Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 5 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Reclamation Village’s Public Bath ~Katou Mana’s POV~

“There’s a common bath in this village. Would all of you like to go with me?” Kei proposed in an excited tone. She’d just returned from taking away the dishes.

“That sounds nice. Shall we then?” I answered.

Kei’s face burst into an innocent smile. Her honest expressions were one of her charming virtues. Her pure little smile even made me want to smile myself.

She then looked over to Rose, who was working away with her magic knife. “Rose, how about you?” she asked.

“Me?” Rose’s hands came to a stop as if she found this rather unexpected. “I’m grateful for the invitation, but I don’t believe there is much meaning in me going.”

Rose’s body from the neck down was that of a smooth and hard mannequin. She didn’t have any sort of human metabolism, so there wasn’t much need for her to wash.

“B-But hasn’t your body gotten dirty from the journey? You should also wash your hair.”

“I don’t mind just scrubbing my parts down in a bucket of water.”

“Please don’t put it like you’re washing laundry...”

Kei was being quite fidgety, but Rose didn’t have any ill intent. She had different sensibilities from humans. If she wanted to be clean, she could remove her arm at the shoulder and wash it whole. If needed, she could also completely remake any of her limbs.

Kei looked quite excited at the prospect of bathing with everyone, though. Seeing her shoulders droop, I decided to throw her a lifeline.

“Rose, I’m not sure that’s the case.”

“What do you mean?” Rose asked, turning to me with a cock of her head.

I held up my finger and said, “Come on, the day could come when you wash Senpai’s back, right?”

“Wash his back?”

“Wouldn’t it be awkward if you didn’t know how to when the time comes?”

Rose sank into thought beneath her mask. With this, I just needed to give one more push.

“Besides, I’d also like to get into the bath with you, Rose,” I added.

After a brief moment of consideration, she said, “Very well. If you say so, Mana.” Then she returned her gaze to Kei. “Seeing as this is a common bath, won’t the other villagers be there?”

“Oh. That’ll be fine! Shiran made preparations so that all of you can use it!”

Rose nodded. “Then there isn’t a problem. What will you do, Gerbera?”

“Hm? Me?” Gerbera turned our way, Ayame still seated atop her head. “Hmm. It does sound rather amusing. I shall go as well.”

I thought her reason for going was odd, but Gerbera gave us a nod. Thus, everyone left behind in the manamobile decided on going to the bath.

◆ ◆ ◆

The building for the public bath was just about as splendid as the inn. According to Kei, this facility was a place for relaxation on par with the tavern. There weren’t many places for amusement within the village, so having somewhere to heal one’s fatigue was one of the few pleasures available to them. However, since this reclamation village was a stopover for the army on the way to Fort Tilia, these kinds of facilities were maintained with military funds. In general, they were a little more compact than this one.

Incidentally, the large quantity of water and heat required for the bath came from water and fire runestones installed in several locations. Majima-senpai often mentioned that the technology of this world took a different direction from ours. It wasn’t necessarily less sophisticated, though.

After arriving at the dressing room, I took off the local clothing I’d been given at Fort Tilia. I folded them and placed them on a shelf by the wall. Rose watched my actions and copied me. After she finished, she took off her mask and placed it atop her folded clothes. Her face, which was previously damaged by an attack from a rough rabbit, no longer had a single scratch on it.

“Wooow...” Kei said in a daze, looking up at Rose.

“Oh yeah. Is this your first time seeing Rose’s face?” I asked.

“Y-Yes. She’s really pretty, isn’t she? A-Almost scarily so...”

I could understand where she was coming from. Without her mask, Rose was beautiful, like a cold and inorganic doll. She had decided that clumsy expressions would be unsightly, so she didn’t make any expressions at all. This made her look even more like a doll. She was planning on unveiling this to Majima-senpai, but only after she’d smoothed out the uncanniness in her expression. That was going to take more time to accomplish.

“If it bothers you, then perhaps I should wear my mask after all?”

“I-It’s okay!”

Kei shook her head as Ayame ran over to her feet. She turned around to see Gerbera was also there without her clothes.

“Wooow...”

Kei’s reaction was exactly the same as before, but that was to be expected. Gerbera’s naked body was practically divine. Her nearly transparent white skin, unmarked by a single blemish, highlighted her balanced proportions. Her breasts were larger than average and swayed gently in the air. The womanly line of her back drew a beautiful curve, vanishing into white spider hair at its base.

“Everyone’s amazing...” Kei muttered.

I was in agreement. I also considered the small Kei a beauty, though.

“What are you looking at, Kei? Rather, are you not going to undress?” Gerbera asked.

“Oh. Yes. Sorry.”

Kei suddenly came back to her senses and got her hands moving again. She quickly took off her leather armor and clothes. Her exposed body was still that of a child without any real curves. However, perhaps because of her daily training with a sword, her body looked firm despite being rather slender. Her breasts, though small, were a little large for her age. Considering Shiran’s looks, she was sure to become quite the beauty in the future.

“Okay! Let’s gooo!”

Kei took the lead and headed toward the bath. A wave of steam pushed against us, followed by a voice from within.

“Oh. You all came here too.”

Another guest had come ahead of us. Lily was all on her own inside a bath that looked large enough for all of us to fit in comfortably, including Gerbera. Seeing her wave our way, Kei’s eyes went as wide as saucers.

“Hwah? I didn’t know you were here, Lily.”

“Mhm. I’m pretty sure I left my clothes out there. You didn’t notice?”

“Huh? I must’ve missed them.”

“I see. The dressing room is pretty big and all. Our master was here just moments ago too.”

“Uh... Takahiro...? Waaah?!” Kei screamed cutely. “Th-That was close. We almost bumped into him...”

Seeing Kei turn bright red, Gerbera tilted her head curiously. “Is there something to be worried about if our lord sees you?” She was practically insinuating that she would prefer for him to see her as she walked up to the bath and dipped her finger into the water. “Hmm, so this is a bath. This is my first time going out of my way to dip into hot water like this.”

“Oh. Gerbera, stop. You’ll dirty the bath,” I said, holding her back.

I let her know that she had to wash off first, and I asked her to wash Ayame while she was at it. The little fox had no idea why we were here, but the moment she realized what was about to happen, she bolted off with amazing vigor...and was captured not even one meter away. We started to wash ourselves off as we listened to her cute yipping.

“Rose... This is a bath, so how about not taking your arm off to wash it?” I said.

“But it’ll get cleaner this way.”

“How about not taking your arm off to wash it?” I repeated.

“Very well... Oh yes, I must practice washing backs,” Rose stated.

“Huh? Oh, right. We did talk about that, I guess.”

“Weren’t you the one to bring it up?”

“Tee hee. I suppose I did. Then you can use me as practice.”

“Thank you very much. Your body is very soft, and your skin is so frail. I shouldn’t put too much strength in it, should I? Is this about right?”

“Yes. Aah... You’re pretty good at this, Rose. It feels great. Hee hee. It seems some people really are just good at anything... Ah! Wait! Rose?! My front is fine! I can do it myself! And please leave that part for Senpai to do when you bathe with him!”

“Hm...? This is practice to wash my master’s back, so shouldn’t I do it here as well?”

“Awawawawawa!”

“Oh, Rose,” Gerbera started, ignoring my plight, “after you are done, could I ask you to do the same for me? There are places my arms cannot reach.”

In any case... We all got washed off, despite a bit of a kerfuffle, and got into the bath. I gradually dipped my leg into the hot water alongside Kei, enduring the prickling sensation on my skin. Gerbera, however, showed no care for this level of heat and jumped into the water without hesitation, making a big splash.

“Hwah?!” Kei screamed.

I had no time to do the same, because Rose pulled me in and shielded me.

“Oh... Thanks.”

“I heated it up a bit since it was kind of cold, but maybe I went too far?” Lily said with a giggle.

She had been in the bath the entire time we were washing off, but despite having a sexy flush to her cheeks, she didn’t show any signs of dizziness. She had also been in there the whole time with Majima-senpai too... Monsters really were sturdy beings.

As I dipped in up to my shoulders, I suddenly realized something. Majima-senpai had been in this bath just moments ago. It didn’t really mean anything, but I was slightly conscious of it...

“What’s up, Katou?” Lily asked.

“Oh, nothing.”

I’d ended up attracting attention because I was thinking of useless things. I shook my head as she looked on curiously.

“Lily, you’ve been in here quite a while already, right? Do you like baths?” I asked in return.

“Hmmm. Seems so,” she replied, stretching out her arms in relaxation. “I can use fire magic now, and I could already use water magic, so if Rose can fashion something like a big tub, we could probably even take baths while on the road.”

“It could also work if I make an imitation runestone for fire magic. Maybe it’s a good idea to make one while we’re at it,” Rose added.

“Hee hee. Maybe so. How about a hot spring?” I asked. “I wonder if they have them in this world. Hey Kei, do you know anything about them?”

The conversation livened up with Lily at its center. I stayed out of it, however. I merely watched in a daze. Her figure overlapped with a girl I had gotten along with very well. She had also told me she liked baths. We had even talked about going with everyone from the club on a hot spring trip at the end of the year. Our plans had gone out the window, though, after we were teleported here.

“Is something the matter, Mana?”

Rose seemed to have noticed the subtle change in my condition. She was looking down at me with her inorganic eyes, sitting shoulder to shoulder at my side. Her expression looked cold, but I knew full well just how much she thought of me.

“No, it’s nothing.”

I shook my head and leaned against the shoulder of the girl who always stayed by my side. It brought my emotional thoughts to an end. Anyone could love baths. The reason I even remembered such a trivial thing was merely because I was influenced by Lily’s appearance. There was no meaning to any of this. That girl wasn’t so well-endowed in the first place.

I lowered my gaze. Lily’s large breasts were floating in the water. Even though she had the same face, the two of them were totally different in this regard. Actually, it felt like an unfair standard for comparison. Hers were probably smaller than Kei’s. Mine weren’t really on the small side, but they didn’t compare to Lily at all.

I suppose Majima-senpai really does prefer big ones... If so, I guess we need to take that into account for Rose’s remodeling...

I was immersed in my thoughts when Lily brought the conversation back to me.

“Oh yeah, Katou. There’s something I’d like to consult you about. Can I get some of your time later?”

“With me...? Sure, I don’t mind.”

“Thanks.”

Lily was smiling as she always did, but her eyes had an earnest glint to them. She apparently had something fairly serious that she wanted to ask me about. Seeing that I figured this out, Lily flashed a grin. Then she suddenly turned her gaze to the door connecting to the dressing room.

“Hm? Someone’s here.”

Shortly after, Shiran entered with an, “Excuse me.”

“Oh. Shiran. Are you going to join us?” Kei asked.

“I have something to do, so I’ll enjoy myself later.”

“Shiran, thank you for accepting my request to join in your training sessions,” Rose said. “I’ll be in your care tomorrow.”

“Of course. I shall exert myself to the best of my abilities, so let us work hard together.”

Shiran’s eye casually wandered my way. I averted my gaze on reflex. I didn’t mean to, but it would be awkward to look back now that I had. She seemed to find my unnatural behavior somewhat strange, but she immediately changed gears and looked elsewhere.

“Gerbera. May I have a moment?”

“Me?”

Gerbera’s red eyes opened wide with surprise. This had apparently been the main reason for Shiran’s visit. The two of them didn’t normally have much in common.

“I have something I would like to speak with you about, so Takahiro and I will be meeting at the manamobile later.”

Curious as to what this was about, the rest of us exchanged glances.