Chapter 106: Her True Motive

After around ten minutes of rolling around on the floor, the pain finally subsided. The God of Destruction was no longer present here, which was natural. Staying and just calmly staring at a little girl squirming on the floor would’ve made her look quite suspicious.

She went away to avoid that risk, but still, she was as fast as always when it came to running away.

“A-Achoo!”

I also realized that the God of Destruction wasn’t the only one at fault here. I was also buck naked in the locker room during our conversation.

All that pain made me start sweating a lot, which in turn chilled my body down quite a bit.

“I guess I’ll take a dip once more…”

If I got out like this, the afterbath chills would follow me all day. I was in a big bath, not to mention naked. No one would blame me for going for round two. That said, the muscle pain all over my body made even standing up a difficult task.

I held down my trembling knees and waddled towards the bath. I then slid the door open and stepped inside. But then, I was suddenly assaulted by a sense of unease. Didn’t that earlier conversation have some odd parts in it?

“God of Destruction… Isn’t exactly a Beastman, so why was she in a Beastman bath?”

She looked a few years over ten, with white skin, silver hair and deep crimson eyes. She wore a choker, but I couldn’t see any beast-like features on her. It was too unnatural for her to just pop up in this Beastman bath.

“So that means… Despite what she said, she was clearly lying in wait for me.”

What she told me could be summed up as such: I was her descendant in both of my lives, and that there was a sighting of a Carbuncle inside the cave. Which means… The reason she told me all that…

“Is it that she wants me to put the Carbuncle under my protection?”

I passed by the washing place as I mumbled to myself, then poured hot water on myself and submerged myself in the bath. I couldn’t see Cortina, Michelle or anyone else anymore. I’ve been left alone, but the fault didn’t lie in them.

Cortina was in the middle of enjoying a steam bath along with Finia, while Michelle and Letina were climbing the open-air bath boulders.

That Goddess was still my lifesaver, and Cortina knew that, so when she said she wanted to talk to me, she couldn’t really refuse. If she harbored an ill will, she would’ve acted on it the last time, so Cortina trusted her in that regard.

“Ah, Nicole, you’re back!” “Why are you relaxing in the back so nonchalantly on your own? Looking after Michelle all alone here is taking a lot of effort here.” “Hey now, weren’t you also climbing the boulders with me, Letina?” “You two, this isn’t the place to start climbing rocks, you know?”

Oh well, whenever kids saw boulders they could climb, they tended to do exactly that. It was especially true for this duo that was more energetic than normal kids.

However, the fact remained that doing that was dangerous in more than one way. They could get injured if they slipped and fell, not to mention there was a men’s bath on the other side. Well, they were kids, so that in itself wouldn’t be a huge deal.

Moreover, the fact that they were climbing up meant that I was looking at them from below. Kids they may be… It was still problematic, right?

“What did you talk about with her?”

While I was warning them with a blank smile on my face, Michelle asked me full of curiosity. That Goddess was a lifesaver for her, too. It was natural for her to be curious as to what that person had to say to her best friend.

Speaking of which, I had something to pass on to her.

“Oh, right. About that. That Goddess asked me to hand this to you.”

As asked, I handed the bracelet bestowed with strengthening magic to her. It was a bangle type bracelet with fine ornaments, covering the hand from wrist to elbow. It fit very firmly on the wrist, so it wouldn’t get in the way when firing a bow.

“What’s this?” “After saying the keyword, it apparently grants physical strengthening. Up to over tenfold, can you believe it?” “Really? That’s amazing! What’s the keyword?” “Megingjord.” “Megi-” “Okay, stop!!”

The moment she heard me say the keyword, she quickly equipped it and started to say it. Such a hasty girl, I haven’t even finished explaining yet!

“There are demerits to it too. It seems you are simply borrowing the physical strength, so when you release it, you are assaulted by a sharp pain. Look what it did to me.”

I lifted my trembling hands from the bath and showed them to her. To be honest, I was so sluggish now that even that simple action took all I had. Using this in an actual fight was quite dangerous. When the effect wore out, it would be impossible to keep on fighting.

“It lasts for three minutes, and then ten minutes of intense pain. After that, you wouldn’t be able to move properly due to muscle pain.” “So the fact that you are like that… You tested it, right?” “Ugh!?”

Letina received gifted education, so her insight, or should I say logic, was quite good. Though I’d like it if she didn’t show it during moments like this.

“Nicole, you can be quite thoughtless sometimes unlike how mature you seem to be, huh?” “This happened because that white thing cut short the explanation.”

No way I’d call her “God” after that. Just “white thing” was good enough for her.

“Then..! Then, let us massage you this time!” “Wah?”

Michelle suddenly said something absurd. I mean, I understood the idea… But it wasn’t something my mind could accept.

“You taught us how to massage earlier! It’s gonna be alright! I’ll make you feel good!”

She grabbed me by the hands and mercilessly dragged me out of the bath. Then she lifted me like baggage and carried me towards the massage tables. Huh, wasn’t her strength already comparable to an adult?

“Okay, let’s get to it!” “Prepare yourself!”

Michelle approached me while wiggling her fingers. Letina also did the same from another direction with an amused expression. That aside, there was no way they learned how to massage just by listening to a few instructions of mine. They are probably going to mess up this and that. Rather, they most definitely will.

But I had nowhere to run.

Needless to say, my painful cries started to reverberate throughout the Beastmen bath.