第６３９堀：人は学び強くなる (Part1)
### Chapter 639: People Learn and Grow Stronger
**Side: Kagura**
*Thump, plop, thud.*
Those three sounds echoed through the room. If you’re wondering what they were…
"Ugh, I just want to sleep like this..."
"I know, right? The bed is so fluffy..."
"B-but... we have to take a bath..."
Yes, those sounds were us collapsing onto our beds. We are currently undergoing the training required to be permitted to participate in the negotiations at the Haire Church Headquarters, and it has been incredibly grueling. I’m fairly certain that we are the only ones in our entire continent experiencing something like this.
After all…
"Ugh. It smells like death."
"At this rate, Solo is right—we won’t be able to sleep."
"…Let’s spray some deodorizer and head to the bath."
In what world is there training that involves being chased by zombies, fighting them, and trying to build up a resistance to the stench of corpses? I suspect this is a unique feature of Weed. We thought we had seen madness back in Onock, but that was just the beginning. The world is vast. Simple corpses and zombies were nothing compared to this.
There are ghosts that only I can see, women crawling toward me on all fours, necks that suddenly rotate 180 degrees—I just can’t deal with it anymore. On the first day, after running around until I was exhausted, I saw a ghost as the finishing blow and ended up fainting—and wetting myself. Even Princess Carrie and Princess Stasia, who were with me, were panicking by the end, so you can imagine how horrific it was.
But that’s enough about that for now. I need to spray the futon with fabric freshener and open the windows to ventilate the room, or I won’t be able to sleep soundly. If I don't, I’ll end up seeing it all in my dreams. Let’s hurry to the bath and wash away the smell of death and the memories.
With that decided, after deodorizing the room, we headed straight for the baths.
"I wish we could have gone to a normal public bathhouse..."
"…I get how you feel, but there’s no way we could go out smelling like this."
"…But Yuki-sensei prepared a bath specifically for us, didn't he?"
That’s right. Yuki had prepared a private bathhouse just for us. It even included both open-air and indoor baths. While it was spacious and relaxing, personally, I prefer the public bathhouse in Weed where everyone gathers and chats, and where there are various shops nearby—it’s much more fun. Being here feels a bit like being in a prison, if I’m being honest.
However, Princess Stasia mentioned that real armies don't have it this good, and I experienced that firsthand during the defense of Bide. There was never any time to bathe, and even though I was supposed to be eating, I never felt like I had actually consumed anything.
As I was thinking about this, we arrived at the bathhouse.
"Welcome."
"Oh, hello."
"Thank you for your hard work, Kirika-san."
"We’ll be using the baths again today."
"Please, wash yourselves thoroughly and take your time."
Sitting at the reception desk was Kirika-san, the captain of Yuki’s direct intelligence unit here in Weed. She has the same black hair as me, but she’s a beautiful woman who makes me look like a child. But don’t be surprised—she is a monster. Apparently, she is an undead-type monster called a Dullahan Assassin, capable of detaching her head. More importantly, because she leads a unit Yuki poured his heart into, their mutual trust is profound.
In our continent, undead have a hard time maintaining their physical forms, so they can’t really exist there. Because of that, she has recently been handling intelligence gathering in Weed and various other countries. The reason she’s sitting at the reception desk right now is that she is the one who schedules our training curriculum. Yuki doesn't have the luxury of planning our training in such detail, so he entrusted it to Kirika-san, who is undead and understands humans well.
Well, I heard Yuki provided the source material for the "haunted house" training…
Naturally, Kirika-san is also immensely powerful. We had a combat training session—five of us, including the Princesses, against her—and we lost in an instant. Even with protective rings on. We were dropped into pits and buried alive three times, engulfed in water twice, and tied up until we couldn't move twice. She taught us through experience not to rely too much on the performance of our equipment. If direct physical attacks don't work, you just have to attack in other ways.
However, Kirika-san herself feels like a kind-hearted older sister, so we don't have any feelings of rejection or aversion toward her. She even guides us to shops with delicious food and acts as our guide in Weed. Even though I’ve been to Weed before, it was only briefly, and I wouldn't be able to guide Micos or Solo, so I think Yuki assigned Kirika-san to us for that reason as well.
As I was changing, Kirika-san suddenly called out to me.
"Oh, by the way, Princess Carrie, Princess Stasia, Amanda-san, Dressa, Vilia, and Hiiro are already inside. They said we should all eat dinner together later. Would you mind if I joined you?"
"Oh, sure."
"You're welcome to join us, Kirika-san."
"Let's eat together."
"Thank you. Oh, and since you three are the last ones using the bath today, would you like to go in together?"
Saying that, Kirika-san entered the changing room and began to undress. Oh no. Her skin is white and incredibly beautiful. *Grrr…* As a woman, I feel a bit frustrated. Perhaps because of the strong patriarchy in our region, tanned skin is seen as a sign that a woman is meddling in men's work, so it isn't favored among the nobility. Having pale skin was a status symbol for young ladies.
"Your skin is so white, as always. I’m envious."
"Ugh… I’m so tanned…"
"Ahaha. Well, as you can see, I’m undead. It’s not so much that my skin is white, but rather that I have no blood flow, so it’s more of a pale blue. Personally, I envy how Solo-san can tan under the sun. I don’t have those kinds of changes anymore."
"I’m sorry for being insensitive."
"I’m sorry."
The two of them apologized to Kirika-san for their rude remarks. I reflected on it, too. Kirika-san didn't choose to die. That white skin is likely proof that she is dead. Why am I being so envious?
"No, no, please don't worry about it. I know you were complimenting me. Thank you for not hating me even though I’m a corpse."
"No!! I could never hate you!!"
"Exactly! Besides, you talk to us so much, isn't the definition of 'dead' wrong?"
"I think Kirika-san is alive, too."
If anyone were to look down on such a wonderful person just because she’s a corpse or a monster, I’d beat them to a pulp.
"I see. That is why the Master allows you to participate in the operation. No, that’s not quite it. Perhaps people with the same sensibilities simply gather together."
"?"
"Never mind. It’s nothing. Now, there’s no point in standing here naked forever, so let’s head to the bath."
Prompted by Kirika-san, we entered the bath area, where the Princesses were moving from the shower stalls to the tub.
"Oh? Kirika-sama? Ah, Kagura and the others have arrived."
"Yes. Princess Carrie, Princess Stasia, how is the temperature?"
"We’re just getting in now. *Sigh*… It’s a wonderful bath."
"It really is. It feels like it’s washing away the fatigue of the day."
As they chatted, the Princesses joined Dressa and the others in the tub. Dressa and the others noticed we had arrived and called out to us.
"You were later than I expected."
"Did it take you a while to escape?"
"Fuaaa…"
I ignored Hiiro, who was floating aimlessly, and answered their questions while washing my body.