“BA HA HA HA HA! You dressed up as a man and no one noticed?” Emily exclaimed, falling about laughing.
“I wanted to disguise myself just in case,” Astrid muttered. “I thought people would be a little suspicious at least...”
“You’ve gotta show me next time.”
“Absolutely not. You’d never let me live it down.”
The two of them sat side by side in the steaming water of the public bath. Emily felt a pang of envy when Astrid stretched out her long, slender arms and legs. Astrid might not have a feminine bone in her body, but she had an incredible figure.
Just then, Nina slipped into the bath beside them.
“Ahh... It’s so warm. I feel tingly all over.”
She’d removed her glasses and taken her hair out of its braids, pinning it up on top of her head instead. Thanks to the long sleeves and full skirt she always wore, her skin was pale.
“That’ll be the minerals from the hot spring. Your skin will feel silky smooth when you get out.”
“Hot springs really are as amazing as I’d heard...”
“I just can’t get over how weird it is to see you out of your maid uniform!”
“Hey, Tien!” Astrid said. “Aren’t you getting in?”
“Chi cannot understand why anyone would soak in hot water.”
“It feels wonderful, Tien!” Nina said.
“Even you cannot convince Chi.”
“But it does—truly, it does.”
Tien looked decidedly unenthusiastic. But seeing the blissful look on Nina’s face, she cautiously dipped a hand into the water. Then, starting with her toes, she slowly lowered herself into the bath. Her tail stayed pointed straight up. Trembling a little, she kept going until she was submerged to her shoulders. A strange growling noise escaped her.
Emily sighed happily and stretched herself out. “Hot springs really are the best.”
This was their first time using the bath, and the old woman had kindly arranged for them to have it all to themselves. Dazzling sunlight danced on the water’s surface, and there was a cool breeze. The open-air bath offered a sense of release that was exactly what Emily had been dreaming of.
At long last, everything had been resolved.
The orphans now had the means and the knowledge to keep themselves fed, and the locals had rediscovered a sense of community. The change in them was, in a way, just a byproduct of the revival of the public bathhouse, but it was a relief to know that they’d look out for the orphans. Nina wouldn’t stay in Côte Sud forever, after all.
Then there’d been the problem of the resort hotel and the noble who backed it. Nina and the others couldn’t hope to challenge a person of such high rank. Emily and Astrid were sure that he had designs on the commoner neighborhood, but beyond chasing off thugs, there was nothing they could do.
Until Tien gave Emily a flash of inspiration, that is.
“The moon sees all of your misdeeds.”
As soon as Emily heard that, it was like her brain kicked into gear. That was it, she’d thought. They could use the gods.
Many of the higher-ranking nobles were deeply religious; they wouldn’t question any warning if a god delivered it. No commoner would have dared to do anything so outrageous as they did, but Emily had been reincarnated from another world, and Astrid, as an inventor, was scientifically minded. When Emily pitched the idea to Astrid, she immediately said, “Sounds good,” and that was that.
Afterward, they sneaked into the Golden Sunrise Resort to sabotage the magical pump that drew water for its baths. The device was outside, so it had been easy.
The inventors’ society then called Astrid in to fix it, allowing her to stroll into the hotel through the front door. She took a look around until she found a painting of the goddesses that suited their purposes, rigged it up with a mechanism that would spurt blood-like liquid, and they were all set.
That obviously important noble rolling up was a surprise, but still, his timing had been perfect. He hadn’t even been part of the plan. Was it mere luck? Or...
“Or maybe it really was divine intervention?” Emily said under her breath, then chuckled. “Maybe even the gods love Nina...”
“Emily? Did you say something?” Nina asked.
“Uh-uh, it’s noth— Nina?! You’re bright red!”
“Mm... I do...feel a little dizzy...”
“Wha?! Hey, Tien! Get Nina out of the bath!”
The four of them couldn’t fully escape chaos, even at a hot spring. In the end, they never had a proper day at the beach—though they wouldn’t realize that until they were in a carriage halfway back to the capital.
Around the same time, rumors were already flying among the wealthy visitors to Côte Sud.
Apparently, a certain important noble had received a message from the gods that had affected him so profoundly that he would not be returning to the resort for a while. But this noble was also known to be relentless, ambitious, the sort of man who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. Once his religious fervor cooled off, he would be back—though that would likely take a year at least.
What became of Côte Sud’s commoner neighborhood in the meantime would be up to the residents themselves to decide.