第１６１６堀：彼の意図について (Part2)
Mikosh and I exchanged glances.
Only one man used the men's bath in this house.
"I want to ask about what just happened, so I'm going, but what about you, Mikosh?"
"If it's a bath with Yuki-sensei, I'd happily go~"
"Just so you know, it won't turn into 'that.' Though I wish it would."
"Well, I know that."
I couldn't imagine doing 'that' while discussing the current situation.
Still, I held out hope.
With such thoughts, I opened the wall door leading to the men's bath and stepped in...
"Haaah... Normally, I'd be excited for a bath."
"Indeed. When the message came from Alstaire, I didn't know what to do."
"Well, what's done is done, I guess."
There, where the usual mixed-bath team, who would normally be flirting with Yuki, should have been, Seraria and Rurua were soaking in the open-air bath with utterly dejected expressions.
Their attendants, Prof, Ryushi, and Orelia, also looked equally serious.
Amidst them, Yuki, seemingly unconcerned, leisurely replied and began washing his body first.
Seeing him, everyone else, perhaps remembering the cold, quickly started washing themselves too.
"Hmm, for Seraria and Prof not to notice us, it must be something serious."
"True. Still, there's no reason to hold back. It's cold."
Although we had warmed up, this was an open-air bath, and the winter cold struck our bodies, quickly lowering our temperature.
So, we immediately entered the men's bath.
The heat of the hot spring seeped into our chilled bodies.
Then,
"Oh~, Kagura-sama and Mikosh-sama~?"
It was Hobis who noticed our presence.
That girl has a figure as voluptuous as Mikosh's, though Hobis is taller.
Seraria, Orelia, and Prof are similar to me in terms of style, but their heights are Seraria > Orelia > me > Prof. Prof, being petite and well-proportioned, looks quite bouncy.
Like Labyris? No, Labyris is off the charts.
And Yayui, while having a proper bust and being cute, is slender in style, like Tori, Riel, Fiora, and Cleena.
As for Ryushi, like Rurua, she's literally a busty, bouncy bombshell.
Yuki says Ryushi is smaller, but you can't tell at a glance.
More than anything, when they're wet and their hair is down like this, you can see how much they resemble each other.
Anyway, putting that aside, Hobis's voice made everyone realize we were there, and their gazes turned to us.
"Oh? Were you here?"
"No, we heard Yuki come in, so we came over from the women's bath."
"I see, but it's a shame. This isn't a situation where you can join in."
"I came to ask you about that, Yuki."
"Yuki-sensei~. Kagura told me, isn't it quite bad? Kagura said she was being cornered and it was tough~"
At that, Yuki finished shampooing and came over to us.
"It's not so bad as to be 'terrible.' Well, I'm sorry, Kagura. I had to make it look like I was panicking."
"We expected it, but why didn't you tell us?"
"Well, if I had been all relaxed and made arrangements with Kagura and the others, it would have felt like they were in the palm of my hand, wouldn't it? That would lead to suspicions that I was using the cores as an excuse to distribute them."
Yuki said this as he sank into the bath.
Along with him, Rurua and Ryushi also entered, and as expected, the larger ones floated.
Seraria, being quite substantial, also floated, as did Mikosh.
...I think I floated too. After all, Orelia and Prof, who have similar figures, were floating.
"Ah, so that's it. Indeed, if you're told, 'I'll give them to you with plenty of余裕,' you might hesitate. Especially with Yuki-sensei."
"Right. Haha..."
"Is that how it is, Rurua-sama?"
"Yes, it is. Ryushi, weren't you uneasy when your husband helped you for free?"
"Ah. I see, I understand perfectly."
Putting aside the floating chests, I understood Yuki's intention.
He was making it easier for them to accept.
"If I'd handled it poorly, some people might have even claimed I was connected to dark guilds. By rushing to provide the cores, I hoped to prevent such accusations."
"That's right. I've heard from my damn father that there are people who dislike Weed and are saying that the Sulus incident, among other things, was Weed's own doing. So, this situation needed to appear as if it was done in a hurry. Kagura, you were dragged into that meeting, weren't you?"
"Yes. It was truly difficult. I was bombarded with questions, and once they realized I knew nothing, they seemed relieved that it turned into a yakiniku party."
While I felt relieved to understand Yuki's intentions, a sigh escaped me at the thought of how busy things would become again.
If he had been as meticulously prepared as usual, that would have been a problem in itself.
It's such a hassle, isn't it?
Even for something like this.