With news of the transmigrators and Beloved delivered, Ruri took Rutile to the hot spring facility that she had built in a town in the royal capital as a change of pace. The facility had been established under Ruri’s leadership, but nowadays, she was hands-off and left operations up to the staff.
It had taken her a pretty long time to realize that a Beloved trying to start up any kind of business enterprise was a mistake in the first place. She had neither the experience or know-how to run an establishment, so that wasn’t surprising. Leaving everything to Amarna had been the right choice in the end.
The children from the slums were cheerfully working, a stark contrast to the dead eyes devoid of dreams or hope from when she’d first met them.
Amarna said the general pattern nowadays was that once the kids had acquired enough knowledge and education at the facility, they quit and found employment elsewhere. In doing so, she had been able to educate one motivated child after another.
Whether Amarna was a strict teacher or the kids had an eagerness to learn, those who worked there were acquiring customer service and clerical skills that they could be proud of no matter where they worked next.
As the person who had started this project on the spur of the moment, Ruri felt both sorry to see them go and happy to see how much those boys and girls had grown. She would be even happier if this momentum kept up and the slums ceased to be, but from her observations of her home world, she knew that it wouldn’t be that simple. Even so, all she could do was hope that as many of them were able to stand on their own feet as possible.
As Ruri watched the kids all working energetically, she couldn’t help but be amazed by the inside of the hot springs. It had been a very, very ordinary hot spring with just a pair of men’s and women’s baths, but it had eventually gained more features, like private baths.
When Ruri flagged down a nearby employee and asked him, she was told that the man formerly of the Nation of the Beast King who put in a lot of passion into designing the facility had installed a few private rooms because he wanted a place to soak without worrying about anyone watching him. Ruri had a blank stare, as this was the first she was hearing about it, but he had received permission from Amarna. There was no way she could complain since she had left Amarna in charge. Also, the rentable private rooms were all given unique designs that captured Ruri’s bath-time-loving heart, so she had even less of a reason to interject.
The private baths seemed to be by reservation only, but upon hearing that one was open, Ruri decided to go in without a moment’s hesitation. She invited Rutile to join her, but the other woman refused, saying that a bodyguard couldn’t be seen defenseless, so Ruri left her on standby outside of the room. Lynn and Kotaro were not in the mood, so they decided to wait outside too.
Though she felt a little sorry for Rutile, Ruri thoroughly enjoyed her private bath time. As she leisurely soaked in the hot water, she suddenly noticed a weird feeling in her stomach. The lower part of her abdomen felt awfully warm. It almost felt as if mana was accumulating around there. It wasn’t unpleasant at all, but it was a sensation she had never felt before.
“What could this be?” Ruri asked herself, patting her stomach but not feeling any pain or discomfort.
This was the first time it had ever happened to her, so she wondered if she should talk it over with someone but hesitated once the faces of the overprotective people around her flashed through her mind.
“I feel like they’d make a big deal out of it...”
There was no way they wouldn’t make a fuss if something happened to a Beloved’s body. Besides, Ruri was already in tune with Jade. Once in tune with a dragonkin, even human bodies become as sturdy as a dragonkin’s and less susceptible to colds and illnesses. In fact, when she’d crushed an apple-like fruit with one hand after the tuning was done, she’d been shocked by her newfound strength. She was proud of having attained such a powerful body.
“Well, whatever. I’d feel bad if I made them worry over something small like this,” she said, deciding to keep it quiet since it wasn’t causing her any pain.
She would later be severely scolded by Euclase.