Chapter 40 - Reunion

Chapter 40 : Reunion

===A Certain Middle-Aged Adventurer===

I, Alec, spoke to my party members to thank them.

「Let’s take a break, you guys must be tired from a long journey, right? Fortunately for us, this city is famous for its hot springs.」

We had been traveling non-stop for a few days and had yet to have a proper rest.

We might be gold-rank adventurers, but we were still normal humans who got tired.

「Finally, time to rest our tired bodies.」

「If it’s this place… I guess it’s safe…」

Hanna and Dale heaved a sigh of relief.

After we left Romana Kingdom in order to escape from that terrifying undead, we finally arrived in the small kingdom next to Romana Kingdom, Tana Kingdom.

Compared to the Romana Kingdom, this place was more akin to a small and rural kingdom.

Even if the No Life King did build an undead kingdom, there was no way he would aim for this small and insignificant kingdom.

For that reason, we went to this small and insignificant kingdom, which didn’t even have satisfactory commissions for adventurers of our rank.

I really couldn’t wait to enjoy the hot spring.

We walked toward the center of the city, looking for a suitable hot spring hotel to stay.

When we happened to pass in front of a certain inn, Guy’s eyes suddenly opened wide.

「This inn! Alec-dono! This priest wants to make a report to his superior in this inn!」

「…Eh? Well, I don’t know what you mean, but no problem.」

This kind of action was rare for Guy, who rarely spoke his mind… until I read the sign written in front of the inn.

―Mixed bath.

Ah… no wonder.

I almost forgot the fact that this former priest was a lump of worldly desire.

「…The worst.」

Despite how Hanna looked at Guy as if the latter was a piece of trash, the person himself only muttered, 「Oooh… I can’t get enough of this scolding.」. Honestly, this guy had already stepped into another realm—a realm of perversion.

“

Eventually, we decided to stay in this inn due to Guy’s vehement insistence.

It turned out there was another male and female guest aside from us.

「…No, it’s not like I’m interested in the mixed bath, you know?」

「Really~」

Hanna’s stern gaze was painful.

After we were guided into our own room, Guy left immediately, saying that he wanted to enjoy the hot spring as soon as possible.

「…I’ll go to the guild to gather information.」

On the other hand, our scout, Dale, was as serious as ever.

I… well, I guess I shall use this moment to have a proper rest in this room.

I mean, Hanna might end up misunderstanding again if I went straight to enjoy the hot spring.

◇　◇　◇

===A Certain Undead With Communication Disorder===

“

「A~H, that hits the spot.」

I, who managed to outrun the two naked dragons, was currently immersing myself in the hot spring.

Since the place I happened to come upon was a town famous for its hot spring, I decided to try it. It was a rare chance, after all.

I never broke a sweat due to my undead traits.

But it didn’t mean that my body was completely protected from dirt and sand. Thus, I decided to wash my body while enjoying the hot spring.

To be honest, I couldn’t fully enjoy the wonder of the hot spring since I lost most of my sense of touch and warmth after I became an undead.

But from the thick amount of the steam rising from the hot spring, I guess this hot spring was a good one.

Nevertheless, I was glad that I could stay in the inn.

Although I received a puzzled look from the receptionist, the said person still guided me properly to my room when I paid for it.

By the way, the money was something I received from those kind villagers.

When they learned that I was penniless, the villagers quickly gathered their money before they sent me off.

I felt nothing but gratitude toward those villagers.

“

The reason why no one else was in this hot-spring might be because it was still noon.

At that moment…

「Mixed bath—in other words, a chance to legally peep on those ladies. In short, a spicy situation.」

Just when I was wondering about what I heard from the dressing room just now, another guest entered the bath.

Uhm? Where was this guy looking?

I couldn’t see his face thanks to the thick water vapor, but he had a bald head.

Even though his head was devoid of single strand of hair, his che*st and abdomen were bristly with hair.

「Young women… young women…」

He muttered something while looking around with bloodshot eyes.

「That’s strange… I can’t see anything… No, it must be this water vapor’s fault.」

He started walking into the tub while saying those words.

And finally, he stopped, as if he got struck by despair.

「Why… why is there not a single woman in this place?!」

Woman? What in the world was this man talking about?

This should be the men’s section.

Though it wasn’t that clear once you entered the bath, he should have received the explanation from the shopkeeper.

『This is… the men’s side…』

『Yes. It’s okay.』

I still remembered when having such an exchange, I’d stutter helplessly.

I wanted to praise myself for being able to go that far.

「Guh… But it’s still too early to feel depressed. It’s just a matter of time before a woman comes in.」

After saying that, the baldy finally immersed himself into the hot water.

「…Ah!」

At that moment, I finally remembered.

This baldy was one of the first four adventurers who I met right after I left the dungeon.

He was the one who wielded a strange, stick-like weapon.

I failed to notice him since he was naked.

「…Uhm?」

The baldy then looked at me upon hearing my voice.

The reason why he ignored me before was probably because he was too busy looking for women.

「~~~~~??!」

The baldy’s eyes opened wide, seemingly shocked upon seeing my face.

At the next moment…

「GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

He leaped out the bathtub, sending a spray of water up while screaming to the top of his lungs.

H-Hey, the floor of this place… was slippery, you know?

And just as I was worrying, the baldy slipped, yet he still tried to run. He ended up showing his ugly a*ssho*le toward me.

◇　◇　◇

===A Certain Middle-Aged Adventurer===

「B-B…BAD NEWS!」

Dale suddenly came into the room as I enjoyed the free time.

「Why are you so flustered, Dale?」

It seemed Dale ran as fast as he could. His breath was ragged and he was sweating like a waterfall.

I knew that Dale always kept his composure, no matter what, so I stood up immediately.

「T-This…! Please… see this!」

The thing that Dale slapped on top of the table was a newspaper.

It was something that I read in every country that we visited, but it seemed to be sold in this kingdom too.

It was placed in the guild.

Since the adventurer guild was a large international organization, they could easily gather a lot of information with their channels.

For that reason, the adventurer guild had a good relationship with newspapers, and most buildings placed newspapers in their lobby so that every adventurer could read it.

Dale pointed at a certain article. My eyes then focused on that article.

Since I could never enjoy reading, I almost always fell asleep a minute after I started reading, but… My drowsiness was blown away as soon as I read the title of the article.

【The No Life King on the Move in Tana Kingdom】

「I-IMPOSSIBLE!? WHY.. DID HE?!」

I unintentionally shouted from the shock.

「Hey, chill out dude. What has happened to you guys?」

Hanna came out upon hearing our commotion.

I pointed to the newspaper, too scared to even tell her about this news.

「~~~?!!!!!!! Y-You’re kidding me, right?!」

The moment Hanna saw that title, she fell on her rear as if her legs turned into slime.

Dale then told us the contents of that terrifying article.

「Two adventurers… who went to a certain hamlet in the eastern-most part of Tana Kingdom… met the No Life King… All villagers in that village had already become undead…」

I then tried to recall the east point of Tana Kingdom from the map in my memories.

Though there was a huge forest located on the border, it was definitely a shortcut to Romana Kingdom.

「What’s happening here? You said that he wouldn’t come to this small kingdom, right?!」

「T-That should be normal! Don’t tell me, he… came to finish us off?」

「「「!!!」」」

The moment I thought so…

「GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

I heard a terrifying scream from the corridor.

It was a male’s voice.

That voice came toward our direction. The owner of that voice seemed to be running at us.

Soon enough, Guy ran off faster than Dale to leave the room…

While showing off the splendid thing dangling in between his cro―

「IYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!」

Hanna’s scream cut off my train of thought.