WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Abood

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◈ The Saviour Embarks on a Nameless Journey

Chapter 37: Bath

“I don’t know what sort of band you’ve gathered here, but I’m a wanderer myself. Like I told the Boss, folk who settle down in towns are bound to see things differently from us.”

What he had said to me, Tain now told to Marius as well. Still, since our immediate destination was the same, the adults settled the matter between us.

Next came the children. Unless the situation were dire, the opinions of our traveling companions had to be heard equally.

We left the manor and went to the two who were training with the soldiers. In the practice yard, the pair were moving skillfully against multiple opponents at once.

“I’d heard rumors on the road, but… they really are just girls. Seeing how absurdly strong they are, I can believe it, but still at that age they ought to be under an adult’s protection. Training is one thing, but dragging them into real battles? That’s not right.”

Tain wasted no time in giving his criticism. But these two were also on a journey to find the weapons that suited them.

“They carry the blood of the Hero. At that age, they’re already upon the path of seeking their weapons.”

“The Hero’s blood?”

“Not Shato’s, mind you. But something close to it… or perhaps more distant?”

So I answered Tain when he pressed me.

Alina’s bloodline is close to Shato’s, but as for Io’s ducal house, I do not know to what extent. It is certain they carry royal blood, yet in order to preserve that lineage, their marriages have become all tangled.

The practice yard rang with the girls’ voices, soft, high, yet firm. One sent grown men flying, keeping soldiers at bay.

Behind her, another girl, while shielded by the first, busied herself with body-strengthening magic and drawing off multiple opponents so she could protect her comrade.

“The blood of the Hero, huh… Then I’ll wish them luck in battle.”

This reasoning of ‘the Hero’s blood’ is much the same as when I set out upon my journey under the pretext of ‘the Oracle.’ To become a Hero is near to being chosen by the goddess herself, and to fulfill the goddess’s will.

Just like the goddess’s Oracle, it is treated with absolute respect, never questioned, and the actions expected of a Hero are taken as a matter of course.

When their training was done, I called the two over and introduced Tain. Neither raised objection, and so it was settled that he would accompany us.

We set our meeting for sunrise tomorrow, outside the gates.

Tain refused to be escorted to the manor gate. Waving to those we had passed on the way in, he strolled off lightheartedly through the magistrate’s grounds.

This place was open to townsfolk and lightly guarded. Even so, to be that at ease was unusual.

Thinking so, I returned to the library, where Marius was gazing out the window.

Hm. Steam was rising. A bit earlier than usual, perhaps they had begun heating the bath.

“I’ve gotten the two girls’ agreement as well.”

“So our destination is Terenoa, the city where the highways meet. It was also the first town where we slew a Core-bearer, wasn’t it?”

“Aye.”

The Core was a black crystal that appeared in monsters granted miasma directly from the Demon King.

Unlike ordinary beasts that had simply grown violent after being stirred by the Demon King’s scattered presence, a Core was proof of one personally strengthened by his will.

“I wonder what has become of that crystal now…”

Marius’s gaze turned distant. Whether from nostalgia or worry, I could not tell.

“We’ll know once we see it for ourselves.”

Within that sealed space, the transparent crystal should still be shining. Much like my white-haired head.

“Well then, from tomorrow it’s back to camping under the stars. Might as well have a bath while I can.”

Not a morning bath, but an afternoon one.

As with my own manor, here too the water was heated in another room and carried through pipes into each chamber.

The baths had two faucets, one for cold water and one for hot. The cold tap always ran water, while the hot only did so during the hours when they were heating it. Outside those times, both taps gave only cold.

Normally, the heating was timed a bit later to coincide with baking bread for supper. But today, they had begun earlier.

Likely Alina and Io had cut short their training with the soldiers in preparation for tomorrow’s departure, and so the baths had been heated ahead of time for them to wash afterward.

And how did I know? Because there were places where steam leaked from the pipes.

I did worry it might mean water leakage, but when I mentioned it to the servants, they didn’t seem concerned in the least.

So, probably, it was fine. A bit too carefree, though, wouldn’t you say?

“Come to think of it, during baths, what does Lord Shinju do?”

Perhaps struck by sudden curiosity, he asked me.

“Hangs from my shoulder to my back.”

At this point I was half-tempted to use Pya as a towel.

“Clings on deftly, even without clothes to grab hold of.”

Marius made a peculiar face at my words.

“…Just be careful not to leave any soap behind.”

Whatever he was imagining, those uneasy words reached my ears just as the library door was closing. Oi now, I don’t wash it, you know!

I returned to the room allotted to me and took a bath. If there is one complaint I have about traveling, it would be this. In summer, a wash in cold water is enough, but in winter, undressing outdoors becomes a dreadful bother.

Pya, though, seems to be completely waterproof. Or perhaps it just lets the water pass through. Even when I soak myself in the bath, it doesn’t get wet. So when it vanishes, does everything about it become permeable?

Its nature is beyond me, and I’ve no idea why it stays on my back. Is it truly a sacred beast, I wonder?

From the next room, the sound of Alina and Io’s laughter leaked through. It seemed they had finished their training and returned.

Though neither ever shows signs of weariness or dislike toward the hardships of camping outdoors, it was clear the bath brought them joy.

Footnotes:

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