My little gathering mission wrapped up without a single hitch. With the harpies looking out from the air, the three ogre girls protecting me, Grande keeping watch from the base, and the golem turrets protecting us, it was hard to imagine there was anything that could pose a threat to our party.
“Did we even need to be here?”
“Our mission ended without us liftin’ a finger.”
“Let’s just say we were the last line of defense.”
The ogre girls each offered their thoughts on the matter. They didn’t have to wield their weapons even once.
I mean, isn’t it better that things were nice and safe?
“I think that’s about enough for today.”
“Aye.”
By the end of it, our bounty consisted of a ton of stone, clay, dirt, wood, humus, plus all the bits and pieces from the monsters that attacked us. Thanks to my crafting skills, even the nastiest monster meat could be turned into perfectly edible food, so my provisions had quietly multiplied without me meaning to.
No worries! With my abilities, I could turn disgusting goblin gristle into steaks and hamburger patties!
“Did you get lots of gems this time too?” Bela asked.
“Yeah. And a decent amount of metals to boot. Want me to dump the raw ore out on the table again like before?”
“Totally!” she said, eyes sparkling and nose flaring. She didn’t care much for jewelry, but she loved seeing gemstones piled up in a sparkling mountain.
“I swear…” Tozume muttered, rolling her eyes.
“I don’t wanna take any! I just wanna look at a mountain of ’em is all!”
“I really don’t mind giving you a bunch if you want some,” I offered with a shrug.
The main goal of this trip was gathering practical resources like stone, metal, lumber, dirt, and clay—not luxuries like gems or raw ore. The jewels were just bonus loot, good for selling or trading later. Sure, I could use them to make more gleaming magic jewels, but I already had more than enough of those.
“Good work out there. The bath is ready for you,” Riviera said, stepping out to meet me. She was truly a perfect maid. Although technically speaking, she was a royal guard. Just one who looked good greeting me in maid attire.
“Thanks a bunch. I think I’ll take a dip then.”
After running around the foot of the mountain digging up rocks, stones, and dirt, I was caked in dust and sweat. A chance to wash off and soak sounded perfect.
“But before that…”
I set up a golem workbench in an open area and started tossing in glass, metal, and a few spare machine parts. With a few quick adjustments, I queued up the crafting order for a new project—an astronomical telescope. By the time I got out of the bath, it should be ready.
“Whatcha making?” Bela asked, peeking over my shoulder.
“You’ll see after dinner. We might get to see something cool.”
Bela tilted her head and regarded me with a puzzled expression,, but I just grinned. No spoilers.
“All right, I’m gonna go take a bath.”
“Take your time. We’ll handle dinner.”
“Hmm? I can cook for myself, you know.”
“Since you took care of dinner yesterday, it’s our turn today. Besides, we brought all this food with us,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Ah, good point. Okay, I’ll leave it to you, then.”
Right, right. All those boxes Aqual had insisted on hauling were filled with food because she didn’t trust my cooking, but maybe that was for the best? I didn’t know where Riviera and Gerda stood as far as cooking was concerned, but if they were meant to cook for Aqual in the first place, they probably knew what they were doing.
“Fair enough. Then bath it is!”
“It’s nice getting to soak properly, even out in the field,” Tozume said.
“Normally, we’re stuck in our armor for days, and even if there’s water nearby, we don’t get to bathe or anything. It’s too dangerous,” Shemel added.
“Yeah,” Bela said with a grimace. “You never know what’s lurkin’ under the surface.”
Shemel and the others chatted idly as they followed me into the bath, talking about the kind of problems adventurers ran into out in the wild. Judging by the way they slipped into the water beside me like it was the most natural thing in the world, they fully intended for us to bathe together. Not that I minded, of course.
“You can’t even bathe out there?” I asked.
“Not safely,” Shemel said. “There could be poisonous fish, leeches, parasites and monsters hiding under the water.”
“It’s fine if you know the watering hole is safe, but there’s no guarantee,” Tozume added.
“Oh, but if you’ve got a mage who can use water magic, you’re all set,” Bela said. “Still, when you’ve got to ration drinking water, you really can’t be wasting the stuff on washing up.”
“Huh. I see…”
That gave me an idea. I got the feeling that if we could make a portable magic tool that produced clean water for people, it would sell like crazy. Adventurers, merchants, anyone traveling out in the wild would want one. I smelled cash in the air and decided to talk with R&D about developing this kind of magic tool.
Once airboards became more commonplace, travel time would drastically shrink, but for now, logistics relied on carriages drawn by horses and beasts of burden. Those animals needed more water and food than people did, which took up a lot of carriage space, especially for all that water. If I could develop a small, efficient, water-supply magic tool, merchants could carry more goods instead of water.
Obviously, the initial cost would be a bit high, but in the long run, the profits would more than make up for it. We just had to try to keep it at a reasonable price. That said, even if it was still too expensive for average citizens, there were still plenty of practical ways we could use them. The positive impact on transport efficiency alone would take a huge logistical burden off of things.
“…Hmm?”
I blinked. I was suddenly soaking in hot water. My back and the sides of my head were pressed into something incredibly soft as someone—undoubtedly one of the ogre girls—was holding me from behind. “Ah, you came to?”
“You went all quiet, so we figured something might’ve happened to you.”
“You really are one weird guy,” Shemel added, grinning.
Wait—what?
While I’d been mentally hatching a plan for a magic tool that could produce water, the ogre girls had apparently pulled me into the bath. Weird, I’d completely blacked out in thought without realizing it.
“How rude,” I said. “I was just lost in my thoughts a little.”
“I think it’s weirder that you didn’t notice getting undressed and put into the bath,” Tozume commented.
“It’s not that I didn’t notice. I just didn’t mind. I trust you.”
I was confident I wouldn’t let that happen if a stranger tried to do the same thing. Probably.
“You trust us!” Bela beamed.
“Even though we’re basically thugs with adventurer jobs,” Shemel said with a chuckle.
“Oh, please. Don’t try to act like a baddie now. It’s way too late for that,” I shot back.
Shemel and I went way back, after all. She might’ve acted rough around the edges, but she was one of the most considerate and responsible people I knew.
“Oh, shut it. This is what you get for saying that!”
“Aaaah, nooo! Don’t take him!!!”
Before I could react, Shemel pulled me out of Bela’s grasp and crushed me against her chest. Painfully so. The sensation assaulting my face was spectacular and all, but I couldn’t breathe. I tapped her arm in surrender.
“Buaaah! You girls treat me like a doll even though I’ve got a pretty standard build,” I said between gasps for air.
“That’s ogres and humans for ya,” Tozume said. Her single golden eye glowed fiery red and was fixed on me as she fidgeted in place.
Yeah, no. That look meant trouble.
Shemel, don’t you dare pass me over to Tozume. I think my build is to her liking, and she’ll lose all self-control.
“Let’s get out of the bath before Tozume loses it completely,” Shemel said. “It’s startin’ to look dangerous in here.”
“E-erk… No it’s not. I’m fine,” Tozume protested.
“Tell us that when you’re not breathin’ so heavily. Feel free to get out. I’ll hold down the fort here,” Bela shot back.
“Fine, fine… I swear, what’s the rush? Though I suppose our little princess wouldn’t like it if we got carried away.”
“Hey, uh, you really don’t have to carry me out,” I said.
Too late. Shemel carried me straight out of the bath in her arms. Not only that, she dried my hair and body, then dressed me from head to toe.
Was it just me, or were these girls confusing me for a child or something?