kscans

Chapter 284 - The Open-air Bath (Men's Side)

On the night of their sightseeing in the Eastern Country, it was decided they would enter the open-air bath before the banquet.

Of course, it was separated by gender. No mixed bathing. It was a wholesome game, so that was the specification.

Also, in the bath area, equipment changed to bathing attire. Male characters wore shorts, while female characters wore shorts and a loose robe. The color could be changed freely.

All of the men in Hayato's group decided to enter.

The members were Hayato, Ash, Mist, Damian, Ruth, Gil, the male members of Kokuryu, and the Ten Dark Knights.

When Hayato and the others went to the open-air bath's changing room, their equipment automatically switched. The color was the default black.

(The faces of the Ten Dark Knights, aside from Gil-san, are pretty stern. And they're muscular with scars all over their bodies. I wonder what kind of people they were in the real world?)

Gil must have noticed Hayato staring at them.

He approached with a laugh.

"Hayato-dono, it seems you were captivated by our muscles. Shall we start with some squats?"

"No, that's not it at all. Um, could you all please not strike poses? It's kind of raising the temperature in here."

Hayato wasn't an expert, but it looked like poses from some ancient activity called bodybuilding. It was just very intense.

"Hmm, so Hayato-dono does not understand its appeal."

"It's not that I don't understand, but I was more interested in the scars than the muscles."

"Ah, I see. Well, they are like badges of honor. Everyone in the Demon Country is like this. There are many strong monsters, you know."

(Is that their backstory? Well, it's not good to pry into their real lives. If I ask too much and they regain their memories, it could be a problem, and even in a virtual reality, it's rude to stare. I should be careful.)

Stimulating memories related to the real world could cause them to regain their memories. There was no rule against it, but the NPCs here had chosen to become residents of this world. It wasn't something an outsider should do without permission.

(I wonder what Mist-san will do...)

Hayato shifted his gaze from Gil and his men to Mist's group.

Mist had regained his memories, but Damian and Ruth had not. It seemed Mist's priority was to cure their illness first, and he had said he would think about what to do after that was finished.

In their case, the circumstances of entering the virtual reality were a little different from others. They entered the virtual reality to survive an illness. If the illness was cured, they would have no reason to live in virtual reality. If the patients were safe, Mist and Damian would likely have no reason to stay in virtual reality either.

"Hayato."

"Ash? What's wrong?"

At some point, Ash was right in front of Hayato. A handsome man's muscles are also handsome, Hayato thought. Even though it was virtual reality, his skin was flawless. In other words, he was dazzling.

That Ash was looking at Hayato with a concerned expression.

"No, I was about to ask if something was wrong with you, Hayato. You don't seem to be worried, but are you lost in thought?"

"Ah, no, I was just wondering what it's like to regain your real-world memories."

Hayato spoke to Ash in a whisper, too quiet for anyone else to hear.

Ash was also one who had regained his memories.

Hypnos, Diite's backup, had shown him images of the real world, bypassing the AI Protection and causing him to regain his memories. Hayato was curious what that was like.

But Ash just laughed it off.

"What are you thinking about while getting into an open-air bath? Let's get in the bath instead of worrying about that."

"You're treating it as 'that'?"

"Yeah, that. Besides, there's no point in you worrying about it, right, Hayato? What will be, will be. Seriously, why are you thinking about that before getting in a bath?"

"...Now that you mention it, you're right. No, it's just that after seeing Gil-san's muscles and scars, my thoughts went down a rabbit hole."

"Being able to think that far just from seeing that is so like you, Hayato. Well, whatever, come on, let's get in."

Ash urged Hayato towards the open-air bath. But Hayato stopped.

"Ash, we have to wash our bodies first."

"You're always so particular about things like that, Hayato. Fine, I'll wash."

Since it was a virtual reality, there was no need to actually wash their bodies or sweat, but as a matter of etiquette or manners, they started by rinsing their bodies with hot water to purify themselves.

Next, they washed their hair. Hayato was the type to wash from top to bottom.

(Does my head feel kind of cool because it's a menthol-type shampoo?)

He was washing his hair with the provided shampoo, and it somehow felt refreshing. It didn't affect reality, but it felt good.

After thoroughly rinsing the foam from his head, he then lathered soap on a towel and washed his body. Just like the shampoo, it didn't change anything, but it felt like his body had become clean.

Once he had washed himself completely, he put a towel on his head and entered the open-air bath. He soaked up to his shoulders.

The pleasant warmth made him let out a long sigh naturally.

The other members were also making satisfied sounds like "Aah" and "Ooh."

As expected of an open-air bath, a bath without a roof felt liberating.

The stars were shining in the sky, and he could see a half-moon. In reality, he never had the chance to stretch out his legs in a bathtub in his small unit bath, so even in virtual reality, this was a luxurious moment.

Ash, next to him, seemed to feel the same way, stretching out his body and enjoying himself.

After stretching his body completely, Ash looked at Hayato.

"By the way, how was the morning? You went to look for fabric with Simon, right?"

"I found some good fabric and made a kimono right away. I've already given it to Rosalie-san, so the rest is up to her."

"Rosalie seems like a craftsman in that respect, so I doubt she'd cut corners, but are you sure it's okay? I mean, in terms of her sense of style."

"She's better than me, so it should be fine. And judging by the design of her usual gothic lolita outfits, I don't think there will be a problem."

If there was one concern, it was the information that the swimsuit Rosalie made was amazing. Diite had also commented that she thought it was a bit much, but he didn't know how amazing it was, so Hayato couldn't say for sure. He just felt it might be a little risky.

"Is it going to be a gothic lolita-style kimono?"

"No, I wonder? Can she even arrange it like that? Well, if so, that's fine too. It's only my imagination, but I don't think it would be bad. Anyway, how was the food tour? I couldn't ask during work."

"...It was normal."

"Even if you say that with that face..."

He clearly had a face that said something had happened. It was the very definition of unconvincing.

"Well, Esha, you know. She got carried away, or rather, she went all out, or rather, she got serious. And Ren and the others got caught up in her momentum. We got banned from some of the shops. I went and apologized, so I think it's okay, but..."

"...I'm sorry for sending you alone."

"I was still too weak."

Ash was staring at the sky with a distant look in his eyes. He didn't want to imagine what had happened, but a lot must have occurred.

"Um, to change the subject, how are Veru-san and the others doing? They didn't come to the cafe today, and last I heard, things were going smoothly."

"Seems like there are no problems. He was saying they could clear it in a few more floors. There aren't any weird monsters, just a lot of floors or something."

"That's a relief."

There was only one piece of medicinal knowledge left. Using that knowledge, they would make the medicine in this virtual world, and using it on Mist's companions would cure their real-world illness. There was still a lot to do, but they were definitely getting closer to the medicine.

After that, Hayato and Ash continued their small talk, but it was getting late.

"Alright, shall we get out? It looks like everyone else is already out, and we have a banquet after this."

At some point, only Hayato and Ash were left in the open-air bath. Everyone else was probably in the changing room drinking fruit milk or coffee milk.

"Yeah, I doubt we'd get light-headed, but I've had my fill... hasn't the women's side been noisy for a while now?"

Hayato and Ash got out of the bath and looked towards the fence.

The men's and women's baths were separated by a wooden fence. There was no mixed bathing, but it was probably possible to climb over. However, it was no exaggeration to say that hell awaited on the other side. That's how much combat power they had over there.

A noisy clamor was coming from that hell.

"I don't know what they're doing, but it's good that they have energy, isn't it?"

"I think it's more like they have too much energy... Well, whatever. Ren is with everyone, so she's probably just excited."

"She's not so excited that she turned into a dragon, right? If she turned into a dragon here..."

As Hayato was saying that, a three-eyed black dragon's head popped out over the wooden fence from the women's side. It was clearly Ren in her dragon state.

Ren and Hayato's eyes met.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, then Ren's head quickly shrank back down. She must have canceled her dragon transformation.

And then, another noisy clamor came from beyond the fence.

"So, sorry about that."

"No, well, it's fine, it's Ren-chan. And in a way, this makes us even."

To put it simply, the dragon state was considered to be naked. However, that was a setting from when Ash and the others were NPCs, and now that they had regained their memories, they didn't think of it that way. He hadn't asked Ren, but Ash had said so.

Hayato had seen Ren's dragon state before, so he said that this time, with Hayato being seen, they were even.

Later, when Hayato and the others left the changing room, Esha and Ren were there in yukatas.

And Ren bowed her head with incredible force.

"S, s, s, s, sorry! I, I never meant to peek! Um, it's, uh, the curse!"

"I think that's a questionable excuse. It's okay, I don't really mind. It's a virtual reality after all, so you don't need to worry about it more than necessary. It's actually more embarrassing if you do."

"Ugh... y, you're right, it is a virtual reality..."

"That's right. Therefore, Ren-sama, please tell me more about what just happened. How far apart were Master and Ash-sama? That's the important part."

"Esha, please show some restraint even in virtual reality. I thought you'd been behaving yourself lately."

Hayato grumbled as the four of them headed to the great hall where the banquet would be held.