CH 22

October 15th, 2022

In the evening, the three of them returned while looking excited.

“We’re back! We found something amazing!”

“Welcome back. Did you happen to find something good?”

I greeted them with clueless expression.

“Yeah. That building south of here, that was the entrance to the dungeon!”

“Oh, my”

I knew that though. But let’s keep up the pretenses.

“It can be considered as great discovery, right captain?!”

“Yeah. Since the dungeons of ancient ruins have a reputation for hiding many treasures”. The strict but honest Captain Milano looked really happy.

However, such things were unimportant for me at the moment, since there’s something more crucial…

“I guess congratulations are in order, then. Well now, I’m sure everyone must be tired, right? I have prepared the bath, so please relieve yourselves of fatigue and dust from your travel. I will prepare for your dinner in the meantime”

Alright, how was my acting? I think I’ve managed to recommend them to take a bath in a perfectly natural way. In conclusion, I tried to make it sound like the Okami of a long-established ryokan. [1]

“Wait, was it here before?” Louise was surprised to see a bath with colorful flowers floating in it.

“Certainly, it has always been here from the beginning”. I blatantly lied. Under no circumstances would I tell them that I had built it in a hurry so that I could see everyone naked.

“Was it, though…?”

“What are you babbling about, Louise? There’s a bath right here, you know. Might as well use it, right?”

Ooohh… that’s a good one, flirty girl! My evaluation of you just went up!

“Yeah. It’s been three months since I last had a bath in the capital’s public bathroom”. Captain Milano happily unbuttoning her cloak.

I put down the three baskets I had made and bowed politely.

“You may put your clothes in here. Well then, please leisurely enjoy your bath”

I left the place for the moment while holding down my happiness. When I glance back, I saw that the three of them were boldly taking off their clothes.

Captain Milano methodically folded her clothes and put them in the basket.

Leanne just threw them in.

Meanwhile, Louise was still shyly taking off her underwear. Her large buttocks were pointing towards me.

BANZAI!!

I yelled loudly in my heart.

Mission accomplished! Three naked bodies were standing in a row behind the steam, this is a tropical heaven! Maybe this what they mean by Shangri-la… [2]

I slowly counted to 180 seconds in order to suppress my excitement. Then while being careful not to show a lewd grin on my face, I approached the bathtub. Of course, this is to get a closer look.

It’s fine, I’m sure this kind of act is permissible in this world. I think.

“How’s the water temperature? I hope it is to your liking”. I cautiously approached the bath, making conscious effort of lowering my gaze so as not to ruin the serene atmosphere.

“The lukewarm water feels just right. It’s amazing how the fatigue seems to just disappear”. Captain Milano has a wonderful body that belies her age.

“The bath water is giving off nice fragrance”

“In addition to flower petals, we also put herbs into the bath water”

Louise seemed to have finally relaxed. Furthermore, out of the three of them, she has the biggest breasts ……. I guess she’s the type that looks slimmer when wearing clothes.

“Shirou-chan, can you wash my back? Actually, you can wash my whole body…”

“Excuse me, I need to prepare the meal…”, I quickly evaded.

That was actually a dangerous situation; if the other two weren’t around, I surely would have jumped to Leanne’s invitation…

After imprinting the appearance of the three bathing in my eyes, I returned to the kitchen. And then I realized, only watching without doing anything had made my excitement pent up almost to breaking point. At this condition, I think I’ll do it with just anyone who invites me.

And so I quickly rushed back to my room….

…15 minutes later, I was in a sage mode, and started preparing dinner after cleaning myself up [3]

——————————————————–

For dinner, I made baked potatoes.

I sauteed onion, garlic, and shredded salted meat in olive oil, then cut up boiled potatoes and added them. For the finishing touch, just sprinkled salt all over and, Voilà, it’s done.

Actually I really wanted to put cheese on it and bake it in the oven, but I didn’t have time to do that. I didn’t have time to make cheese, because I was busy making the bath. Well, considering the order of priorities, it can’t be helped.

Even so, I still managed to make delicious dinner.

I made a soup by boiling cabbage. It’s a simple soup, but I made the broth from the bones of a roasted wild boar, so it’s reasonably rich in flavour.

The only thing missing now is some dessert, if only I can make some…

As I was thinking about it, Louise came over to me after getting out of the bath.

“Um, is there anything I can do?”

She looked so sexy in just her shirt after taking a bath.

“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly ask the guest to help me… That’s right! Louise-san, can you cool the pot using magic?”

“You mean freezing magic? I’m not particularly good at it, but if it’s only cooling a pot then no problem”

“Well then, I’m going to make a Mango Sorbet using the pot. Can I ask for your cooperation in this?”

When I gave her a big grin, Louise nodded furiously.

I put the mango juice and sugar I had prepared in advance into the pot and asked Louise to cool it with her magic.

“I’m going to stir the mixture, so please keep the pot fixed and let it cool, Louise-san”

“Understood”

When Louise used her magic, a cool, chilly air rose from the pot, and the mango juice on the inside of the pot started to freeze. I then used a wooden spatula to scrape it off.

The liquid mango juice gradually hardened as I keep stirring it around.

“Phew, it’s getting hot in here”

I’m beginning to sweat, so I unbuttoned three buttons of my shirt. And then I was back to the stirring process.

Oh, I could feel Louise’s gaze was fixed on me. Well, let’s just say I’m giving a service to Louise, since she has went out of her way to help me.

…hm?

This feeling, I wonder what it was…

Oh I see! It’s like I was gone from being the one who is expecting to get a perverted peek to the one who provides it instead! What a strange feeling…

Should I try going out to take a bath in the middle of the night… If I do so, maybe someone will take a peek.

Whoa. I’ve never had this kind of excitement before. Is it possible that being watched actually feels good? [4]

“Thank you very much. You’re being really helpful”. I thanked Louise while lightly touching her arm.

You know, even on Earth, there were many girls who easily give light touch or tapping. I think it’s an effective way to get the attention of the opposite sex. And especially effective against virgins.

In this world, I think it’s the other way around, but I think if a man does it too much here, he might get  pulled away. [5]

“Don’t worry, no need to thank me…”

“Oh? Should I express my gratitude in other way, then?”. I tried giving her a bewitching smile, as much as I can do.

“N-n-n-n-no neeeedddd….!!”

Uwah… Louise ran away in panic. What the hell, that’s cute.

But you know, Louise, you’re supposed to freeze it a little longer, otherwise the mango sorbet will thaw quickly.

Oh well, it was fun chasing after Louise with the pot.

—————————————————————————–

“Well then, everyone, please take a good rest until tomorrow morning. I will be in the back room, so if you need anything please do not hesitate to ask”.

I greeted them for the night and returned to my room. Also, I didn’t lock my door.

Frankly speaking, I was waiting for one of them to make a night visit.

This is bad. Ever since I’ve seen them naked in the bath this evening, I can no longer contain my excitement.

The person with the highest chance to visit me would be Leanne, the flirty girl.

However, it’s also possible that Louise would come too, since I’ve teased her a lot, maybe she’ll muster some courage to do that.

Or maybe, just maybe, Captain Milano will come? However, if she were to have an affair, thinking about her son will make me sad.

———————————————————————————

I waited all night with full anticipation, but in the end, no one visited my room. Everyone was surprisingly strict.

That flirty girl, Leanne, had peeked when I was bathing, but never crept in at night.

What a disappointment! She lacked courage!

But, I don’t have the courage to visit them myself either, since  I don’t want to be thought of as an easy guy who sleeps with anyone available.

Ah, the male mind can be complicated in this world.

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1 he was referring to the proprietress of a Ryokan (Traditional japanese inn) back on earth’s Japan.

2 Actually it was Paraiso in the Web Novel, but I think Shangri-la is a more familiar terms. Paraiso also means heaven btw

3 Sage mode: In a state of post-nut clarity

4 And so begins, the downfall of Shirou’s morality. Down into the rabbit hole he goes…

5 Not really sure, but I think the author means that, in that world, if a man is initiating contact too much, the woman will take it as a sure sign of being attracted and may become forceful