“Even if we pooled our money, we’d have to work for over three months to pay the tax,” I said. “Although, the guild staffer did tell us the investigation might take up to two weeks...”
“Actually, we can earn more money than that if we really want to. The primary goal of the expedition that we just completed was to practice using our weapons and fighting as a team,” said Estelle. “We could earn more simply by hunting monsters that offer a good return on effort, and thanks to the magic bag we just acquired, we can also bring more materials back with us.”
“...I guess that makes sense.”
“In addition, taxes on valuable items can be paid in installments,” said Estelle. “There are restrictions, as that staffer warned us earlier, but if you’re a working adventurer who explores the dungeon routinely, the guild is fairly generous about permitting you whatever time you need to pay the tax.”
“Oh, really? Does that mean we don’t have to worry even if the guild can’t confirm the existence of the hidden room?”
“Yes, that’s right. We can still obtain ownership of the magic bag as long as we work hard.”
“I see. That’s good to know.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Magic bags were staple items in isekai light novels. Given how much money they cost and how hard they were to find, I didn’t want to part with the one we’d found.
Estelle laughed and smiled at my reaction. “Relax, Sai. There’s really nothing to worry about. I can pay the tax myself if it comes down to it.”
“...Are you really that rich, Estelle?”
“Rank 5 adventurers like myself can easily build up a respectable savings over time as long as we don’t waste money.”
“Really? I had no idea that the life of an adventurer was that profitable once you hit the higher ranks.”
“Mm-hmm. But expenses like equipment add up as well.”
Good weapons and armor could easily cost as much as a house, so from my point of view, they were basically luxury goods.
“...Well, I guess we can just take our time,” I said. “There’s no point in taking unnecessary risks. What should we do in the near future?”
“Let’s spend today preparing for our next expedition. Tomorrow, we can spend a day recuperating, and we’ll head back into the dungeon the day after tomorrow. Our next goal will be to clear the fifteenth floor. The battle with the two reptilas yesterday was fairly easy, so I imagine that we can also defeat the boss of the fifteenth floor without any issues...as long as your financial luck doesn’t trigger in some way, Sai.”
“If my blessing was what made the reptila in the boss room have a weapon, then I’m pretty sure it won’t trigger again.”
“I hope that’s the case,” said Estelle. “Although, actually, it might be better for us if it did trigger. Assuming this boss is comparable to the last one, then we can dispatch it using the same strategy, and a new spear could be useful either as a spare weapon for you or as a source of money.”
“I kind of want to get to the point where I can defeat the boss without relying on magic too much, but I guess you’re right.”
The boss of the fifteenth floor had almost managed to kill us, but we’d taken advantage of its weakness and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Eventually, though, we would probably run into powerful foes with no clear weaknesses, so I wanted to be capable of achieving victory the normal way.
“By the way, Estelle, do you think you could beat a normal reptila with just your sword?”
“If it were possible to ensure that it remained a one-on-one battle, then I believe I could based on how the battle against the two reptilas in the hidden room turned out.”
“Were those actually normal reptilas?”
“Well, they were certainly weaker than the armed reptila that we fought before...”
According to Estelle, her main issue as a fairly petite woman would be the reptila’s overwhelming physical strength. As long as it wasn’t armed, she could slowly whittle down its health, but if it had something like a spear and could parry her attacks, then she was fairly sure that she’d need an opening to use magic.
“My current sword would likely break if it clashed with your new spear, Sai. It’d be wonderful if I could acquire a better sword, but that won’t be easy.”
“Hmm. I guess big, heavy weapons make a big difference.”
I was pretty small compared to the average guy, so Estelle and I tended to struggle against the same kinds of opponents. Neither of us could have faced somebody as muscular as Adonix-san head-on.
“Well, I guess we can worry about that in the future. So tomorrow is a day off, huh?”
I’d had days off during my time with Adonix-san’s party, but I’d had basically nothing to do. I didn’t have anything like a gaming console to kill time with, and there was nowhere I could go to have fun. The other dudes tended to split up and go different places on their own—to temples, taverns, and brothels. The last option was the only one that had interested me, but cheap establishments were all I could have afforded, and that hadn’t sounded appealing to me, so I’d just spent my days off rolling around in my bed at the inn. I’d gotten enough physical rest, but my mind was never truly refreshed.
“How do you spend your days off, Estelle? I mostly sleep all day, so I was curious.”
“Sleeping is a perfectly valid option. I myself make sure to get plenty of sleep in order to recover from exhaustion. It would be a disaster if I made a mistake in the dungeon as a result of fatigue.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. What do you do when you’re not super tired, then?”
“I usually read books in my room or treat myself to a more expensive meal. I also spend time walking around outside. In fact, I plan to visit a bathhouse tomorrow.”
“A bathhouse? You mean the one near the dungeon entrance? But why?”
Most adventurers returned from the dungeon totally filthy, and sometimes they were covered in blood or muck too. They would definitely have drawn the ire of the normal citizens if they’d walked around town in that state, so the bathhouse existed for adventurers to clean themselves up a bit before they headed back to their inns. Adonix-san’s party had been able to wash up with the water that I created, and now Estelle had the Purification spell, so I’d never visited a bathhouse myself, but I’d heard that you only got one portable washtub’s worth of hot water. That was about the same as what you could buy at an inn, so I hadn’t imagined people visiting bathhouses on their days off.
“Oh, that’s not the one I have in mind,” said Estelle. “The one I’m planning to visit is a deluxe bathhouse.”
“A-A deluxe bathhouse? Is it expensive?”
“Somewhat, I suppose? However, it’s only called a deluxe bathhouse to differentiate it from the one near the dungeon entrance. It’s nowhere as deluxe as you might imagine from its name—commoners make use of it too.”
According to Estelle, only adventurers went to the bathhouse near the dungeon entrance, whereas the deluxe bathhouse was a place that commoners also visited from time to time.
“But I assume there are more differences than that, right?” I asked.
Could it be that there’s actually a bathhouse in this city with proper bathtubs?
“To put it simply, the difference is that the deluxe bathhouse has steam rooms,” Estelle replied. “You sweat and then wash off to feel refreshed. I can’t afford the kinds of high-end inns that have private baths, so I go to the deluxe bathhouse periodically instead.”
So I guess they don’t have the kind of bath I was hoping for. Too bad. But what’s the difference between a steam room and a sauna? I have been to saunas connected to hot springs inns back in Japan...
“Steam rooms, huh? I’m kind of interested.”
“In that case, would you like to go together, Sai?”
“...Are you really okay with me tagging along?”
Asking a girl to share a bath took a lot of courage, even if you didn’t mean it that way. I had been hoping that Estelle would invite me to tag along, but still, I had to confirm.
But she nodded and giggled. “Of course. I have no reason to refuse.”
Hell yeah! A date with a beautiful girl! This was a huge milestone in my life, but I hid my joy behind a poker face.
“In that case, I’ll take you up on your offer, Estelle. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Mm. It’s a wonderful place, so I’m sure you’ll enjoy your time there.”
Ugh. I guess I’m the only one who thinks this is a date, huh? Oh well.
★★★★★★★★★
After breakfast the next day, I headed back to my room to rest for a while. Two hours later, Estelle dropped by to pick me up. She led me to a part of the city I’d never been to before—apparently a residential district where a lot of the locals lived.