“Alrighty, next order of business~” Digging up where the construction site would be made it so that the groundwork could start as soon as possible. Ristia followed this up by using a search spell a few thousand meters underground and checking for any underground water sources or hot springs. She pierced her way underground, proceeding to thrust pipes made of orichalcum in that very location. If a scholar had witnessed what she was doing, they would probably go into a frenzy, yelling, “You made plumbing pipes out of a legendary metal?!” But, in Ristia’s mind, the material was nothing more than extremely resilient non-rusting metal. She devised a setup wherein they could draw hot spring water or regular water by installing a magic stone-powered pump. Of course, she didn’t forget to run the hot water through the rooms, as well, to supply the mini hot springs she promised.
“Next... a sewage system.” Ristia then connected the pipes in the locations she marked on her blueprints of where the sewage would drain, and then she installed a magic stone-powered filtration system that would process the unclean water and deposit it into a nearby lake. The pipes were, of course, also made out of orichalcum, and if that same hypothetical scholar from before found out, then they would probably have had tears in their eyes. “Using a legendary metal as sewage pipes? Blasphemy...” But, true to form, that wasn’t an issue to Ristia. As such, Ristia finished up her work lickity-split and took a breather to look at the children’s reactions, but she was met with blank stares all around. Apparently, they were only able to visually confirm the fact that she had dug up the foundation, but a lot of what she did was out of their sight, so they couldn’t wrap their heads around what had just happened.
“Director, what did you just do?”
“Um, well, I pulled out an underground water source and a hot spring.”
“Underground water and... a hot spring?”
These children, born and raised in the orphanage, were so far removed from society that they probably didn’t know what went behind making a hot spring.
Ristia gave the children a comforting look as she went into detail. “You see, I took what we call a ‘non-volcanic hot spring,’ which is hot water trapped deep underground, and I brought it up to the surface with magic.” It was a detailed explanation that the children only understood half of, but they seemed to understand that magic was amazing, and their Director was awesome for being able to use it. Everyone gazed upon Ristia with reverence in their tiny eyes.
Ristia thought to herself, Go ahead, tiny ones! Now’s your time to call me “Big Sis!” But they looked up to her as the director of their orphanage, so regardless of all the amazing stunts Ristia pulled, the chances of them calling her their Big Sis were slim to none—chances that Ristia was naturally oblivious to.
“So, hey, Director? Real hot springs are basically big bathtubs, right?” asked the red-headed girl, Ayane, her purple eyes alight with hope. She was still only nine years old, but she was the precocious tyke with the most knowledge of the real world behind Maria. Judging from what she had said earlier about baths and her question just now, she must have come to the conclusion that a hot spring meant warm baths.
“You guessed right, Ayane, my dear~ I’m making a bathing place for you all,” Ristia said, pointing to the place that would serve as the bathhouse as she explained the recessed area would be the actual bath, and there would be a changing room nearby... but as she did, Ayane’s expression grew dimmer.
“Huh? Is something wrong with that?”
“Oh... no. It’s just that, um, I’m wondering if this is a bath just for you, or not.”
“What? Oh, no, this is for everyone to enjoy.”
“...Really?” The child seemed surprised for whatever reason. While Ristia couldn’t guess why Ayane and the other children were so surprised upon hearing that, she looked back at them with a reassuring smile.
“When I’m finished with it, let’s all take a dip in the hot spring together.”
“‘All together’ meaning... just girls?”
“Oh, I meant everyone who’s here.”
The second that Ristia uttered those words, the faces of the boys in the crowd turned beet red, and the girls started to panic. Incidentally, this wasn’t a problem for reasons so readily apparent. In fact, if it were just the children, it wouldn’t have been a problem at all. They’d never had a real bath before, with their only means of bathing being wiping down their bodies with a pail of water, so they never had the luxury of separating the boys and the girls. That was where Ristia fit into the equation. She had the grace and beauty of a nobleman’s daughter. The thought of taking a bath with someone as lovely as Ristia naturally turned all the boys’ faces flushed and inevitably had the girls panicking, as well. For the girls, their behavior didn’t stem from jealousy of Ristia, but from them disliking the idea of the Director’s beautiful and graceful nude form being exposed for all the boys to see. Ristia herself didn’t think that, thinking to herself in a carefree manner, These kids sure are precocious.
The girls picked up on Ristia’s ignorance and all shared the same thought. We’ll have to look out for Director Ristia since she’s so vulnerable. It was a group decision that would bring Ristia to tears if she heard it aloud. Afterward, Ayane and the other girls admonished Ristia, which made her promise to separate the bath into boys and girls.
As she created a personal vegetable garden in the corner of the orphanage grounds, among completing other work, the carpenters finally arrived.
“Thanks for being so patient. I’m Wood, the lead carpenter. We’re here on orders from Gratt Commerce.” One of the carpenters stepped up in front of Ristia. He was a man with a firm physique for someone in their late thirties or so that exuded an aura of leadership.
“Pleasure to meet you. I am Ristia, the person in charge of this orphanage.”
“Oh-ho... So it’s true that management of this orphanage changed hands.” His face looked oddly pensive. Ristia tilted her head in confusion, wondering if something was the matter.
“Oh, no. Not trying to be rude. The former director was a real nasty fellow. I was planning on declining this job if he was involved, but... looks like that’s not the case.”
“If you mean Former Director Georg, then he left town after telling me to take things over,” she explained, promptly lying through her teeth. Ristia was a bit of a naughty girl, so to speak.