Chapter 19
If I submerged myself in the large tub, I felt like I might just dissolve with a glub-glub.
To think there were hot springs here, and every inn in the capital offered hot-spring baths... I effortlessly cleared the classic isekai-novel problem: "I wanna take a bath! What do you mean only royalty and nobles get to bathe!?"
The bathhouse was so large, with steam billowing thickly enough to obscure both ends, yet I was the only person there. I had met a few people in the inn's lobby, but they all seemed to be merchants. I knew they were merchants because Mimino-san had told me, "This inn's for merchants, not adventurers or travelers," and because their bodies weren't built for rough-and-tumble fighting.
Apparently, the people most likely to treat you equally regardless of whether you were Human were merchants, followed by commoners, adventurers, nobles, and farmers, in that order... Farmers were said to have the strongest prejudice, since they lived in insular villages and especially disliked outsiders.
That made sense when I thought about it.
Even so, I was warned not to let my guard down: "commoner" was a broad category, and plenty of merchants were riddled with prejudice too.
"Phew... It's relaxing when I'm alone."
【All Creation】 told me this was a free-flowing hot spring, with water bubbling up directly from underground. It was undoubtedly a natural hot spring. It helped with skin diseases, but apparently not petrification.
The stone-built bathhouse was in the half-basement of the building.
There were ventilation windows higher up.
The lighting was dim enough that I wouldn't have known if anyone else were there, but it was late at night, so no one seemed to be around.
Incidentally, Raikira-san had said, "No way a Beastman would ever take a bath," (apparently people disliked all the fur they shed), while Dantes-san had also said sadly, "I'll refrain." Apparently, he was being considerate of people who might think petrification was contagious.
So I had the bath all to myself. Blub, blub, blub... Ahh, this is heaven...
Rattle.
Just as I was thinking that, I heard the sliding door open. My time alone was over. Well, being completely alone was a little lonely anyway, so I didn't mind. Still, it would be a problem if they were afraid of my black hair.
"Is Reiji-kun in here?"
"Pfft!"
I had been blowing bubbles at the surface when I suddenly spat out a mouthful of water.
Of course I choked!? W-why are you here—?
"Why!? Why are you here, Mimino-san!?"
"Well, obviously. This is the women's time."
"I'm here too~."
Mimino-san and Non-san had entered through the sliding door. It was a shame I couldn't see them through the billowing steam—no, that's not the point! I wasn't supposed to be looking!?
"This is the women's time!? You told me to go take a bath, didn't you!?"
"Yeah. But you took so long to come out that it became the women's time. You're only ten, Reiji-kun, and you look even younger, so it's totally fine."
I'm not fine! Don't come any closer! Too close, too close, too close, too close! Don't talk to me from right behind me!
"B-but—I'm getting out!"
"Hey now, look people in the face when you talk to them."
"!?"
Someone firmly grabbed my face with both hands and forced me to turn toward them.
There, standing in the dim light, were Mimino-san and Non-san—.
Mimino-san aside (no offense), Non-san's sheer destructive power (I won't say what) was incredible.
"...Oh, you're back."
When I returned to the room, Dantes-san spoke from his seat. Raikira-san appeared to be asleep already, lying on the bed. I dropped into the chair opposite Dantes-san.
"What's wrong, Reiji?"
"...No, um, no, it's nothing..."
"Hm? I see."
The two women were in the room next door, so Dantes-san probably didn't know what had happened. If he found out I'd taken a bath with Non-san, he might come charging at me with a terrifying expression, shouting, 'What have you done to my daughter?!'—even though Dantes-san was normally so kind! I'd definitely wet myself.
"Speaking of which, is it really all right for us to stay in such a nice room?"
"Yeah. We usually travel through the forest, right? So we barely spend anything on travel. And since Reiji finds edible wild plants for us, we've been able to reduce our food expenses, too. While we're in town, we stay at a nice inn and properly recover from the journey. That's our way of doing things..."
When Dantes-san said "our," his face briefly took on a lonely expression. Perhaps that way of doing things—that policy—had belonged to his previous party.
"Hmm, but Reiji has such an intelligent-looking face."
"E-eh!?"
"I thought you were intelligent to begin with, but after washing off the grime, you look even more so."
"Th-thank you...?"
Lately, I had been trying to recall my memories of being a high school boy rather than the painful memories of my life in this world. Remembering painful things would only make me suffer...
Did that make me look like I'd gone soft from living in peace?
"You must have received a fine education—ah, no, forget I said that."
"No, it's all right. I suppose I did receive a reasonably good education."
Children in this world helped their parents with their work from a young age. Once they had a Job, they apprenticed themselves to a master, almost like a live-in servant, received a Talent Gem, and went to work.
There were guilds for lumber-related work and fishing-related work, and apparently those guilds supplied Talent Gems at low cost. This world ran entirely on Talent Gems.
"Kindness just radiates from you too, Dantes-san."
"...From me?"
"Yes. Especially when you're looking at Non-san."
"......"
Dantes-san looked troubled. Had I said something strange—? Wait. C-could he know what happened in the bathhouse!? S-sorry! I didn't mean anything by that!
"...You see, I..."
Dantes-san said quietly.
"I think I'll die without being able to cure this petrification."
"...Huh?"
"It's apparently an extremely difficult curse. I've heard it over and over from the healing mages in each town: even if I go to the Light-Sky Knight Kingdom, the odds of curing it are low."
I... hadn't known.
I hadn't known that this man had already resigned himself to death. He had decided to spend his remaining time with his daughter, Non...
"That's why I want to do everything I can for Non, of course, and for Mimino, who came along on this journey with us. Since fate brought us together, I'll give Raikira and you all the knowledge I can, and if anything happens, I want to protect you even at the cost of my life. ...If that happens, don't worry about it. That's my own selfishness. I just want to leave some kind of mark behind while I'm still alive... That's all."
"......"
"Sorry for bringing up such a gloomy subject."
Laughing, Dantes-san returned to his usual self.
Mimino-san had told me that he'd played the role of protecting his companions in his previous party as well.
How much was this man willing to devote himself to other people...?
"Dantes-san."
I would never betray someone who gave me something. I didn't want to betray them.
"What is it?"
"If—if I ever selfishly asked you, 'I want to borrow some money,' I'd like you to lend it to me without hesitation. I'll tell you what I bought afterward, of course. Well, it's not as though I've decided to buy anything yet..."
"What is it? Is there something you want?"
"Yes."
I stared straight at Dantes-san.
—A leaf like one from a maple tree, with its tip split into five more points.
—A metal with an extraordinarily rich silver color.
—A wriggling creature like an earthworm.
Those images still floated into my mind whenever I looked at the petrified parts of Dantes-san.
If they were for sale, I'd buy them without hesitation. If I found them in the forest, I'd make absolutely sure to secure them.
I couldn't tell him yet... I didn't want to give him false hope.
But I had made up my mind. I would do everything I could to cure Dantes-san's petrification, too.
"...I see. Of course. A boy ought to ask for what he wants, at least. Non never asked for anything, and you're so well-behaved that it's almost a problem."
Dantes-san stood and stroked my still-damp head.
"Come on, time for bed. Tomorrow, we're going to the Adventurer's Guild to sell all the various things we've found along the way."
"...Yes."
At his urging, I got into bed. Sleepiness came over me almost at once, and when I opened my eyes again, it was morning.
In other words, I hadn't dreamed—and then I realized something else: was this the first time I'd slept in a bed since coming to this world...?