Chapter 102 - Dragon-san and Friends Go on a Trip to Hot Springs

Volume 4 Chapter 1: Dragon-san and Friends Go on a Trip to Hot Springs

Sorry for the wait. This chapter marks the beginning of the “Towa Country” chapter!

I am a dragon.

My body is covered in scales that as red as raging flame and as black as the deepest night, and my essence is the life force of the world itself.

Although all dragons are supposed to be equal when it comes to our abilities, each and every one of us has their own unique characteristics.

I embody the scorching heat of lava, the deep darkness of the night, but also represent the radiance with which stars shine down onto the world. So you can say that I am a combination of all of the above.

Of course, it’s not only that. Us dragons are guardians of the leylines, and are tasked with maintaining them and repairing them if the need arrives. It is an intricate and delicate process, one that only beings such as us can hope to accomplish.

Our trademark quality is the knowledge of everything that happened in this land throughout its history, which we can share among ourselves.

We can also use super advanced magic spells and rituals, the likes of which normal humans cannot possibly hope to master.

As for the reason why the world created us…… I don’t know if we are being useful in the grand scheme of things, but the only things we can do is to do our job properly and without fail.

Furthermore, I was originally a normal human being in another world, but after being reincarnated here as a dragon I had to learn the language, culture and customs of this world. All so that I could involve myself with other people and strive towards making friends.

Because of that I may be a fairly young dragon, but I also started my own family in this world, so as far as family goes, you can ask me for advice without holding back!

However, even to such an experienced Family Master (Self-Proclaimed), unexpected things tend to happen all the time.

***

Spring has finally come to Hibernia in the country of Ballow.

…… It was a nice refreshment after the mountainous region of Melias.

I mean, we had mountains here in Hibernia as well, but compared to the ones near Melias those ones were fairly small.

But thanks to that there was nothing that would obstruct the flow of magial power here and I was pretty much content with that.

Oh well, thanks to that the monsters were really scarce here. Right now in was in an isolated part of the land where it was really hard for normal people to get to, and the place was overgrown with a thick and dark forest. Clearly it was a place that was somehow assisted in forming rather than being natural.

On the other side of the forest there were small villages and human houses, but the most importantly, there was that huge lake.

However, it wasn’t just your simple lake.

This lake was so huge that I could easily spread my wings inside of it, and while looking from above I could see small traces of steam coming from the water’s surface. The air was rich in the smell of sulfur.

So, in other words…… It was a hot spring!

Oh, if you could just imagine my joy upon finding out about this!

Even though I was now a dragon, I still remember my former life as a simple University student back in Japan.

But after spending so much time in this world, the memories were all becoming somewhat shallow.

That is why. That is exactly why!

There was no way in hell that I would miss an opportunity like that!

In fact, when I first find out about it, it was truly a challenge to resist the urge to sink my feet in.

I want to take a dive in there and just forget about reality for a moment!

Finally giving in to temptation I transformed into my dragon self in order to experience the hot water thoroughly, but by doing so I caused the water from the lake to accidentally overflow into the nearby river.

…… Please don’t tell about that to anyone. Especially to Gramps. He wouldn’t let me off the hook if he heard about that.

Since then I visited the hot spring on quite a few occasions, while also enjoying the surrounding scenery. I also discovered while dipping in that the hot waters were great for regeneration the depleted magical power.

The final effect was that I would never want neither Gramps nor Ligurila to ever see me in such a state.

After that I went back here together with Nectar, and the two of did some remodeling, just to make the place more comfortable to live in. As a result we basically ended up remodeling the whole thing from scratch, but I say it was well worth it.

And if you weren’t up for swimming, you could just sit back and relax in the warm water.

Furthermore, since the conditions of the leylines around these parts were pretty much excellent, we could easily use Teleportation to get here from my home, without any kind of time lag to speak of. This place could actually become our second home.

And that is why we decided to come to the hot springs after coming back from Hesat. We were going to spend the remaining spring break there.

I spread my wings and move over the water’s surface, marking it with my magic so that we would be able to recognize this location.

Lastly, I message the person with a golden hair that was standing at the shore.

“Senpai, would you kindly do it up until that point!”

Senpai at the moment was in his human form, not the dragon one, and upon hearing my message he nodded his head and extended his arms.

Suddenly there was a huge wave of magic gathered around the lake, and in the next moment a huge rock walls begun to rise up from under the water’s surface, sending ripples across the whole lake.

The rock walls are raising alongside the line that I drew with my wings, creating something similar to a huge open-air bath.

When our job was finally done, we managed to take the portion of the lake to ourselves, where the water was knee or waist-deep at best.

The floor of the bath was also smooth, and while walking through it with my feet bare, I did not felt even one sharp stone left.

Drip.

It may not be a real bath, but as far as outdoor hot springs goes it was pretty much perfect, with the sound of nature accompanying us as a sort of extra feature.

I knew it was a good idea to bring Senpai here, since there was no one better when it was coming to manipulating the element of earth with his magic.

I used to think that he was kinda scary, but after observing the world at Elvie’s side for a few months, he began to change and right about now he was as friendly as you can get.

Still, he managed to do a splendid job with erecting those rock walls like that. Even I wouldn’t be able to do that as flawlessly like he did. Guess his earth affinity wasn’t just for show.

…… I wonder if it is really okay to use the overpowered dragon magic for something like this?

But, it wasn’t just for my sake, Senpai! Think about Elvie! He’s going to enjoy this place as well!

Mufufu, I was so happy that I could hardly even contain myself.

Using my magic, I raised the temperature of the water inside of the bath, and the amount of stream rising from the surface rose accordingly.

Checking with my feet, I could feel that the temperature was slightly higher than the human body temperature. I looked back to the shore and activated the magic circle that Nectar drew beforehand.

The circle activated, and what emerged from inside of it was a small changing room that we prepared sometime earlier in another location and readied it to be transported here.

The house that was standing nearby was brought here in the exact same way, but this time around it was all thanks to Nectar who took care that the building wouldn’t just collapse or get damaged during the process of teleportation.

「The rocks, all at once……」

「So, the water can be warmed up by this much for now……」

「But for a whole house to appear just like that, isn’t that kinda weird?」

As I was thinking about Nectar’s spell, I landed in front of Elvie back on the shore.

「Sorry to make you wait, El-kun, Io-kun, Mikoto, Marca!」

Their reactions while waiting on the shore were…… mixed.

Seeing me appearing from above, Iori and Elvie felt genuinely amazed.

Mikoto seemed to be excited to see magic like that, but it was her tail that was showing just how she felt inside.

Marca, on the other hand, was openly showing just how excited she was, with her eyes sparkling and her hands clapping.

「Vaas, incredible! You lifted all of those rocks just like that!」

「He made it emerge just alongside the line that Mother drew! And even though it was a powerful magic, the surrounding area is not disturbed in the slightest!」

「This is the most basic level of a magecraft, mind you.」

Even though Senpai said that, I could tell that he was happy that both Marca and Aru complimented his work.

I could only smile at that, understanding full well just how satisfying it was when someone was complimenting your achievements, especially those related to magic.

「Alright, everyone! Now please pay attention!」

I called out to the kids, and all of the members of the Magic Machines Study Club turned my way.

「First of all, as you can probably see, we erected a barrier around half of the lake, so as long as you stay within its limits there won’t be any monsters or other dangers that could harm you. So you can play as much as you want. But do mind that the lake is pretty deep, so watch out so you won’t drown. Also, should any one of you would like to go to the forest, just let Vass-senpai know. Understood?」

Together with Kyle, we scouted the surrounding area ahead of time, and we encountered a few Second Class monsters along the way.

Of course, we made quick work out of them and they were going to serve as our dinner for tonight.

Everyone seemed to be satisfied with that short briefing. However, Mikoto was the one who rose her hand.

Her ears were also moving sharply, expression worry and anxiety.

「Question! Usually, when bathing, you don’t wear anything!」

Hearing that, there was a strange glow in both Elvie and Iori’s eyes.

「Not so fast, Mikoto. If you want to enter the hot spring here, you have to wear a swimsuit first.」

Iori shook his head in disappointment, while Mikoto voiced her surprise.

「But, in Towa, you usually, get in naked!」

Ugh, yeah, look, girl, I get it. I understand how you feel.

But, in the Western culture, it was but a common sense to wear a swimsuit while inside of the hot springs or public baths.

And I know this is a hot spring, but even though it’s in such a secluded area, there was nothing we could do about it!

At this point Mikoto looked really sad.

But the only thing I could do for Mikoto right now was to nod my head at her and join her in her suffering.

「The bath area created by Senpai has magic cast on it, the one that prevents outsiders from peeping inside. Same for the changing area over there. The water temperature is set to be slightly higher than that of human body, so please enjoy it to the fullest!」

Anyway, just get in for the time being! I give Mikoto a thumbs up and her expression brightens instantly.

Her expression was filled with joy and she was wagging her tail in overly enthusiastic manner.

The boys seemed to be delighted as well, their faces showing various levels of expectations and excitement.

「Aru, you may remove your armlets for now, but please think before you act, okay? Can you promise me that?」

「Of course!」

As soon as I said that, Aru took off his bracelets and his hair became magical in an instant, with red bunches cropping all over them.

「Well then, any other questions?」

The kids gaze at one another for a short while, and then they all shake their heads.

「Okay then, you can go and have some fun!」

「Let’s change our clothes. First of all, we go to swim!」

「Come on, Iori! Let’s give it a try!」

「I want to try it, too!」

「I, I cannot swim all that well.」

「Proposal, I shall float on the water’s surface and support you.」

「Eh? Really!?」

「I shall, teach you, how to swim.」

「Vaas, Miko-san, thank you.」

I smiled brightly while watching the kids run around and getting all excited.