The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
"Unyaaaan♪"
Kanade made a big jump and dove straight into the bath.
Splash! Water sprayed everywhere.
"Hey, Kanade, that’s bad manners."
"Yahho~!"
"Fuhahaha!"
"Ah, Luna!? And Rifa too, copying her… honestly."
Rifa and Luna jumped into the bath the same way, and seeing that, Sora let out an exasperated sigh.
"Listen, Nina? Jumping in like that is against the rules."
"Okay."
"Let’s go in slowly like proper ladies."
Led by Tina, who had taken on an older-sister role for Nina, and Nokia-san, Nina slowly eased herself into the bath.
The rest of the group followed into the water.
"Mmm… this feels wonderful."
"A-an outdoor bath… it’s such a luxury… i-is it really okay for someone like me to be in here?"
"Ofuu…"
Everyone seemed to be soothed by the comfortable outdoor bath, smiling in contentment.
Sakura, too, wore a blissful expression, soaking herself up to half her face.
"Ahh, this is marvelous. Makes me want to drink some sake."
"Fufu, we do have some alcohol."
"Tania-chan, wanna drink together?"
"I already started."
"I’ll pour for you."
The group of mothers had already started what looked like a drinking party.
They seemed to be having a great time.
And no wonder.
After all, starting today, the outdoor bath had finally been reopened.
The Cat Spirit Village had always had an outdoor bath, but it had been neglected due to the hassle of maintenance.
It had fallen into complete disrepair.
But leaving it that way would be a waste.
So, little by little, it had been repaired…
And today, it was finally ready for use again.
And so, to heal from the fatigue of their daily training, they decided to enjoy the outdoor bath together.
All together.
Yes… all together.
"Haa…"
"Huh? Rain, what’s wrong? Your face is red."
"Well…"
"Are you embarrassed? It’s fine—everyone’s wearing swimsuits."
Just as Kanade said, everyone was wearing swimsuits.
Since I, a guy, was here too, it was only natural…
But still, I couldn’t relax.
Even though there shouldn’t be any problem since everyone was in swimsuits, something about being in a bath was stirring strange feelings…
Unlike playing at the beach, for some reason, I didn’t know where to look.
"Ahh… baths really cleanse the soul."
"Indeed, it feels amazing."
"An outdoor bath feels so open—it’s different from usual."
I couldn’t calm down…
But everyone else seemed happy, so maybe it was fine.
"Kuu!"
Kuu was energetically swimming around in the bath.
Can foxes even swim…?
And do they even like baths…?
I wondered, but decided not to think too deeply about it.
Even if I couldn’t fully relax, the outdoor bath was amazing.
It felt so good that the tension naturally left my body.
Even the fatigue from daily training seemed to fade away.
"Hey, hey, Rain-kun. The bath feels great, doesn’t it?"
Milua-san approached me with a smile.
Behind her, her tail swayed gently…
For some reason, it reminded me of a shark.
"Yes, it does."
"By the way…"
"Yes?"
"Tania-chan feels a bit different since we met again. Do you know anything about it? She keeps glancing at you."
"Umm…"
I had a very good idea what she meant…
But given the nature of it, I hesitated a lot about saying it out loud.
"Mom! Don’t ask Rain weird questions!?"
"Ehh? What’s weird about it?"
"Ugh, w-well…"
"You know, if Tania-chan is serious, I won’t object. Of course, I’d feel sad seeing my precious little Tania go somewhere… but more than anything, I want her to be happy."
"Mom!!"
"Kyaa~♪"
It seemed Milua-san saw right through everything.
And on top of that, she had been teasing Tania, earning an angry outburst before running away.
It was noisy…
But this kind of everyday life was really fun.
Remembering when I first met everyone, a smile naturally formed on my face.
"Rain-san, how is the bath?"
Before I knew it, Suzu-san was standing beside me.
"Yes, I’m really enjoying it."
"That’s good. It’s important to relax like this sometimes."
"That’s…"
"I’ve heard roughly what happened recently… from Kanade-chan."
"…"
"I understand why you want to become stronger. But you mustn’t push yourself too hard."
She gently pressed my nose with her finger.
"A taut string will eventually snap. That’s why you need to relax like this once in a while."
"…Suzu-san…"
"They say baths cleanse the soul. Don’t you think it fits perfectly?"
So she had prepared the outdoor bath for my sake.
That thoughtfulness made me really happy.
"That’s… true."
It wouldn’t be easy to immediately change how I felt.
I probably couldn’t neatly sort through everything that had happened until now.
Even so…
Right now, I just wanted to relax like this.
Without wasting Suzu-san’s kindness…
I wanted to cherish this time spent with everyone.
"Suzu-san."
"Yes?"
"…Thank you."
"You’re welcome♪"
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