Volume 8 - CH 14

Chapter 14 – Unexpected Events and Hot Springs

The first deposit has been discovered, and my excitement is skyrocketing. And there is a possibility of gold. A golden tea room is no longer a dream. …I’ve never had tea before, so it might be fun to create something like a certain lord’s room.

[T/n: Probably referring to Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s Golden Tea Room.]

“Speaking of which, we don’t have a map of the caves, so how do we find the deposit?”

“Well, you will need a map eventually, but for now, just make a big scratch on the side of the mineral deposit and at the entrance to the passage if it is a room, and remember the number of deposits you found.”

Well, that makes sense. I’ll probably do a more detailed survey later, so why not start with a rough idea?

“I understand. Thank you, Alessia-san.”

We scratched the area near the depository and the entrance to the main passage and moved on to the next location. Well, it was hard to find because of my low Luck stat. Marina found another one, and Carla-san found one too. I want to find one too.

I continued my search without giving up and finally found a deposit. There was a thick white streak where the ant had once stored food. There is a fine silver glitter mixed in, so there might be a possibility of getting silver?

I was overjoyed at my own discovery. I was a little embarrassed, but I couldn’t contain my joy.

………………

It took us a whole day to get back to the entrance of the cave. We found seven deposits. One deposit looked like gold, one looked like silver, and the remaining five were likely to yield some kind of metal, although we would not know what was in them until we mined them and checked them carefully.

It seems that the deposits are often mixed with different metals, and if all goes well, we may be able to get most of the metals. We will be lucky to get gold, silver, copper, and iron.

It would be a shame not to know more about metals when it comes to this. I’m sure I could learn about the fantasy metals of this world, but I have no idea about alloys and such. I wish there were books on alloys and other geeky stuff in the Castle library.

“Let’s go, Wataru-san. I need a hot spring bath.”

While I was thinking about it, Alessia-san called out to me.

“That sounds good. Shall we go?”

I had taken a bath at the Hideaway, but a hot spring is different. My tired body longs for a hot spring.

When we returned to the rock bath with excitement, there was a shocking sight…

“…What is this? It’s terribly unpleasant.”

“Yes… Are they trying to take revenge on us?”

Alessia-san seems to agree. It’s deeply unpleasant. The women also radiate an angry mood.

“Gugyaa, gyagyagyagya.”

When our eyes meet, they give us a mocking look, followed by an uncomfortable laugh. There are more than 10 goblins soaking in the hot springs and hanging around the rock baths. And they are in the mood for a feast, devouring the raw meat of some animal.

We certainly didn’t fence them in, and we had no intention of monopolizing them, but their attitude was not nice. Next time I’ll ask Felicia to put up some barriers.

“Is that guy in the middle the one we caught the other day?”

“Maybe. It has a bruise on its face where I hit it.”

If that’s what Marina-san, the person who caught it, says, then there can be no mistake. I’m glad it didn’t turn into the Goblin King and come back for revenge after it escaped, although that would have been unpleasant.

“I wonder if the experiment taught it to soak in hot water?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. But I assure you, I won’t let any of them escape. And I won’t kill them in the hot springs.”

As soon as Alessia-san said these words, a tremendous amount of murderous intent swelled up from the ladies. I have never seen such a deadly group of women before.

The goblins, perhaps reacting to the murderous atmosphere, began to make a commotion. They rushed out of the hot spring with wooden sticks in their hands. No, I know it’s hard to fight, but if you come out of the hot spring, you’ll be killed instantly.

Besides, they are soaking in the hot spring in their tattered clothes. It’s a good way to get on our nerves. No, it’s better than coming out completely naked. I don’t want to see a naked goblin.

The goblin used in the last experiment giggles and hit the ground with a wooden stick. It’s probably saying, “How dare you do this to me last time? I’m going to kill you.” I guess.

“Let’s go.”

At the same time as Alessia-san’s words, an attack from a member of Girasole comes in. …It’s absolutely overkill, to the point of stupefaction. There is no mercy. Ilma-san burns the dismembered goblins to clean them up.

The goblins probably had a lot to say about being beaten and soaked in boiling water, but the way they did, it was not good enough. The goblins were even exterminated, but they shouldn’t have come to us for a fight.

“Oh no, I was looking forward to the hot springs, but I don’t want to go in after this.”

Ohhhh, Alessia-san, how can you say that when you’re looking forward to it?

“Wataru-san, what is it?”

“N-no, it’s nothing. It can’t be helped. Should we clean it up?”

“Yes, that’s right. If we don’t clean it well, we won’t be able to enjoy the hot spring comfortably.”

I didn’t drill a drainage hole in the rock bath. But I was not sure what to do because if I drilled a hole by myself, it would break. Let’s pump out the water this time and ask a carpenter for the hole.

Annoyingly, the goblins had thrown the bones and pelts of the animals they had eaten into the first rock bath, which was too hot to enter.　

Don’t they understand that the hot water will flow into the rock bath they’re in? Well, it’s an effective way to harass us because we have to clean the two rock baths.

We use a channel to take the hot water to another place and pump the hot water out of the rock baths. It’s not only a nuisance, but it’s also hard because we came back with the intention of taking a bath in the hot spring.

It would be frustrating if I didn’t feel relieved when I saw Rimu, Fuu-chan, and Beni-chan playing at the rock bath.

After scrubbing out the hot water, I wash the bath with the deck brush and detergent provided on the Hideaway. I thought the cleaning tools provided on the ship were useless because I could clean the bathtub on the Hideaway just by thinking about it, but they come in handy in unexpected places.

After a thorough wash, the detergent is rinsed away with water. After rinsing clean, Claretta-san performs a series of purifications. When Rimu saw that Purification was being used, he said he would help as well and used Purification. How cute. After a good cleaning, the channel was removed, and the hot spring was placed in the rock pool.　

“Thank you for your hard work. Let’s have a drink at the Hideaway until the hot springs fill up.”

“Hmm, yes. I’m really tired, so I’d like to take it easy until the hot springs fill up.”

Just in case, I asked Felicia to set up a barrier, and we moved to the Hideaway. If the goblins are soaking in the hot springs again while we’re resting, we’ll have a mountain hunt on our hands.

I choose a canned coffee, and the ladies also choose their favorite drink and take a break.

“I never thought I’d become an A-rank adventurer and get swayed by some goblins.”

Alessia-san smiled bitterly as she told us about this time. It’s true that defeating goblins is an F-rank adventurer’s wish. It would be different if a king or general came out, but this time she was surprised because she was irritated by an ordinary goblin. It’s kind of grim.

“Goblins are not to be underestimated, are they?”

“Yes, they are. If it were a direct fight, there would be no problem, but I did not expect this kind of revenge we got this time.”

The goblins probably came for revenge with the intention of killing us, but they didn’t expect that the most damaging thing to us was the fact that they were soaking in the hot springs.

After the hot spring water filled up, we returned to our room and changed into our hot spring clothes. We were in a hurry, so we were in a better mood when we went into the hot spring.

After the barrier was removed, I called for a rubber boat and poured the hot spring water over myself before soaking in the hot spring.

“Ah, hot springs are great, after all.”

The women also come to the hot spring one after another to take a bath. It’s a good sight, no matter how many times I see it. I want it all to be mine.

“Phew, now that I’ve taken my time, I feel even better.”

Alessia-san seems to agree. It’s the same logic as when you’re hungry; the food tastes better.

“I agree. Even unpleasant events seem to melt away in the hot water. So healing the body and soul is what this hot spring is all about.”

I think I just said something good.

“Huh? Oh… that may be so.”

Alessia-san, why have you become so polite? Did I miss something? Somehow, the atmosphere became awkward, so I hugged Rimu, who was floating nearby and redirected the conversation.

“Dorothea-san, is Beni-chan having problems with the hot springs?”

“Yes, he says it feels good.”

He has no problem with the magma and feels good in the hot springs… He doesn’t seem to mind the cooler air, or maybe he’s just resistant to heat?

“That’s good to know.”

I digress. I just wanted to say something nice, but that was an unexpected reaction.

“So, Wataru-san, what are your plans for the future?”

Alessia-san also forgot about the earlier atmosphere and changed the subject.

“Well, I need to tell the Dark Elves about the hot springs and the mineral deposits and get them to check them out, so I guess we should go back to the Dark Elf village once. It would be faster if we could bring the village chief and someone who can use earth magic with us.”　　　

“Oh, that’s true. We also found some mineral deposits, so it will be more convenient if we build a village here.”

That’s right. You can mine metals in the caves, and when you get tired, you can always go to the hot springs. The only problem is that you have to cross a mountain to get to the village, but it’s not a big mountain, so if we build a road to the river, it should be acceptable.

Especially if you can get precious metals, they will be useful for daily life. If I think about it as a whole, it would be a very positive thing.

“Yes, it depends on the metal to be mined, but if they can find iron, they will be able to provide their own tools. It seems that they will be able to live completely on their own in the not-too-distant future”.

“Fufu, that sounds good. Shall we go to the village tomorrow?”

“Well, I’m not sure what’s going to happen, so I want to stock up on hot springs first, so we’ll leave the day after tomorrow.”

“You want to stock up on hot springs?”

“Yes. When I bring them back, they will be warm forever. We will be able to have hot springs whenever we want. I’m going to enjoy the hot spring Jacuzzi on the balcony of the Castle overlooking the ocean.”

I’m just imagining it, but a hot spring Jacuzzi overlooking the ocean should be pretty nice. Let’s enjoy it with a can of beer.

“That’s good. That’s a good idea. Wataru-san, can we ask you to let us join you?”

“Yes, I plan to stock up a large amount, so it’s always okay.”

“Thank you, Wataru-san.”

“No, no, no. Come to think of it; you haven’t been drinking lately. Would you like to have a drink today since I am only going to stock up on hot spring water tomorrow? We also found some mineral deposits, so let’s celebrate.”

The women cheered. We toasted with beer. The rest is just fun and frolic.

We were tired from exploring the caves and cleaning the rock baths, and the hot springs had improved our circulation, so we got drunk quickly. I save my alcohol to watch the women in a mess.

I thought about serving Japanese sake, but I thought it would be better if it were easy to drink, so I served chilled champagne and white wine.

The wine and champagne went down like water. I apologize to the person who made the wine and champagne for the way I drank it. But they do a good job.

Holding a bottle of alcohol, I poured it around. This action gave me a good reason to move freely around the rock bath and approach the ladies.

The women, who had become merry with alcohol, laughed happily, washed each other’s bodies, hugged each other, and made a lot of fun and noise. Of course, the yukata is disturbed by all this merrymaking. It’s a wonderful thing.

“Thank you, Wataru-san.”

Dorothea-san, who had been hugging Beni-chan, suddenly thanked me. Her eyes were watering. Oh, she started to rub her cheeks against Beni-chan. She’s completely drunk.

“What’s wrong all of a sudden?”

“I’m talking about Beni-chan. I was jealous of you because I couldn’t tame any slime since I acquired the taming skill. I’m so happy to have met Beni-chan. Thank you, Wataru-san.”

She’s been waiting for a long time. She must be bursting with joy. I didn’t set out to find Beni-chan this time, did I? …But, well, it’s okay. I’ll take it as a sign of appreciation that I did my part to make a good impression.

“You’re welcome, but it was fate that you met Beni-chan. God made it happen because you worked so hard, right?”

I sounded like a fatalist.

“Fate! That’s right. Beni-chan and I were meant to meet, weren’t we?

She stood up, lifted Beni-chan with both hands, and began to spin around and around. The combination of tiredness, joy, hot spring baths, and alcohol had made her look a little strange.

But she was drunk, so she spun around, dizzy and swaying. Is she all right? But her breasts are also swollen, and when she turns her back to me, her buttocks are right in front of me. The robe is stuck to her butt, and it’s great.

As I had hoped, happy glances occurred frequently. The fact that they’re so open and promiscuous is proof that we’ve become good friends. I leave the hot spring after thoroughly enjoying the hot spring and the ecchi sight.

I asked Felicia to put up another barrier, returned to the Hideaway, and jumped on Ines and Felicia as I wanted to. Tomorrow is our day off, right?