kscans

Chapter 68 - A Cold Bath Called a Potion Bath

Dressed in Kaede-chan’s clothes, I returned to the living room with her. Just as we did, the pizza we ordered arrived, so we got the drinks out of the fridge and began our celebration.

"""Cheers!"""

We placed the pizza on the low table and sat on the sofa as we raised our glasses.

"Wow, I made 200 million yen for doing basically nothing," Nanapon said, happily starting to drink a sweet, low-alcohol canned chu-hi.

"You did get captured, didn’t you."

"Well, that’s true. For 200 million, I’d be willing to get captured one more time."

"They might get violent next time, you know?"

They might do something even worse.

"…………I’m good on getting captured again."

Good choice.

"You two, please practice some self-control."

"It’s fine if I spend my money, right?"

Otherwise, I can’t go on a spending spree with Kaede-chan.

"Senpai, you need to fix your slightly belligerent side. You’re usually so gentle, but as soon as you hold a sword, you try to draw it or provoke your opponents. Please stop."

"Did I provoke someone?"

"You were provoking Satsuki-san, weren’t you? I’ll have you know, she’s belligerent too."

Well, I did get that impression.

"Hmm, well, I’ll be careful."

Come to think of it, I did draw my sword on those adventurers today.

"Please do."

I’ll have to remember to act with caution.

"Oh, by the way, here you go."

Nanapon took a gift-wrapped box out of her usual backpack and handed it to Kaede-chan.

"What’s this?" Kaede-chan asked Nanapon, looking at the box.

"A housewarming gift. I wasn’t sure what to get, so I went with a coffee set."

What a considerate girl. A student doesn’t need to worry about things like that.

"Thank you."

"Thank you, Nanaka-chan," Kaede-chan and I said.

"Not at all. But you two really are living together. How is it, living together… I mean, sharing a room?"

"No problems, really. Except when I have to go to work early and see senpai sleeping like a log, it makes me want to quit my job."

Well, that was understandable. I would feel the same way if our positions were reversed.

"Maybe I shouldn’t get a job… What about you, Eleanor-san? Anything to report?"

"Hmm? I guess just that Kaede-chan locks her door. She locks it when she sleeps, when she goes out, even when she’s taking a bath. It’s terrible, isn’t it?"

Zero trust.

"The terrible one is Okita-san. He’s trying to break in all the time, isn’t he? And at night, too… Okita-san is the worst."

And there goes Nanapon’s opinion of Okita-kun, down the drain again.

"I hear a rattling sound from the door every night. That sound has become my signal to go to sleep."

So Kaede-chan knew I was trying to sneak into her room at night. …Well, of course she did.

"So scary…"

Okita-kun’s reputation just keeps getting worse. I’m telling you, we’re going to get married! (Eventually)

"By the way, Nanaka-san, what happened after that? Did they bother you?"

"Such an obvious change of subject… No, the SDF person who was in front of the hut escorted me. With him there, they didn’t dare to talk to me."

"I heard about that, but female adventurers get hit on a lot, right? What do you do?"

I was just told to restrain my belligerent side, so I wanted to know. Obviously, Okita-kun almost never got hit on, so I had no idea.

"What do I do… Hmm, I guess I don’t go alone, and I avoid unpopular places?"

"You failed on both counts, didn’t you."

Nanapon had been operating solo in a place no one went to. Well, it was probably because she had Clairvoyance.

"Well, that’s true. Honestly, I’m not the best person to ask… I don’t have that much experience."

We were both E-rank, after all. And her career was just as short.

"Kaede-chan, what’s the Guild’s stance?" I asked Kaede-chan, who seemed like she would know.

"We generally recommend that female adventurers form parties. Also, not to linger in front of the Gate for too long. Since monsters rarely appear there, it’s treated as a safety zone. Because of that, it’s also become a place for recruitment and forming temporary parties. So that’s where people will approach you, and that’s where you get a lot of guys trying to hit on you."

I see.

"Did it happen a lot when you were active, Kaede-chan?"

"We were in a party, and our leader was A-rank. No one messed with us. But it happened a lot inside the Guild."

Well, Kaede-chan is cute. I’d want her in my party too.

"Hmm, so that won’t work for us… The SDF person said they would issue a notice to all the guilds, but will that be effective?"

"It will be for a few weeks. But it’ll go back to how it was soon enough. It’s always been like that."

I knew it… I thought as much. If it was effective, people like that would have disappeared long ago.

"Hmm…"

"What’s wrong? Are you going to stop going to the Diana Mine?"

"The fact that I’m there has already been exposed. Besides, my level is 7 now, so I was thinking of moving on to the next step."

"Oh, you leveled up! That’s great!" Kaede-chan was as happy as if it had happened to her.

"I got a skill too. It’s called Speechcraft."

"Speechcraft. I have that too. It’s useful for job interviews."

Will there ever come a time when I have a job interview?

"That’s… less than useful. But the new recipes aren’t."

"What can you make now?"

"Buff Potions. Three kinds that increase strength, speed, and defense."

"…………That sounds like it could be a problem."

It seemed Kaede-chan thought so too.

"I think so too. That’s why I can’t sell them."

"You shouldn’t. If you announce that, more people will start targeting you, Eleanor-san. Some of them will probably be quite extreme. Let’s not."

As Kaede-chan said that, she gently squeezed my hand.

"You’re right. It’s better to make money with Item Bags and Healing Potions than with this. Please tell Satsuki-san that."

"I will."

Kaede-chan’s grip on my hand tightened. If I wasn’t Eleanor-san, I would have hugged her.

"Um, I get the Buff Potion thing, but if you stop going to the Diana Mine, where will you go?" Nanapon asked, seeming completely uninterested in our exchange as she munched on her pizza.

"Is there anywhere else good?"

"Not really. That place is special."

Well, I guess things wouldn’t be that convenient.

"It can’t be helped. We’ll just have to go about it the normal way."

I knew that eventually it would get out that I was in the Diana Mine. It happened later than I expected, though. Just how unpopular is the Diana Mine…

"But senpai, what about Nanaka-chan? People will find out you’re working together."

"I know… Nanaka-san, which would you prefer, becoming a man or wearing a mask?"

At this point, a disguise was our only option.

"I don’t want either."

"Then how about adventuring with Okita-kun?"

Originally, that wouldn’t have been a problem.

"Ugh… then I’ll wear a mask…………"

Does she dislike me that much? That really hurts.

Feeling lonely, I stroked Kaede-chan’s hand, which was still holding mine.

"A mask?" Kaede-chan asked, completely ignoring my hand-stroking.

"Nanaka-san has Clairvoyance. It doesn’t matter if she wears a mask or covers her face with a towel."

"Well, it’s just stuffy and hot…" Nanapon muttered under her breath.

"Endure it."

"What if it makes my skin break out!?"

Such a girl. But well, it was an important issue.

"I’ll give you a potion to wash your face with on your way home."

"Then I’ll do it."

Well, even though it sells for 500,000 yen, the cost is only 600 yen, so it’s not a loss.

"Hmm? What’s a potion?" Kaede-chan asked.

"Huh? Eleanor-san, didn’t you tell Asakura-san about the experiment results? I was planning to take a Potion Bath, so I brought a change of clothes."

Come to think of it, she did mention that before.

"A Po-Potion Bath!? What is that, something that sounds like the height of luxury?" Kaede-chan asked, a look of shocked amazement on her face.

"Asakura-san, Asakura-san, please look at the hand you’re holding. Eleanor-san’s hands are incredibly beautiful, aren’t they?"

"Th-they are!" Kaede-chan started stroking my hand.

"According to Okita-san’s experiments, washing your face with a potion can cure acne, and taking a Potion Bath makes your skin smooth and supple."

"Wow… Huh? Senpai, why didn’t you tell me?"

"Well, it’s cold. The potions get ruined if you heat them up. It’s freezing at this time of year, you know? So I was planning to tell you in the spring…"

Taking a cold bath in November would definitely give you a cold.

"I see. Well then, senpai, please go prepare it."

Was she listening to me?

"You’ll catch a cold."

"We have Healing Potions, don’t we? And even if I do catch a cold, you’ll take care of me, right, senpai?"

An image of me wiping down a feverish, bedridden Kaede-chan flashed through my mind.

"It’s true we have Healing Potions… Well, as long as you don’t stay in too long, you should be fine."

I let go of Kaede-chan’s hand, stood up, and went to my room to get my bag, then headed to the bathroom. Then, I started pouring Healing Potions into the bathtub.

It’s not that I mind, but this takes a long time………… What about our party?