The Darkness Was Comfortable for Me

Chapter 38: Public Bathhouse and Meeting with a Chosen

I left the dungeon before the morning sun rose.

Rifreya wasn’t at the entrance anymore.

There’s no way she would be standing at the entrance the whole day, so she must have left after finishing her business.

Or maybe she was waiting for someone there and went into the dungeon.

While I was thinking that, I was about to return while hiding in the darkness, but from the other side of the road, there was Rifreya who I saw at the entrance when I came.

I reflexively hid in the shade of a tree.

I then use Darkness Fog to blend in the darkness.

The sun hasn’t gone up yet, so she shouldn’t be able to find me.

And Rifreya actually didn’t notice me and walked to the direction of the dungeon.

(Could it be that she is going to be standing in front of the dungeon again today?) (Hikaru)

I was curious about it, so I went back for a bit, and she was indeed standing at the entrance of the dungeon.

I don’t know what business she has there, but it most likely has nothing to do with me.

Even if she is actually waiting for me, I have no intention of getting involved with her again.

After I returned to the inn, I went to the waterway at the back of the inn and cleaned my body.

This city has pretty clean waterways flowing, and it is to the point that it can even be used as drinking water. It is apparently the blessing of the Great Water Spirit.

“Oh, you are back. Bathing in cold water everyday must be chilling for your body. Aren’t you going to the bathhouse?”

It was right at that moment that the innkeeper old man came out from the backdoor.

Having stayed for several days already, he would obviously remember my face. He is a good old man that doesn’t try to get into someone else’s business.

Bathhouse, huh…

By bathhouse, he must be referring to the public bathhouse.

There’s steam coming from above, so it is easy to tell where it is, but I haven’t gone there once.

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I did have an interest in it as a japanese person, but I am someone who is being broadcasted 24/7.

There’s the fact that I am trying to not do anything unnecessary during the day, so I didn’t feel like utilizing that place proactively.

“They are open this early in the morning?” (Hikaru)

“Yeah, the bathhouse is open the whole time. Well, I personally don’t recommend you going there late at night though!”

I managed to earn some money as Spirit stones from fighting monsters.

Because of this, the feeling of wanting to challenge a variety of things must have gotten stronger.

I felt like wanting to challenge the public bathhouse too.

But a public bathhouse, huh…

I don’t have the courage to head to a place like that without any knowledge of it.

Are there things to wash your body with? What about the soap? The temperature of the water? In the first place, is it the type where you dip in the warm water or is it a steam bath? Are there towels? Can you buy coffee milk?

It is different from the super bathhouses of Japan.

It should be safe to assume there’s not even buckets there. I would say the chances of there not being towels is 100%. Soap? Doubt it.

I asked all that info from the old man, and then exited the inn.

As I imagined, there’s no soap or buckets.

I bought a bucket, towel, soap, and shampoo beforehand with Crystals.

…I used 6 Crystals, but it was a necessary purchase, so there’s no problem.

I eat a meat skewer to fill up my stomach a bit before heading to the bathhouse.

This city is a city where there’s a Water, Fire, Earth, and Wind Great Spirit gathered, and the area I am in falls under the territory of the Great Water Spirit. I don’t know what’s the state of the whole city, but because of the influence of the Great Water Spirit, there’s clean water aplenty, so it is apparently the place that has the most dense population because of how easy it is to live in.

On the other hand, the territory of the Great Wind Spirit and the Great Earth Spirit has low population, but there’s apparently a lot of plantations.

The territory of the Great Fire Spirit thrives in blacksmiths.

“Here, huh…” (Hikaru)

The public bathhouse is adjoined with the Great Fire Spirit’s territory, and it is of quite the scale. It really has the appearance of a super bathhouse.

The Great Water Spirit creates clean water which is consumed in great quantities here, and that water is heated with the power of the Fire Great Spirit.

The power of Spirits is used normally in people’s lifestyles. Maybe because it is public, it is pretty cheap too.

Probably because it is still way too early in the morning, there aren’t that many people coming to take a bath, so the surroundings were quiet. It is still only 6:30am, so this is natural, but I still needed courage to enter an unknown facility.

I slip in together with a group that seems to be an explorer party.

The baths are divided by men and women. It costs 15 copper.

With a price like this, I could come here everyday.

I quickly took off my clothes at the dress room, and placed the clothes inside the provided basket that’s made of knitted wooden branches.

There’s nothing important in my belongings.

No, everything important has already been stored in the Shadow Bag.

I have already taken out the soap and shampoo, and have placed them in the bucket. No mistakes here.

(Oooh…) (Hikaru)

The bath is made out of a lot of lumber, and it gives out that japanese atmosphere. The washing place doesn’t even have a water supply, but it seems like you draw water with your buckets from the warm water for use.

The bathtub was pretty big, big enough to have around 30 people at once.

I may be broadcasted to the whole world here, but the other Chosen must be bathing too. Nothing big should happen at this point with just me bathing here.

Of course, the people that think I am the killer of Nanami must be going ‘how dare you take a bath despite being a killer’ though…

I went to a corner that doesn’t stand out the most, hurriedly wash my body and hair, and dip in the warm water.

(Oooh…it is seeping in…!) (Hikaru)

This is my first time taking a dip inside a bathtub since coming to this world.

The warm and comfortable water was bringing warmth to the very core of my body. That warmth was not only warming my body but my heart as well, and I began tearing up, so I splash water on my face to cover it up.

I don’t know how much of this is being broadcasted, but there’s no point in worrying about that at this point.

Bathing is a basic necessity in life, so even if it is not inside the darkness, I didn’t feel the gazes or hear the laughs.

While I was taking my time soaking in the water, a cheery and noisy group came in.

Because 3 big men entered the tub at once, the water overflowed.

“Man~, a bath in the morning feels great!”

“It is, right?! This is the only place that has such a big tub, you know?”

“Aah, in my homeland, I would just shower a bit, so I am astonished I didn’t know about something this nice. There were stuff like hot springs, but I have never gone to one.”

The young men that were together at the entrance.

I scooted my way to the corner.

“What’s a shower, Alex?”

“Aah…how should I explain it? It is like being showered by rain.” (Alex)

“Hahaha, you said it is a parallel world, right? You are one weird guy, talking about having come from a different world.”

“Oi oi, you didn’t believe me?! I was a pretty diligent student before coming to this world, you know?” (Alex)

I sank all the way till my nose, and was listening to that conversation.

Parallel world…that’s what they said.

When I glanced there, it was a western handsome man with light brown hair and a pronounced nose bridge.

He gives a refreshing atmosphere, and must have been quite popular in his high school days.

(A Chosen…! So there was one here.) (Hikaru)

The extrovert-looking young man called Alex is a westerner…I think. I can’t really tell with just his looks, but at the very least, he is not asian. And yet, he is speaking the same isekai language, and it felt strange that I could understand what he was saying.

(Meaning that maybe I am being shown in his stream as a mob character?) (Hikaru)

Depending on the angle of the camera, I would easily be shown. And from my side as well, Alex would show up.

If there’s people who are watching the 2 streams at the same time because we are in the same city, they would definitely go ‘Ah!’.

(I have a bad feeling about this. Let’s leave.) (Hikaru)

I wanted to relax more here, but this situation where two Chosen are in the same place, moreover, in a bathing area naked, should be amusing from their view.

It definitely wouldn’t end well.

“Is she there today as well?”

“Ooh, the one at the entrance? She was a real beauty. You spoke to her right, Alex? You asked her what she was doing.”

“It seems she was searching for an acquaintance. I invited her for a meal, but I was rejected.” (Alex)

“Seriously? You are one skirt chaser, man.”

“No, isn’t it normal to invite a cute girl like that?” (Alex)

The conversation of the extroverts continued.

The beauty at the entrance must refer to Rifreya.

If she is searching for an acquaintance, it must not be me.

I am not an acquaintance after all.

At that moment I was about to leave as casually as possible…

“…What? ‘The one there with the black hair is Hikaru’…?” (Alex)

I felt the warmth from my body drain.