159 お魚天国

Everything was going well, building the temporary housing, making the course for the mini-boat race (not exactly boats), finishing the temple, etc., when I received an unexpected report.

"Hey, big guy! There are more fish in the onsen!

After receiving May's report, I went to the public bath with her pulling my hand. ....

What the hell is this?

Small fish swarming around the feet of children in the women's bath tub. I think there must be about a hundred of them at a rough count.

I'll have to check this one out. .... Hey, Mei, how long have these fish been here?

How long have these fish been here, Mei? Before you went to the house?

......... They've been here forever. So, how many fish were there then?

Umm... ten?

I see... about ten. .... I see.

They were so small then, weren't they?

If May's testimony is correct, they must have been about the size of killifish. Do you think there are twice as many now? Yeah, they're still tiny.

But for some reason, they're not in the men's baths. .... But for some reason, they're not in the men's baths.

Is it pornographic? Is it just erotic?

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure I'll be able to do it. I'm sorry.

I'll save one in a vat, electrocute it with magic, and then appraise it. I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm sure it's a good idea. ....

＊＊＊＊＊＊

[Manafish fry

They need a lot of magic power to survive. They can live in temperatures ranging from 0 to 150 degrees Celsius. They can grow up to 8cm in length and eat dead skin cells, feces, and carcasses, but they can also live without eating.

＊＊＊＊＊＊

I'm sure you've heard of them. .... It looks kind of harmless, but just in case some people don't like it, there's another tub. .... I'm going to class you up from an erotic fish to a perverted fish: .... I'll classify you up from an erotic fish to a perverted fish.

The reason why there were only fish in the women's baths was because the hot water was pumped up from underground and stored there, and the manafish were released there, and the eggs they laid there multiplied and flowed to the public baths... The pipe from this reservoir to the women's baths was straight, and the hot water sent to the men's baths was connected later. But the manafish didn't like the women's baths because the pipes were straight from this reservoir to the women's baths, and the hot water sent to the men's baths had to be bent in the direction of a branch pipe that was connected later.

The manafish did not like the women's baths, but it was a good thing that there were hot and warm water, water baths, footbaths, and fish baths. We're on the verge of becoming a hot spring city, but that's okay. .... I'm not sure I want to eat a fish that eats human keratin, so maybe I'll build a moat and release it with the hot water... some creature will come to eat it. .... I don't know.

And so the matter was settled, but what Masaru didn't realize was that in the underground hot spring pools there were probably creatures that these fish coexisted with. ....

That creature may be discussed in the future at ............. (← probably not)