It had been a few days since the outing with Wendy to buy supplies….
The main part of the bathhouse was finished, and now I was locked in a staring contest with the outer wall.
The current walls surrounding the hot spring were nothing more than old, crumbling wooden panels.
Hmm… what should I do about this…?
Of course, I had always planned to fix them, but I couldn’t shake the desire to use wood or bamboo to enclose the place.
That meant I’d need the help of the master craftsmen. Still, after making such a big show of doing this myself, asking them for help felt a bit…
「Hmmm…」
「…Hey」
「Uwoah, you scared me…」
「What’s with the groaning? Is it finished already?」
When I turned around, the grim face of the foreman was right there, startling me.
「Well… the main structure is, more or less」
All that was left was to make the stone spout where the hot spring would appear to gush out, and the washing area. Once those were done, the stonework side of things could be considered complete.
But if I thought about aesthetics, I really couldn’t avoid needing carpentry work.
「I see… So what will you do about the wall?」
「I was thinking bamboo would be nice…」
「Yeah. A bamboo fence would look much better」
Oh, so the foreman thought the same.
Right? But… do they even sell bamboo around here?
「I think we brought some with us… Alright, I’ll use that and make it for you」
「Seriously!?」
「Yeah… since you managed to build this much, I’ll call it a service. Let’s make a bath worthy of the mansion I’m building」
「Foreman…」
He gave me a thumbs up and smiled.
At this moment, I wouldn’t even mind being embraced by those thick, burly arms!
「For an amateur, you did well」
「Oooh… That counts as praise, right?」
「Yeah. That love you spoke of for hot springs… I can feel it」
I clasped the hand he held out to me, firm and burning with passion.
「Ugh… I come back and it’s all suffocating in here…」
Oi, shut it.
This was just the moment our bond as a team of friendship was being forged.
「Oh, right. And over there… Do you plan to build something?」
The foreman pointed to one corner beside the bathhouse, where crushed rocks had been leveled, leaving nothing but a flat patch of ground.
「Not really… I had thought about adding a waterfall bath, but the principle’s a bit tricky…」
Truthfully, the mechanics were simple enough.
The problem was how it would look to others.
I couldn’t exactly install obvious construction work. It would be safer to maintain the illusion that we were simply using an ancient spring that had always been flowing naturally.
「I see… Then I’ll borrow this corner」
「I don’t mind, but… what are you going to build?」
「Something wonderful for you」
Oiii, come on!
What the heck was that supposed to mean!? Don’t leave me hanging like that, damn it!
The foreman just walked back to his work area, already starting preparations for the bamboo fence.
-0-
「Ano….you forgot I existed, didn’t you? I’m back! Your guide-chan, who has defeated some muddy, gooey, slippery, is back.」
…
Right. I had kind of forgotten.
Since guide-san had no real tasks to do, she’d been whining about being bored, so I sent her off to hunt the local slimes.
「But seriously, what are you making with all these membranes? Don’t tell me you’re planning to mix them into the hot spring so it turns all gooey and slimy!?」
「Why the hell would I do something so blasphemous! …It’s got nothing to do with the hot spring」
「Heeey… now I’m curious!」
「Forget it. I’ve got more important things to finish first…」
Though honestly, the spout and washing area could be done pretty quickly.
The washing area was basically just a rinse-off station with fire magic stones at the bottom to warm the water.
And the spout wasn’t actually channeling water, it just needed to ‘look’ like it was.
「So it’s not ready yet… Hmmm, what should I do to kill time…」
「Why not go help Wendy make lunch?」
「Not to brag, but I can’t cook!」
…Yeah, that really isn’t something to brag about.
「…Well, I’m not ‘completely’ hopeless, just not good enough to sell it. But it’s more fun being near you anyway」
「Hm?」
「Nothing at all!」
「…Right. Then how about going slime hunting again?」
「Getting a little tired of that too…」
「…Fine. Then you can watch me do some alchemy. Just don’t get in the way, alright?」
「Okaaay!」
Truthfully, I didn’t want her watching this.
Not because of the technique itself, but because of… well… the embarrassment.
「Alright, let’s begin」
「Yaaay!」
Guide-san clapped her hands, cheerful as always.
Well… she certainly knew how to keep up the energy.
「First, we have this. The membrane from a Jelly Slime」
「Wow, so slippery and gooey」
「Yes. Now, we put the goo into the pot」
「Ooh, 」
She reacted to everything.
Well, it was kind of fun, so whatever.
「Next, we put the pot over the fire」
「Sensei! It’s going to melt!!」
「Yes. That’s exactly what we want. We’ll let it completely liquefy」
The Jelly Slime membrane that had been placed over the fire looked like a wobbly jellyfish at first, but soon melted down into a thick, gooey liquid.
The texture… it was almost like lotion.
Alright then, let’s call it ‘Slime Lotion’.
I poured the Slime Lotion into a wooden bucket for later use.
「Next, we’ll use this」
「That is… yes! The membrane of a normal slime, right?」
「Correct. Do you know its properties?」
「Yes! When you pull it, it stretches and returns! But if you twist it, it won’t go back!」
「Exactly. Now, let’s submerge this into the melted Jelly Slime membrane」
Carefully, so it wouldn’t slip from my fingers, I sank the slime membrane into the Slime Lotion.
「Sensei! Isn’t that hot!?」
「It’s hot, but this step is important」
After all, bacteria are weak against heat.
Of course, slime membranes themselves were also weak to heat, so I couldn’t go too hot, meaning I probably wouldn’t sterilize them completely.
Still, at least some disinfection was better than none.
「Now then, what I’ve taken out is… this!」
「What is that!?」
「This is a Rotating Sphere. If I infuse it with magic power, it will spin!」
「Ooooh!」
Somehow, this had turned into a teacher-and-student lesson.
Not that I minded, it was actually kind of fun.
「And what do you do with it?」
「Good question. But as they say, seeing is believing」
I placed the Rotating Sphere atop the slime membrane and infused a very small amount of magic power.
The sphere slowly began to spin, gradually pulling and stretching the slime membrane.
Inside the Slime Lotion, the membrane stretched longer and longer.
Once it had reached a certain length, I removed the sphere.
「Sensei! What happened!?」
「Fufufu… the experiment was a success. Now, with a little twist at the tip, we pull it further. This part is actually very important」
「Ooooh! …So what did we just make?」
Ah, she’s dropped the “student mode” already.
Well, thanks anyway. That was fun.
「Hmm… how should I put this…」
A cap? A sheath?
「Well, the simplest word would be… a contraceptive」
「Contraceptive…? But isn’t pregnancy a blessing from the gods? To prevent it sounds… wrong. Where would you even use something like that?」
「Believe me, there are people who need it. In my original world, it was essential」
Not that I really needed it personally.
But it was about time I delivered some new products to Yasis anyway.
And considering Yasis’s connections, this would reach nobles.
And nobles… well, their sons were bound to cause trouble with their indulgent lifestyles.
For such cases, this would be perfect!
I imagine high-class brothels would value this as well.
In those places, disease is the greatest threat.
Even if they could be cured, it’s always better to have protection in the first place.
Still, more experiments were necessary.
I had to test the thickness, the durability, and push them to their limits, otherwise complaints might arise later.
For now, I sealed a sample in the membrane of a Shell Slime and stored it away in a magic space.
「Areh? Is that it?」
「For now, yeah. With the foreman and everyone working so hard, making something like this does give me a bit of guilt though…」
I thought I should redo the finishing touches on the bath with more care.
They had said it was rough…
If I looked closely enough, I was sure I’d find plenty more details to fix.
「You really are a hard worker. Since no one’s going to come right now anyway… how about we play a little instead?」
「Tempting, but I’ll pass」
「So serious… well, I already knew that. In that case, I’ll help out too」
Aina, Sorte, and Renge were all surely working hard at that very moment.
I had to make sure they were welcomed back with an even better bath.
Alright then! Whether it was cleaning or refining the stones, I’d do it properly!
-0-
-Red Line’s POV-
Demons.
That was the name given to them in one scholar’s theory.
Where did monsters come from?
The theory proposed that monsters were born from animals, insects, or other creatures as a base, and after death, or under certain influences, absorbed large amounts of magic power, transforming into monsters.
And this did not only apply to animals.
The major difference between monsters and demons was that demons could understand human speech and possessed intellect.
From this, one theory suggested that demons might in fact be humans, or other humanoid races, who had undergone monsterfication.
『…Visitors. It has been a long time』
「「「!!?」」」
It spoke.
That meant the creature before them was indeed a demon.
『I smell it… the scent of that accursed woman who locked me in this place…』
The magic lamps set into the wall slowly began to brighten, casting light over the demon and revealing its form clearly.
「Hey, did you expect this?」
「Well… with magic power this dense, the thought did cross my mindssu」
「Yeah. But… it seems we can say for certain this is a demon」
Two horns, resembling those of the Oni race.
One of them had been broken.
Its body exuded the stench of rot and death, hardly that of a living being.
Its massive frame was at least three times their own, and in its hand it gripped a huge cleaver-like weapon that radiated menace.
『Aaah… it throbs…! My broken horn! It throbs with painnnnn!』
「Incoming, fast, !」
「Fall back! Guh!」
Its movements weren’t especially fast, but the weight behind them was overwhelming…
Even though I had matched the swing of that massive blade, I was completely overpowered.
「Gah…!」
The shock of being slammed against the wall told me just how much force had been behind that blow.
I slid down the wall and collapsed to the ground, barely able to move my body at all.
「Aina! Are you….」
「Sorteee! Eyes forwardssu!!」
「…!」
Seeing my condition, the two must have judged that blocking was impossible, so they chose to dodge by a hair’s breadth instead.
That was the right call. With that massive frame moving at such speed, it was dangerous, but still within their ability to evade.
「Nngh… potion… I need a potion…」
Forcing my unresponsive body to move, I reached for a healing potion.
Just then, one rolled to a stop in front of me.
Had I dropped it when I was struck? It didn’t matter.
I stretched my hand out, seized it, and quickly brought it to my lips.
「Kh… hurts…」
The wounds closed, but the exhaustion from the impact didn’t vanish.
Still, this was no time to complain.
The two continued dodging, but if their stamina ran out, there would come a time when they couldn’t avoid.
When that happened, they’d have no choice but to take the blow, and with that kind of power, they stood no chance.
「This is bad……. 」
「Renge!」
As the demon’s cleaver bore down on Renge, I struck with all my strength, unlike the earlier ambush.
「Sorte! Now!」
「Right!」
The demon’s balance faltered from my upward strike, and Sorte’s spear gouged into its flank.
But the creature didn’t let out so much as a grunt of pain. It only glared at us and swung its massive cleaver down again.
「Too closessu!」
Dust rose into the air, and a gaping hole was carved into the ground. Even so, we didn’t dare take our eyes off the enemy.
「Hey… did that look like it worked to you?」
「Not at all. Most likely, its body no longer even registers pain」
「Ugh… that’s a painssu」
A monster that strong, with a body that doesn’t feel pain.
And worse, the wound Sorte had carved out seemed to have already closed, there wasn’t even a drop of blood.
It might even have some form of immortality.
「Don’t falter, my body. If we don’t kill this thing, we won’t leave here alive」
「You’re right… we’re going to live, and go back」
「Damn straightssu! Come on, let’s go!」
No matter what it took, we would bring this monster down, and survive.
With that resolve, we threw ourselves into battle once more.
Leave a Reply