v1c27 - Piggyback Ride after a long time and the Long-Desired Bath
“[Holy Cross]!”
Ellie’s lightning magic stopped the golem’s movement, Nina scraped them down, and I put an end to it.
Through repeated coordination, we were able to defeat all three Golems.
“I’m glad everyone is safe for the time being. But, Ellie, you shouldn’t go into the cave alone.”
“I-I’m sorry. But …… When you were doing to Lydia what Alex did to me, the moment I saw that, I ran away.”
The thing that I was doing to Ellie and did to Lydia too …… What’s that?
Oh, does she mean the magic supply? But it’s necessary to use spirit magic, and I don’t think there’s any way around it.
“Um, Ellie was lonely, right?”
“I-I’m lonely …… wait, Nina!? I-I ……”
“I get you. I don’t want to be the only one who is different from everyone else. I don’t want to be alone anymore.”
“Oh …… I see. Nina is …… and Ms. Lydia too ……”
“Then, you can just ask Mister to give you a piggyback ride. And then it’s Nina’s turn.”
“U-Uh …… O-Okay. Alex, it’s been a while, but will give me a piggyback ride?”
Nina and Ellie agreed that I would give Ellie a piggyback ride, but…
“Fufufu …… It’s been a while since I’ve felt Alex’s back.”
Ellie looked happy, so I guess it’s good.
“Now then, what should we do now …… Golems are not the kind of monsters that spring up spontaneously, after all. If possible, I would like to investigate this area in the future.”
“I agree. Usually, a golem won’t move unless there is some kind of conjurer present.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Anyway, let’s go back and get our gear ready. I only have a sword, and Ellie doesn’t have her staff either.”
Probably, if Ellie had a proper wand, she would have been able to defeat the golem more easily with the power of her original magic.
“Fufufu. Nina is great for having a pickaxe. Praise me, Mister.”
“Yes, you did. You did great.”
“Ehehehe, I’ve been praised. And also, since I’ve grown the moss, we can find the way to this place from the entrance.”
“As expected of Nina.”
We returned above with Ellie still wrapped around me and went back to the cabin.
The sun was setting, and when I was about to tell Lydia to cook dinner…
“Mister. I got a lot of iron from the golem earlier, so I can make the bath now!”
“Oh, at last! Nina …… please make it!”
“Yes! Cold showers is hard for Nina too, after all! I’ll make it as soon as possible!”
Nina told me a pleasant thing.
While we waited for the bath to be ready, I wondered what I could do to help …… so Ellie and I went to the field to pick the ingredients Lydia had asked for.
“Alex …… sorry about this time. You even had to pick me up deep inside the cave.”
“Yeah. I’m glad you’re safe, but when I found out you went into the cave alone that’s filled with the monsters, it chilled me to the bone.”
“I-I’m sorry ……”
“I can’t fulfill my promise to protect Ellie if I’m not there, after all”
“Alex …… you remembered that promise.”
“Of course. It’s a promise, after all.”
“Alex ……!”
For some reason, Ellie suddenly hugged me…
“Seriously. I thought that you guys were quite late so I came to check on you, but …… what are you doing?”
Right after that, Lydia appears with a serious look in her eyes.
“What!? This is, uh …… a bug! I was scared because there were bugs on the vegetables.”
“Heh …… even though you killed scorpions all over the place, you’re afraid of a little bug in the vegetables, huh?”
“T-They’re monsters, after all.”
“Hmmm …… M-Mr. Alex. I’m afraid of bugs too!”
“There’s no way an Elf could be afraid of bugs! You lived in a forest, after all!”
For some reason, even Lydia hugged me.
“Geez, you guys! I was going to ask you about the shape of the bath, but why are you hugging each other here!? Please let Nina join you!”
Nina, who hates to be left out of the group mixed in like she always do, then we decided to return to the cabin.
The four of us then discussed the shape of the bathtub, and decided that a too complicated structure would be impossible, so we settled on a box shape that would be large enough for me to sit in even with my legs stretched out.
I asked Lydia or Ellie to fill it with water, and then they would put a fire in the heating place under the bath to make hot water.
“…… And, it’s done! There’s a little lid that slides on the bottom, and when you open it, the hot water drains out of the stone walls into a moat!”
“Nina is amazing. It can even change the hot water.”
“Yes! Nina loves taking a bath, after all! Even the sides are angled slightly so you can soak in the water while guph-ing!”
I didn’t understand what he meant by guph-ing …… but it seems that there were various devices in place to make it easier.
“But, although some consideration has been given to the structure, the bathtub is still made entirely of iron, so be careful when it is being heated or immediately after heating, because the bathtub itself is heated and you cannot enter it.”
“In other words, you have the bathtub filled with hot water first, and then you go in after a while.”
“That’s what I mean! Therefore, Lydia, please!”
The bathtub that Nina had made next to the shower area was filled with water and heated from below by the fire that Lydia had created.
Lydia says that the fire can be maintained at a distance of about the distance of a cabin, so there is no need to stay in front of the bathtub while it is heating ……
So by the time we all finished dinner…
“Ohh! A bath! Thank you, Nina!”
The water was just the right amount, and the bath was ready.
“Yay! Then, Mister! Let’s get in right away!”
“Oh, you’re right! …… wait a minute. I’m not sure we need to get in the bathtub together, no matter how big it is.”
“Oh, now that you mention it. Who wants to go in first?”
“Well, let’s start with the three ladies, shall we? I’ll go in later.”
With this, nothing like the catastrophe of the other day would ever happen again.
Or so I thought…
“Um, Mr. Alex. I’ve got the hot water on, but you can’t wash yourself unless I get the water out, can you?”
“…… Eh? Don’t we have something like a washbasin?”
“By washbasin, are you talking about the pot? I used it for cooking.”
Unfortunately, we ended up taking a mixed bath for a while.