’t seem like Mircania was particularly weak to heat or fire just because she was an Iceflower Dragon.
Still, my cheeks soon flushed in the hot spring, so I guess I was a little sensitive to the heat.
“Ah... It feels nice to have the fatigue melt away...”
Somehow, once I started looking, my embarrassment and discomfort quickly faded.
If anything, since this was my own body, I’d reached the point where looking at it didn’t really make me feel much of anything.
I was a little conscious of my chest showing above the water, but there wasn’t much I could do about it, considering how large it was.
It was too difficult to keep myself submerged while sitting upright.
“Phew... I’ve only been moving around for a day, but my shoulders are already a little stiff... When I get back... I should undo the polymorph for a while...”
Haaawn-
After yawning softly, I gazed quietly up at the sky and fell into thought.
The news I’d heard came to mind: the Kalinix Grand Ducal House would be holding interviews for a tutor in five days.
What should I do? It would be a bit of a gamble, but would it be better to give it a try?
Was it really the right choice for a dragon to become a tutor?
I wondered whether I could handle it. Tutors often filled a role not all that different from a parent. Was I really capable of that?
I even started doubting my own abilities.
I wouldn’t be able to do a good job of being a mother, after all.
As someone so incomplete, all I could offer was the little bit of knowledge I had about what his future would be like.
My role would probably be no more than helping guide Aiden toward the future he should have, and keeping his temperament and personality from going astray.
“Well, I don’t even know if I’ll become a tutor, so why bother thinking about it...?”
Splash-
I slowly got up from the hot spring and blankly looked around.
I felt a vague sense of unease and an oddly surreal atmosphere, but it would be better to go back to my room and continue thinking there.
‘...I wonder if this will work too?’
Wondering if my clothes smelled, I looked at them and quietly wished for them to be clean again. They glowed briefly with a faint light, then returned to their clean state.
As expected, even simple magic was easy to perform just by thinking about it.
Since this body was supposedly talented in magic, using it came quite naturally. It seemed like daily life wouldn’t be too inconvenient from now on.
“Phew... I should go back to my room and... think things over.”
I slowly headed for my room at the inn, sinking into thought.
The thing I needed to do now was make a plan.
Creeeak-
When I quietly entered my room at the inn, I saw that it was still softly lit.
...Had I left the light on when I went out?
Well, I must’ve just forgotten.
“Hmm... First, I should buy clothes as soon as I wake up tomorrow... Maybe I should go back after all...?”
Thump-
At the same time as I saw a hand appear over the sill of my open window, my mind filled with questions.
Had someone else booked this room too?
No, I was sure I’d been told I’d have the room to myself. Besides, judging by the size of that hand, whoever it belonged to didn’t seem all that old.
It looked like the hand of someone in their early teens, or perhaps even younger.
So I cautiously approached and took hold of it.
My room was on the second floor of the inn, so if they fell from here, they might get seriously hurt.
“Uh... Who are you...?”
“Are you going to let go of me or not? What are you doing?”
Then I met the gaze of a boy with silver hair and sharp green eyes as he looked quietly up at me.
It was only an instinct, only a hunch, but the moment I saw his eyes, I immediately knew who he was.
Aiden Kalinix, the Guardian Knight of White Snow and the protagonist of the Guardian Knight of White Snow arc.
And if this world’s story went the way it always had, he was the one who would drive a sword through my heart and grant me eternal rest.
He stood before me in the form he’d had as a child, and I stared at him intently.
“Ah, the window frame is dangerous, so... climb up carefully, please! Hold my hand tight!”
“No, whatever. I’m holding onto the window frame just fine, so let go of me. Are you not listening to me? Do you have some kind of congenital hearing problem?”
“Ahaha... Please calm down. It looks dangerous for you to stay there~”
Thinking that Aiden as a child was more ferocious than I’d expected, I carefully pulled him up into the room.
“Hah, you’re going to hold me here and turn me over to the guards, aren’t you?”
“Um... Now that I’ve found you, that’s unavoidable, isn’t it? The Grand Duke, who you could call the lord of this place, personally sent the guards.”
Aiden seemed unable to find much to argue with in my words. He sighed and nodded.
“So why did you pull me up?”
Thankfully, he seemed to have learned some manners. He didn’t openly insult a stranger or use profanity.
Even so, since I knew what Aiden was like in the original story, seeing him now felt quite jarring.
The Aiden in the original story was a rather gentle and polite young man, someone anyone could trust to watch their back.
It was surprising to learn that someone like that had been such a troublemaker with such a fierce temper as a child, so I smiled faintly.
And since he was just a child, rather than thinking he looked cool, I found him adorable, like a mischievous little boy.
Smiling at this new side of Aiden that only I had discovered, I casually spoke to him.
“Still~ If you stay here, the guards will catch you in no time. Aren’t you going to leave?”
“You said you’d tell the guards earlier, and now you’re saying that? Are you making fun of me?”
“Ahaha... The guards aren’t here right now, are they? I figured you must have your reasons, young master.”
At my smile, Aiden made a strange expression, then abruptly shook off my hand, opened my door, and ran out.
“Make sure you get dressed properly. You’re dressed like a slut. Looks like you’ll have to buy new clothes, just like you said.”
“A slut... Hm...”
Calling me a slut seemed a little harsh, but considering what I was wearing, I couldn’t say it was unreasonable. I just watched him quietly as he left, then lay down on the bed.
Tomorrow, I had to buy clothes and think about the tutor position too.
For now, I decided my plan for tomorrow was to buy some clothes and then return to my lair. I quietly closed my eyes.