CH 25

The capital of Greige was closer to the beast country than Garonce, and far away from Gromble. But they did not have a specific destination, to begin with, and there was more meaning in purifying places that were well populated.

That was what Maki and Chiharu told themselves, but deep down, they wanted to go to the capital in order to eat meat and snacks while selling off their mermaid scales. The incredibly suspicious mystery man had straight up disappeared in Garonce, much to their surprise. However, as if in exchange, they could always see a bird person hiding nearby since that afternoon, of course, with a pouch around their waist. And the two felt conflicted.

Furthermore, they had somehow found themselves traveling with Kaider and Nyran again. Every area was purified of miasma when they stayed, but there was no end to it either, so they decided to only stay one day in each place before moving again.

And there was no guarantee that their wigs wouldn’t move.

“It’s so annoying having to avoid people’s gaze. Because you don’t want them to notice the color of your eyes.”

“Yeah, you just have to insist that its brown.”

“You have it easy, Chiharu. You can play the useless little sister and people don’t talk to you so much. But when it comes to me…”

“Kaider, right? He really likes to talk to you, Maki.”

“If you only knew half of it.”

“I’m enjoying myself thanks to your sacrifice.”

“Hmph.”

“Now, now. We will be going to the hot spring town of Corail tomorrow. And you know what that means, don’t you?”

“Hehe. I’ve stocked up already. And we will finally be able to wash our hair.”

Well, one was hardly going to get drunk enough to pass out with apple wine. But Chiharu was still worried about something.

“There is a problem though.”

“Huh?”

“Won’t we be in separate baths?”

“Oh, right.”

“It would be fine if we were alone, but knowing Kaider, he might say that you should go with them.

“No. No way.”

Maki shivered.

***

Chiharu had been looking at Maki in lazy amusement then, but now she looked worried.

“Norfe can come with us. Chouze, we will stand guard by the entrance, so wash up in a hurry and come back out.”

“What? What the? We won’t be able to relax at all.”

Maki grumbled.

“You’re a man, aren’t you? Wash up, take a dip and be done with it.”

Kaider said dispassionately.

“Are you serious? It’s a hot spring. You take your time soaking in it, get out once to cool off, and then soak and relax in it again.”

Maki said with exasperation.

“Well, the boy is right. Hot springs are meant to be enjoyed leisurely.”

The innkeeper offered.

“Also, I have a scar on my back, so I don’t want to go in with anyone.”

This was an excuse that they had come up with together.

“Do you think us Adventurers are not covered with scars? A man shouldn’t care about that.”

“That’s not what I mean. And I am not such an old man to be able to see it like that.”

“O…ld…man…”

“Kaider, how old are you?”

“I am only 120!!”

“And Nyran?”

“25.”

“See? I’m grateful that you want to guard my sister, but not if you’re going to rush her. She won’t be able to relax.”

Kaider looked towards Chiharu with a sad expression.

“I would like to take my time in there.”

His shoulders slumped.

The hot spring that bubbled out of the mountain depths, flowed slowly down levels carved into the rocks until it reached the river below. As there was a lot of water, the midway levels had the most comfortable temperature. And here there were partitions that allowed them to be used separately.

However, the locals did not care for these partitions, and men and women and families used the baths together. Those who liked hotter water would go to the higher levels, and those who preferred it cooler would go down.

“Its normal for local families to go in together, so you two can go on ahead.”

Said the innkeeper.

“But, we’re 14 and 12.”

“Oh, but you are still children. Besides, the locals will leave you alone if there are families or women there already. Now, I wouldn’t advise that you go late at night, but if you go to the top baths early in the morning, you can watch the sunrise.”

They were sure that you were allowed to drink at 14 and 12 in Garonce. Sometimes they were treated like children, and other times they would be treated as adults. Maki wondered at just how lax things were here.

But Chiharu’s eyes were sparkling.

It couldn’t be helped. They would have to give up drinking wine in the hot spring and make do with a toast of cider in the morning light.

And so they didn’t raise any more arguments that night and quietly bathed alone. Then, while it was still dark, they snuck out of the inn. They followed the path up the mountain for 10 minutes until they reached the recommended spot. Thankfully, there was no one there.

They held their bottles of cider as they relaxed in the hot water and stared out as the sky grew brighter. They were close to the place where the water gushed from, and so it was quite hot. After a while, they would sit outside and allow their bodies to cool off as they drank. They felt like they had been released from everything, like they were free inside and out.

“Well, we should get out soon.”

“Yeah.”

Just then.

“…I thought I heard Norfe’s voice from over here.”

It was Kaider.

“Wait a minute, Kaider. You worry too much.”

“But it is too dangerous for children to be alone.”

“You should respect Norfe’s wishes a little…”

The locals would leave them alone. But people that weren’t locals?

“Ah…”

“Ah…”

Both of them had washed and dried their hair yesterday, so they had it tied up to keep it dry. Just now, they were sitting on the edge of the bath as they were considering getting out. Kaider and Nyran’s eyes went first to their hair and were just about to go down to their pale bodies.

“Ahhh!”

The smaller one screamed.

“S-sorry.”

The two frantically turned around and hurried away.

“Maki, let’s get out while we can.”

“What?”

“Maki! Hurry up and get changed. We’ll return to the inn from the other side.”

“The other side?”

“Hurry!”

Chiharu rushed Maki into changing, and they quickly made their way down the other side. When they were sure that no one was watching, they put on their wigs. Maki was still in shock.

“Maki, they probably didn’t realize that it was us. It’ll be fine if we pretend.”

“Oh, yeah. Pretend?”

“Yeah. We weren’t wearing the wigs, so we would have been seen as two women.”

“Yeah, yeah you’re right.”

Maki was still not in control of herself.

“Come on! It’s not like either of us are that memorable while naked!”

“Hey, now. I wouldn’t go that far.”

She was recovered enough to make a rebuttal!

“Alright, you’re fine now.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“So, we’ll just act like we enjoined a morning bath. Let’s pretend to be excited as we return. And of course, we didn’t meet anyone.”

“No one.”

Now, time for some acting.