It seems the prince’s party decided to rest the day after they got the sword.
Unusually sparkling guys are now relaxing at our inn’s hot spring bath, [shadow] is not with them, he is going to adventurer’s guild and submitting the iron golem as loot.
For me, it’s time to gather more information about this group. I decided to open the monitor in my room and listen to the prince’s group conversation. What do you mean I’m a peeping tom, you can’t prove it, so, sorry you can’t accuse me of anything, ok? And this is for the sake of the dungeon.
…Surprisingly, the three good-looking men seem to be accustomed to taking a bath. They didn’t wear a bathing suit and only wrapped a towel around their waist.
If you ask me why I did not go into detail how these men look like, it’s because of those unnecessarily pretty face of theirs.
“Phuah, that was an easy dungeon for our party.”
The prince giggles as he dipped his body shoulder-deep into the hot spring. He is soaking himself in yesterday glory.
“Pince… Kenho almost died four times…”
“Is that so? Well Kenho is our vanguard, it natural for him to face many dangerous situation.”
“Harks, Crusch, Don’t worry about it, also we hired that adventurer for extra measures right? I’m alive and kicking, that’s all that matters!”
“That’s a good attitude Kenho, but…”
“But that adventurer… what is his name? Jangaria? is that skill level is normal for adventurer or he is exceptionally skilled? If it was the latter… should I take him under my wings?”
And like that the prince keeps talking about trivial things, I know that the adventurers are good, but I need you guys to talk more about why you are here and why didn’t you leave already. But it seems that they won’t spill it.
“Ah, Kehma, did you eavesdropping again?”
“That’s rude… but you are right.”
Rokuko walks into my room casually, she had manga in her hand.
“Oops, don’t look at monitor Rokuko, the image inside is the men’s bath area.”
“Why? Isn’t this also my dungeon area.”
“… that’s true but…”
“Kehma, I also want to help you.”
“…I will ask for your help when it’s concerning the women’s bath area.”
It won’t be anytime soon though, since they all men this time.
“But… why bother with this? Can’t you just go into the bath and asked them directly?”
“hmm, would that be the quickest way…”
“Yes, it is, now get going, I will wait for you while reading manga here.”
Rokuko seems to insist on reading manga here while I’m absent, can’t you read in your own room? No, I don’t have any porn books that I hide here, it’s a clean area.
The prince group seems to enjoy taking a long bath, maybe I should follow Rokuko’s advice and sneak in there.
For now, I need to disguise myself as ordinary village chief, I will cast [Super Transformation] on myself to make me looks like an average human, now even if you inspect me, you will find nothing.
“What, you’re going to disguise yourself as a Kehma?”
“Of course I will, also if I’m in this [Super Transformation] state I don’t have to worry if something happens to myself.”
“Oh well, anything is fine, good luck, I’ll be here reading manga.” {…suspicious}
“Yeah, I already heard you the first time though? I’ll be off now.”
So I left Rokuko who somehow won’t budge from my room, I used [Super Transformation] and changed to my bathing suit. The prince’s group are still there, chatting about some trivial things.
“So Harks, swordsmanship is all about muscle power.”
“No, I think technique is playing bigger part in that, don’t you agree Crusch?”
“I do think it best to think a little before doing something, I guess Kenho need to pay more attention to that?”
I don’t know what the hell they’re talking about, and I don’t want to know.
First, let’s use [Clean] and join them.
“Oi! You there! Don’t enter the bath with your clothes on!”
— said the prince while pointing his finger at me.
“Oh? What’s the matter?”
“What? this is your first time? Normally, you take a bath naked, take off your clothes.”
I calmly respond like an ignorant person; this will give him a sense of superiority since he thinks he knows what’s he’s talking about. The prince was blowing his nose while looking down on me.
“… but you guys also wear cloth around your waist?”
“Towel is the matter of debate, but without it you will see my crotch, so it’s not an option this time, and these towels has been purified, so it won’t pollute the hot water.”
Okay. Where do I start? (to tsukkomi him)
First, this prince knows the rules of the Japanese bath. The towel itself is sold as commodities in the Empire’s capital, so it’s not surprising if he knows about this.
BUT, the matter about to use a towel or not in the bath is not something common, it’s possible that such culture take root in Daido Country, but this is clearly Leona’s influence at work. In this case, it means that the royal family of Daido are under God of Chaos influence too, scary.
Second, he doesn’t know about this bathrobe and assumes it’s my clothes, no good prince… you need to do your homework before you go to your negotiation in the future.
“Okay now? You understand right? It’s a common sense to take a bath naked.”
“No, this is called bathrobe, and this is the same kind cloth that wrapped around your waist.”
“What? Are you going to wash yourself in that?”
“No. This is to hide my body?”
“that’s the firstt time I heard about it… But no! You need to take the bath naked, and only towel is permitted to be used in the bath, that’s the rules! Do you understand that now?”
The prince snort, annoying.
In Daido, that’s probably a fact. But here is not Daido country, in this Empire, basic hygiene is done by casting [Clean] on yourself, and towel only used to wipe your body.
“Hey you, he is the prince of Daido, it’s better for you to do as he says.”
“Yes, just do as prince say, take off your clothes.”
Oi underlings, don’t push your authority to undress me. Do you really want to see my naked [Super Transformaton] body so badly?
“No, no, what are you saying? please don’t force your Daido country custom here, this is Raverio Empire, right? This country has its own custom, it doesn’t matter if it the bath in your room or public bath place, it’s still embrassing to expose your skin to others.”
“Muh, that’s a good point.”
“I guess that’s true….”
…huh?
When I point out the logic behind my point, the prince withdrew quickly, this is unexpected.
“So… that means, we are the one who violating the manners? Is that true?”
And now he asked me if he was bothering us by only using a towel in his waist.
What’s up with this guys, is this how Daido royalty think?
“It’s not like that, you don’t need to use bathrobe, and I don’t know how royalty custom works, it just… for us commoner we aren’t used to be seen naked in public, so people use this to cover their body.”
“I see, you don’t have a problem with our towel then?”
“Yes, as long as it purified and did not pollute the bath’s water.”
“umu, this was good lesson, thank you.”
After saying that, the prince turned his palm toward me as if to raise his hand. Then he nodded his head slightly.
“…hm? do commoners have different greeting to show courtesy? is this another difference in custom of our country?”
“Oh… so that’s what it means. Is that the royal family’s way of showing respect?”
I’ve been thanked just now, so I bow my head a little.
“eh, what is this mean? I never know that gesture.”
“So in here, they bowing their head, he is probably paying you respect, prince.”
“hoo, you have a good insight, and you’ve got the nerve to talk back to royalty… I like it, won’t you become my subordinate?”
Somehow… he likes me? Well, I’m not going to be his subordinate.
TL notes
… I want to write the [shadow] name as Djungarian … same as hamusuke’s race from overlord… but it’s missing one word. Very very tempted though.
