The celebration concluded without a hitch.
Hosting an outdoor party with over twenty people usually makes the cleanup a nightmare, but that was no issue here.
It was easily solved by using one of the functions of the ‘Craft’ ability: simply storing everything into my Inventory.
The girls from Seifeng’s party, who had kept their distance while we were setting up, seemed to have relaxed a bit toward me. They were close enough that I could hear them exclaiming things like “Whoa!” and “Every family needs one of these.”
It was true; for anyone who understood the hardships of housework, the mere ability to be freed from doing dishes might be an enviable power.
Truly a convenient strength.
I figured it was about time to head home, but Seifeng suggested, “We still have plenty we want to talk about. Why don’t you stay the night?”
Terina looked skeptical, while Shōko seemed delighted, saying, “Really? Yay!”
After we all consulted with each other once more, I decided to accept their kind offer.
I couldn’t quite explain it, but there was a sense of incongruity and tension, as if I were staying at a girls’ dormitory. However, since no one had told me I had to leave on my own, it should be fine.
Just in case, I intended to sleep outside in the shed.
“Ah, what are we going to do about baths?”
The one who spoke was Shōko.
I had handed over soap and such to Seifeng’s party as well, but filling a tub takes considerable effort.
Even if they used something like a drum-tank bath, it would likely be too much trouble for that many people every night.
So when I asked how she was managing things…
Ever since monsters started appearing near the water sources, it seemed she had been making do by wiping her skin with wet cloths and washing her hair using a bucket.
Hearing stories like that makes me want to lend a hand, but right now, we are in a business relationship.
It is possible to lend Shihou out every night to help set up a bath for us, but the other party would need to provide the corresponding compensation.
I decided to keep it in mind, hoping that if things go well going forward, we might find a neat way to resolve this.
For now, let me check in with Shouko, who was clearly taken aback by her friends’ bathing situation.
“Let’s set aside the future for a moment; today, let’s prepare a big enough bath for everyone to use.”
“Only you could do this, Sousuke! The pinnacle of being Sousuke!”
Shouko’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“And it’s all thanks to you, Boss too. As expected of the Boss.”
I nodded in response to Une’s words.
That is indeed how it is.
While we do have a stockpile of hot water, even that was produced with Shihou’s cooperation. “Alright. Shihou, count on this one.”
Immediately, I generated and placed a stone-built bath large enough to accommodate the whole group.
“Leave it to me, please.”
Shihou smiled as if pleased simply by being useful and readied the staff I had gifted him previously.
We filled the tub with water and used deep-dive fire attribute magic to heat it up.
A fireball was launched, smashing into the surface of the water with a huge noise as steam rose up.
Cheers went up here too.
As expected, visual information is important.
This should have impressed on them that deep-dive magic can be useful in daily life.
While attack magic might be slightly intimidating, there’s no denying it would create a sense of familiarity if it could boil water or gather firewood.
I don’t know how many kids will take this memory home with them, but I hope that when deep-dive returns to Japan, she’ll be more integrated into her class than before.
However, looking at it again, I was impressed with the Jinghuang party’s discipline and unity.
It could be said that they were well-made as humans.
No one complained about us having abilities or using them to improve our quality of life; there was no ill-will or snide remarks.
Their original personalities might have been kind, but this was likely also influenced by Jinghuang’s leadership.
If the male members had someone to bring order early on, something might have changed too.
Thinking that, I began working on the parts of the bathroom other than the tub.
The cobblestones were laid out to keep the feet clean, and along with soap and shampoo, bath chairs and buckets were also deployed.
They surrounded the area with a stone wall and didn’t forget to include a changing room either.
Applause rang out accompanied by cheers, which took me a bit by surprise.
I suppose, for the ladies, a bath was just that much of a big deal.
Especially if they had been kept away from one for so long.
“Then you guys decide among yourselves who goes in first.”
My part was likely over from here on out.
The entrance to the bath area suddenly burst with liveliness.
“Oh, Micron, please look after Sougo!”
Responding to Shouko’s words, Micron, who had somehow already woken up, came over to my side.
As I stroked the fluffy dragon wrapping around me, I couldn’t help but let out a wry smile.
It seems having any more women come to me today was outside of Shouko’s acceptable range.
“And Mashi, there are other girls here today, so we’ll go another time!”
White Fuzzy-Fluffy Mashiro, who had been hoping for a mixed-bath session with the twenty-four women, slumped in utter defeat.
She was more candid in her reaction than I was; frankly, it was refreshing.
After waiting for quite some time…
Even though having multiple lovers already made such concerns irrelevant, with the Seifuu party watching over things, the fact that the women would be sleeping in the same building as me inevitably gave rise to certain assumptions.
Even if it wasn’t a misunderstanding, there were surely some who would feel embarrassed by the very idea.
So today, at least, I intended to sleep alone.
If anything, it would be fine to just sleep with the Fluffies.
Thinking this, I exited the Fenrir Shack and simultaneously generated a Griffin Shack.
I decided to sleep in the shack where I had spent my first day with Chiyu, deploying the familiar structure that hadn’t been dismantled yet.
It was the shack she had given me by hand for the first time, and that very night Shouko and Shiin joined us, and we four saw out the night together.
It felt like a long way from where I started, but it had been less than two weeks since then.
By the time things settled, it seemed the girls’ bath session was over. “Sousuke! Sorry to keep you waiting!”
“Sorry, it took longer than expected.”
“W-we just got a little carried away talking…”
“Don’t worry about it. Sousuke isn’t the kind to get angry over something like this.”
Sho, Shion, Fukaho, and Chiyu—the four core members of the original group—were the first to come greet him.
Their wet hair illuminated by the bonfire’s light, combined with their flushed faces, carried an irresistible charm that made his heart skip a beat, but he exercised self-control and didn’t stare too hard.
Normally maybe it would be fine, but there were people watching today.
It seemed like everyone had bathed together in one go.
He’d provided a tub large enough to accommodate them all; hopefully they found it to their liking.
Then again, seeing as how everyone came out at the exact same time, had they coordinated that?
Impressed by what seemed like quite an impressive feat of coordination, he took his turn to enter while the others left.
He stripped in the changing room and headed into the main bath area.
I changed the water to drive away my evil thoughts.
Storing the tub in my Inventory wasn’t much of a hassle.
Scooping the bathwater into a bucket, I poured it over myself a few times.
Deciding to wash my hair, I placed out the shampoo—when a noise rang out.
“Hm?”
Turning around, I was left speechless.
There stood the women who had just finished bathing earlier.
Wrapped in nothing but bath towels and with faces burning red, they approached me.
My childhood friend, whose cheeks were the only part of her body showing any sign of embarrassment while she kept a blank expression, spoke up.
“Since you’re today’s most meritorious contributor, Sō-kun, we’ll wash your back.”
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