Book 2: Chapter 30: Bathtub and Pillow Talk

Book 2: Chapter 30: Bathtub and Pillow Talk

The steamforged bath was, quite honestly, a piece of engineering genius.

Lone didn't know all that much about the intricacies of steamforging just yet. He'd barely even begun to learn the basics from Wilbur but with what little knowledge he did have, he could identify this masterpiece for what it was.

'I wonder how much magic there is in steamforging? None at my level but surely it's required to make mini suns and bathtubs like this, right?' Lone thought. 'You can only get so far with steam power, after all.'

To describe the bathtub it had a large waterfall-like stream coming out of a thin copper bar at the ceiling, just above the foot end of the tub. Right below that was a small drain that was always open.

Somehow, the machinery in the bathtub's walls perfectly regulated both the volume and temperature of the water like a very fancy fountain of some kind.

Lone had no idea if baths like this existed on Earth. He sure as hell didn't own one in his tiny apartment but he'd make it a mission to introduce them to that planet if he ever returned.

Not that he wanted to or even really planned to, but he saw the possibility of it in both his free unique skill slots and in some of Soph and Sophie's still sealed skills like Void Walking.

'Speaking of returning and of Sophie...' Lone glanced over his shoulder at the door to the bedroom. 'It's been about... 35-minutes? Either she's asleep or she's been watching me with Mana Sensing and is getting more and more pissed off.'

He groaned lightly and then slowly stood up, perfectly clean as a whistle now. 'Damn this bath for being so perfect. I was sure some of those bloodstains would need some deep-scrubbing to get out of my hair and my tail fur...'

He spent another 10-minutes slowly drying himself off with a couple of towels. When that was done, he grabbed some loose trousers reminiscent of track-suit bottoms from his Dimensional Storage. nove(l)bi(n.)com

He slipped them on and then opened the door. 'Mmhmm... Still awake. Well, I can't exactly blame her nor be upset. It shows how much she cares... also how much she's upset.'

Lone wordlessly approached the bed and sat down next to Sophie. A few seconds of silence passed before he said, "So... did Breena and Kyuubi make it home okay?"

Not too long ago, in the bedroom part of their suite.

"What's taking him so long?" Sophie whispered to herself while she watched Lone just laze in the bathtub in the other room.

'Maybe he's being careful? Blood in the floof is never good,' Soph suggested with what she thought was both a valid and helpful observation.

Sophie rolled her eyes. 'You are just as big of an issue as he is, Soph. You enable him to act as he does. Stop being such a doormat and perhaps he would actually act sensibly for once.'

She felt Soph tensing up in her mind.

With a small sigh, she thought, 'It is like the fool wishes to die. What brain-addled simpleton accepts a rage-fuelled duel with someone two ranks higher than themselves? A monster we could forgive perhaps. Most lack intelligence but a sapient, thinking, conscious being? People that powerful know of skills and battle habits. They know how to properly engage beyond mere instincts. Lone will die if this continues. You must be on our side in this, Soph.'

'B-But he's really h-hard to kill and he likes fighting...' Soph protested, admittedly, a bit weakly.

'This! This is what we mean! He is not a child but that does not mean we should avoid scolding him for acting like one! He will die and where will that leave us? We are linked to him. More than just by bonds of love, our very being relies on him. When he levels, so, too, do we. When he ranks up, so, too, do we. Beyond mere needs of lust and affection, we cannot let him die foolishly to maintain some semblance of pointless pride!' Sophie yelled at her meeker self.

She immediately felt a tinge of regret when Soph didn't reply but instead started sobbing softly. 'Ha-ah... We just need him to know it is not only his life he gambles with. And we will not let him off until he understands the value of his own existence, fleeting as he may feel it is.'

Not a moment later she saw with that extra perception of hers that Lone was getting out of the bathtub.

"Refusing the duel," Sophie answered. "It would have been as simple as that. And if your childish pride demanded a fight then all you needed to do was kill him. We will hear no arguments from you until you at least explain the full situation to us."

She looked straight into his multicoloured eyes and said, "We love you, Lone. Deeply. As much as we love Soph, even."

She brought one of her small hands up to his face and caressed his cheek lightly. "So please tell us why. Why did a B-ranked dwarf want to kill you and why did you let him try?"

Sophie watched as a complicated expression crossed Lone's face. 'He is doing that thing where he thinks too much before speaking. He should just tell us... What is there to hesitate about?'

"Well," Lone finally said, "to put it simply, the guy was the only survivor of the adventurer group that took the council's request to search for Urd Grun. They found it but it wasn't anything like how it is when Darkness summons me. It was chock-full of monsters, powerful monsters at that. The entire company of dwarves died except for him."

Sophie nodded slowly, inadvertently rubbing her forehead against his. "We see. This dwarf blamed you since the council's request came from your information."

"Right. The cunt bashed me across the head when I got home and knocked me out cold. I woke up in the guild surrounded by pissed-off locals and he was demanding a duel. I tried to refuse, y'know?" Lone claimed. "He refused my refusal so I kind of... well, I thought I'd show that I can't be bullied quite as easily as your regular D-ranker."

Sophie narrowed her eyes. "You should have murdered him."

Lone shook his head. "I don't want to kill thinking talking beings pointlessly. I did more than enough of that in Milindo."

"The man attacked you. He is no child about to be tortured before your very own eyes," Sophie protested. 'Lone, you are such an idiot at times. That dwarf did not deserve your mercy.'

"Yes, he did and yes, he isn't, but I've decided to give him a second chance. If I had used Mental Destruction on him who knows how poorly the guild and the council as a whole would have reacted?" Lone questioned. "Poorly is my best bet."

Sophie looked confused. "We don't understand. Why do you care? This is not our home, Lone. We are staying here briefly to relax, are we not? We think it is high time we leave if you are so afraid of political repercussions for killing a man who so blatantly wishes for your own death."

He seemed to consider her words seriously, a good sign Sophie felt.

"Maybe you're right. I'm not as jaded as you though. I haven't exactly been chased across a world for hundreds of years then treated like you were when you were finally caught. I haven't killed a god either," he said with a charming smile and a short chuckle. "Even if two live inside of me now."

"No, you haven't, so perhaps you should listen to someone who has. All people die at one point or another. Even us. We have no doubts whatsoever that eventually Soph and we shall cease to be, Immortality skill or not," Sophie replied. "Killing that dwarf would have been a mercy in our eyes. He sounds lost already."

"Maybe... Y'know, I'm really glad you're not shouting at me," Lone laughed. "I was pretty worried you'd act as furious as you were on the streets."

Sophie blushed a little. "You are no longer covered in blood and we are simply discussing the matter. We are not unreasonable. You must, however, promise to us that should something like this ever happen to us again, you will kill your attacker. If you do not, we will do it for you."

"Can we compromise?" Lone suggested. "I'd rather not become an arrogant young master killing everyone who tries to glock me in the face, deserved or not."

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "We are listening."

"How about I just get so powerful I can afford to actually give everyone I meet a second chance without worrying if doing so would be harmful to me or mine?" Lone asked.

Sophie sighed faintly. "Fine. To that, we can agree. Until then though, clean up after yourself where possible. The only lives we value are Soph's and yours. We will not lose them easily."

"Haha," Lone chuckled and then kissed her forehead. "Fair enough."

The host has developed the passive skill [Persuasion].

The host has developed the passive skill [Charm Resistance].

Sophie stared blankly. "Ha-ah... of course we did."