Now that the foremen had started moving in earnest, they no longer had time to help build the open-air bath. But with just Wendy, guide-san, and me, we could manage somehow.
「Wendy, can you handle it?」
「Yes! I’m good! 『Water Cutter』!」
With a thin, crescent-shaped blade of water, she sliced diagonally through the large boulder near the bath.
That’s the one, we’re making a stone bed you can lie on when you’re feeling overheated.
She cast her spell a few more times to fine-tune the angle. After that, I used a file to smooth the surface so no one would cut themselves on the edge.
Ah… if only I could use alchemy outside.
Still, rules are rules, so I’ll follow them.
But hey, as long as I follow the rules, anything goes, right?
Even a huge rock like this, if I just ‘input’ it, I can carry it back to the alchemy shed!
I guess guide-san saw me using space magic, but oh well. Prioritizing efficiency!
「Production’s gotten a lot more efficient, hasn’t it?」
「Well yeah, sorry to say, but without the men around, I’ve just been hauling stuff into the alchemy shed so we can keep the work going.」
I mean, their help ‘was’ appreciated.
Though, I suspect most of them were just here to flirt with Wendy…
As for Wendy, she was cheerfully casting magic and shaping the stone beds just like I asked.
I had her make two on either end of the open-air bath.
「So, what’re you making now?」
「Stone lanterns. For indirect lighting.」
「Oooh? I don’t really get it, but it looks like a piece of art to me.」
I was kind of winging it.
These were those stone lanterns you’d see in Japanese gardens or temple grounds back in my world. I was going from memory, so I had no idea if I was doing it right.
But it looked decent enough.
If I’m unsure, I can just ask the foremen to check it later.
「Master! We have a problem!」
「Hm? What is it, Wendy?」
「It’s the bath… there’s a hole…」
Wendy pulled me by the hand to show me.
She used water magic to fill the tub, but the moment the water gathered, it was immediately sucked down into the ground.
「Yikes. The joint must’ve weakened from years of rain and wind.」
「You’re serious…?」
Figures we wouldn’t have cement or anything like that. What now…?
「Hmm… Should we go hunt some sludge slimes?」
「Sludge slimes? Why them?」
「For bonding material. Mix some fine sand into their membranes and it’ll work just fine.」
「Seriously? Wait, how do ‘you’ know that?」
「Fufuun. All knowledge and experience have its use, you know.」
Now that she mentioned it, I remembered her saying something like that before.
She really does know a lot about all kinds of things.
「Then can I leave it to you? As for the fine sand…」
「Crushing some should work, but I think it would last longer if we bought industrial-grade sand that can withstand hot water. This was probably caused by using regular sand, after all.」
Whoa. Guide-san suddenly looked super intelligent.
If I were a company president, I’d definitely want her as my secretary.
Wearing a tight skirt, tempting me every day!
「Alright, let’s go with that. Sorry, but could I ask you to go do the hunting?」
「Sure thing. Oh, and we’re treating this as a buy order, right?」
「Of course. Just don’t overcharge me, alright?」
「I’ll sell it at the market price. See you in a bit!」
With a whoosh, guide-san vanished without a sound.
Left behind, I took Wendy with me to the general store in the hot spring town, but…
「U-um, could you wait for just a moment?」
「Hm? Oh, sure…」
「Then please wait at the entrance!」
She said that, and so I waited by the entrance for a while… but where did she go?
-0-
As I idly watched the foremen at work, I had to admit their movements were impressively coordinated.
Occasionally, I heard the foreman shouting, and everyone responded together with a powerful chorus.
Yeah, yeah. This is going to turn out great… I was thinking, when I suddenly heard a voice behind me.
「S-sorry for the wait…」
「Ah, what happe…ned …」
When I turned around, there stood an angel.
Did you know? Angels wear yukata.
A yukata-clad angel with her hair up and tied with a sash.
And yes, she had cleavage!
「Ano ano, normally you’re supposed to use fabric to hide the shape, but… if I wrap it any tighter, it makes me look wider…」
「Marvelous*…」
「Um, is this alright with you, Master?」
「Excellent*…」
「M-Master?」
「Fantastic*…」
TN: Said in english
Ah… she was glorious.
I couldn’t help but start clapping.
When she spun around, her raised hair revealed her nape, and that alone was enough to make me lose it.
As I was swooning to myself, Wendy took my arm and gently intertwined her fingers with mine.
When she looked up at me, she was blushing, but her smile was so full of joy.
「Ehehe, shall we go?」
「Y-yeah…」
Still holding hands, I continued on with Wendy toward the hot spring town.
Honestly, I’m pretty sure I had a goofy smile plastered on my face the whole way.
「Did you put that on by yourself?」
「No, the landlady helped me with it.」
「Figures… this is the real deal, after all.」
Inside, the little guy in my heart was going, “Foooo! Foooo!”
But on the outside, I managed to keep my cool.
Of course, I wasn’t about to let go of her hand, and Wendy kept hers firmly wrapped around mine too.
-0-
We slowly strolled through the streets, heading toward the general store while taking in the sights.
I could feel the stares from passersby.
It might’ve looked like I was showing her off, but hey, that wasn’t exactly wrong.
Ha ha ha! That’s right, this is ‘my’ Wendy!
Isn’t she cute? Isn’t she gorgeous? Isn’t she just divine??
She’s an angel, after all! …Crap, I almost tripped off into dreamland again…
「Ufufu」
「Hm? What is it?」
Oh no. Did she just laugh at me?
「It might be a little mean to everyone else, but… just thinking about going out alone with you like this makes me so happy, I can’t stop smiling.」
I couldn’t look at that beaming smile head-on.
Instead, I turned my face away and put a hand to my forehead.
Aaaaahh, she’s cute! ‘Infinitely’ cute!
Eeeveryone! She’s so cuuuuuuute!!
That’s what I wanted to shout.
「Ah, Master, look, they’ve got street stalls set up too!」
「O-oh, looks like it. Alright then, since we’re here, let’s take a look around.」
Phew. My mental state was already at MAX.
I could probably fire off three supers back-to-back at this point, that’s how elated I was.
Calm down, me. This is a public street.
No ‘bursting’ allowed here.
-0-
Among the many street vendors, we stopped at one selling accessories.
「If you see something you want, just say the word.」
「Okay. Ah… but…」
「Whoa, what a stunning lady you’ve got there! I think this would really suit her!」
The stall owner, a cheerful woman, took out a hairpin and held it up for Wendy to see.
When I imagined her with it, it did look like it’d suit her pretty well.
But for some reason, Wendy didn’t seem all that interested.
In the end, we didn’t buy the hairpin and moved on, looking around at the other stalls.
「I thought that one looked pretty good, though.」
「It did, yes, but…」
It didn’t have any stat buffs or anything, but the design was nice enough, and I thought it matched Wendy’s vibe.
The price was reasonable too, so I wouldn’t have minded buying it, but…
「It’s just… if it’s an accessory, I’d rather have one handmade by you, Master…」
Wendy, her cheeks now bright red, raised a sleeve to hide her face.
Ahh, nope, I can’t hold it anymore. I’m hugging her.
Okay? Here I go.
Three… two… one, hug!
「M-Master…」
Ahhh, I just wanna take her home ‘right now!’
「Come to think of it, I haven’t told you yet… You’re beautiful. Incredibly beautiful!」
「…Th-thank you very much…」
After I wrapped my arms around her, Wendy gently brought her hands up and hugged me back.
This moment, everything, felt like pure happiness.
Just one miscalculation: we were still standing in the middle of a public street, right in front of a vendor’s stall.
The vendor let out a resigned,
「…Take it somewhere else, would ya?」
and with that, I was pulled back to reality.
Under the watchful stares of the surrounding crowd, Wendy and I made a hasty retreat toward the general store.
-0-
-Makoto’s POV-
「…T-that bastard… hugging a beauty like that…」
Who ‘was’ that woman?!
That guy’s out there in public, hugging the most unbelievable beauty I’ve ever seen, just radiating this aura of bliss,
「Hey, is that the guy?」
「Yeah, no doubt. Black hair, black eyes, and dressing a slave girl in a kimono? He ‘has’ to be a ‘Drifter’.」
「Hmm… he’s not quite what I heard, though…」
「Nah, I actually saw them arrive. He’s got tons of women with him, all slaves. No mistake.」
That harem bastard… he’s probably doing all sorts of lewd things with his slaves.
I’m so jeal…. I mean, ‘unforgivable!’ That kind of evil? I ‘won’t’ allow it!
「Hey, Ma-kun.」
「Can you ‘not’ call me that…」
「So, what now?」
「…Huh?」
「They’re already gone, you know?」
「Wha, ah! Damn… slippery little, 」
They were just here a moment ago, and now they’d vanished without a trace.
Did he notice us?
If so… this guy’s definitely not to be underestimated.
But I won’t stoop to using dirty tricks.
I’ll take him on head-on, in a fair and square fight!
「…Enjoy your happiness while it lasts. Because I, ‘I’, am the one true, 」
「Makoto, you’re sounding like a villain.」
「Whaaat?! No way!!」
「Ufufu. Well then, let’s drop in on him another day, shall we?」
「Y-yeah… let’s do that.」
…Man, I always end up dancing to their tune.
But once I beat that guy… then maybe…
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