The hot spring was divided into an indoor wash area and an outdoor bath. As the building was big, so were these areas. This town was famous for its hot springs, which may have accounted for the air of luxury it exuded.
Yui chatted in the changing room as her heart pounded with excitement to get in the baths. Luckily, it seemed like they were the only visitors. Despite the size, it belonged completely to them.
“I’m so glad nobody else is here!” said Yui.
“And I’m sure Claira will have an easier time relaxing here since she’ll be able to let down her guard,” agreed Silica. The two of them weren’t worried about what was happening outside since they knew Lloyd was there to guard them. Not only did his detection magic pick up on signals from every direction, it could even distinguish between humans and demons. It was a cheat code, and with that spell watching over them, they had no need to worry about any potential invasions.
Plus, Cross and Daggers were standing on watch outside just in case not all of their enemies were demons. With such fortified protection, they had no need to worry about an external attack.
But the inside was a different story. If their foes disguised themselves as fellow bathers, they could easily invade. At the same time, Yui, Silica, and Claira wouldn’t be able to fully rent out the bath without explaining their situation, and they couldn’t let the establishment know that Claira was the second imperial princess. Thus, they had been incredibly lucky that there were no other visitors.
“Maybe it’s ’cause we’re here so early?”
“Well, I suppose it’s still the afternoon. We’d typically be working around this time as well.”
Silica and Yui chatted as they stripped down. That’s when they suddenly realized Claira hadn’t joined the conversation. Yui glanced over and noticed she seemed reluctant to disrobe. “What’s wrong?”
“Well, um...”
“We’re all ladies here. There’s nothing to worry about.” Silica and Yui offered kind, encouraging words, but that wasn’t what Claira was worried about.
“Well, um... I was locked away for a long time, so I’m quite gaunt. Without that potion, I wouldn’t even be able to walk properly.” Claira’s worries were centered on her emaciated frame. Naturally, nobody would enjoy gazing upon a body atrophied from a long time spent in imprisonment—at least, that was Claira’s fear. She didn’t want to dampen Yui’s and Silica’s moods.
But for Silica and Yui, such considerations were pointless. “Huh? That’s what you were worried about?” asked Yui.
“Yes, I didn’t want to make you two uncomfortable.”
“It’s all right. Yui and I won’t mind. I’m quite certain you’re the only one still worrying about such things, Claira.”
“I-Is it really okay?”
Silica and Yui nodded. “Plus, I believe you’ve likely recovered your figure during our journey. Yui’s been feeding you so much it’s even started to get me worried.”
“Huh?! You’re so mean, Silica!”
“But isn’t it the truth? I think it’s best you start to worry about your own figure, Yui. Your chest seems to have gotten bigger, or maybe all of you has...”
Yui brought her eyes to her chest. The change was so obvious, she almost reflexively agreed. “Sh-Shut up! I’m fine! This is better for battle, anyway! The heavier you are, the stronger your attacks!”
“So you admit it?”
That’s when Yui realized she had dug her own grave. “I’m! Fine!”
Claira couldn’t help but giggle as she watched Silica’s teasing rile Yui.
“Hey! You don’t think I’m fat too, do you, Claira...?”
“No, my worries just suddenly seemed so silly. My apologies,” said Claira with an ebullient smile. One of her worries had been washed away. Ever since she was released from her imprisonment, her body had been her biggest concern, but Silica and Yui had dismissed it as natural with a smile. Claira felt quite lucky to have them.
Yui and Silica were giggling again. “Well, anyway! Everyone tends to worry about that sorta thing more than anything else,” said Yui.
“Indeed. But Yui...”
“But what?” Yui noticed that Claira’s eyes were trained on her—particularly, her breasts. “Wh-What is it?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“Hey! If you two are gonna tease me, then you better show me yours too! And that includes you, Claira!”
Claira giggled. “I think I’ll refrain.”
“What the heck is with you too?!” Yui’s forlorn shout could be heard from outside the changing room.
Afterward, the girls entered the open-air bath. The outside walls were divided into a thin partition for setting the mood and a thick outside for preventing peepers. Between these two layers of walls were trees and rocks of various sizes, which provided a sense of nature. The setting was perfect. Not to mention, the bath itself was rather large, adding to the atmosphere. It was a wonderful hot spring, and it was obvious why this town was so famous for them.
Yui sighed. “This is the best, especially since we haven’t gotten to bathe in so long!”
The three girls thoroughly enjoyed their soak.
✦ ✦ ✦
The three chatted about all sorts of silly things. Until Claira suddenly realized something, that is. “Um, don’t you hear a noise coming from behind that wall?” she asked, her ears twitching.
“A noise? Do you hear it, Silica?”
“No, not at all...”
“There it is again!” shouted Claira, pointing toward the partition.
“No way...” gulped Yui. “I-I’ll go check it out.”
Thus, Yui stood up and cautiously approached...
✦ ✦ ✦
I continuously cast my detection magic as I waited for Yui and the other girls to return. A few dozen uneventful minutes had already come to pass.
“Eeek!” That’s when I suddenly heard Yui scream from inside the bath.
I immediately took hold of my staff. “What’s happening? Are they being attacked?” I switched back to my old detection spell, but I still didn’t sense any demons—only a few people from inside the girls’ bath. There was a single beastwoman and three humans.
“No way, is that human working with the demons?!” No, maybe they were simply being manipulated. I considered a myriad of possibilities, but I couldn’t come to any conclusions. Still, it was clear that something was happening inside the baths.
“What do I do? I can’t go inside... Or maybe I can since this is an emergency?”
No, probably not. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened during our last journey. That limited my options. “For now, I’ll cast some buffs on them.” The strongest buffs I had, that is. With that in mind, I cast strength up and defense up buffs on the girls, along with a few others.
All right. Now, they should at least be able to buy enough time to run.
“You...pervert!” shouted Yui as a man came flying through the wall.
“Ack!” I immediately jumped to the side to avoid the man and the accompanying pieces of wall. Thanks to my detection magic, I’d known somebody was about to come tumbling toward me, but that had been a close one.
The man slammed into the wall behind me before collapsing onto the ground.
“H-Huh? What happened?” The two of us had almost collided. The man was still slumped over, and it didn’t seem like he’d be getting up anytime soon.
Just what had happened inside the baths? I lifted my staff and turned my eyes toward the direction the man had come flying from. That’s when I met eyes with Yui, her face beet red and her left hand covering her chest. Behind her was Silica and Claira, their faces equally crimson.