Madam had guided the group to the hot springs, and it was quite the uproar.
The thoroughly polished tiles, the several bathtubs, the steam covering the whole area, the hot water that is varied in color, a shower that lets out water with a single switch.
This was like the "Shangri-La" that appears in fairy tales.
"What"s this soap?!"
"My hair…my hair is being moistened…!"
"Aah…this bubble bath. I feel like melting here just like this…"
"Bedrock bath…This is a first…"
The surprise and commotion of the group, as well as their delight, was not stopping —there"s no way it would.
This place is the ideal land where every dream is made real.
If you are a woman, this would be nothing other than the promised land you dream of.
While Madam explained to each and every one of them with a smile on her face, there were times when female Bunnies would come with exquisite iced water and juice. You can also order cold wine and ale, though that"s only limited to the open air bath.
It truly is a Shangri-La that melts body and heart.
(You girls won"t be able to escape anymore…) (Ebifry)
A smile surfaces in the face of Madam as she soaks in the herb bath, Green Forest, that she likes. But well, that smile is not an evil one. It is more like the smile of a child that had succeeded in their prank.
Because just by knowing there"s a dreamlike facility like this, it is already worth a great amount.
More so when they are influential powers.
They will think of it as an honor, and will brag about it to the people around them, spreading it widely.
There were some n.o.bles who liked wearing the unusual kimonos, and them being the first ones to experience this would bring great benefit for them.
"I am not going to leave this bath ever…!"
"Me as well, this electric bath is…ahaaaah…!"
"This jar bath is calming."
"Wife-sama…I would also like to try entering that jar."
"No! This jar is mine!"
Seeing them act like children, Madam lets out a laugh.
Because she is aware that if Luna had not been by her side at that time, she would have ended up just like them.
(Anyways, divide it, huh…) (Ebifry)
Madam thinks…that the mediator money for this facility will be far higher and overwhelming than imagined.
Why divide it?
She thinks about how she asked Tahara directly about it.
He had those sleepy s.p.a.ced-out eyes of his, and his usually unenergetic figure that could only be seen as being full of openings…
(Tahara Isami. An incredibly scary man…and also, a nice man.) (Madam)
Madam thinks about that event at times and trembles at it.
That trusted retainer of Maou would kill anyone no matter who it is if Maou orders it.
Also, that blue light at the depths of his eyes, at times, would let "that" peek out, and it would by no means bore a woman.
(But obviously, it doesn"t surpa.s.s the charm of Maou-sama though…) (Ebifry)
For Madam who has seen many men, those two men are irresistible. The charm they exude mixes with that danger of possibly being killed with one wrong step, making that strange allure of theirs feel like magic.
Tahara"s voice replays in the mind of Madam while she wrapped in the scent of the forest.
{Divide? Well that obviously means we are "comrades" enjoying the same benefits, right? By doing that, we can reduce the chances of being stabbed in the back. Aren"t you familiar with this kind of scenarios?} (Tahara)
It is exactly as he says.
As long as they are in a relationship where they both turn the wheel with their strength, there"s no idiot who would attack it. You would only be facing a loss by doing that.
{Also, it is not bad to have the h.o.a.rded money move. If the tops only acc.u.mulate and don"t vomit any out, the economy would stop and die. Making it move and profit is a strategy no matter the world.} (Tahara)
h.o.a.rded money, stopped economy; by moving them like surging waves, you spread the money and energy to the people. Madam was seeing Maou in that very position.
It is no mistake. If you only look at one side of it, it does look that way.
(That Maou-sama will one day -most definitely- conquer this country…this continent.) (Ebifry)
Madam didn"t feel any dissent at this.
On the contrary, she is trying to push that with all she can.
Since the moment she was born, she has been cursing her own body countless times, and prayed to the Angels.
That eager wish of hers wasn"t fulfilled once.
However, the one who stretched a hand to her, and made it "scream out in agony", was the one who is darker than black —the Demon Lord.
That deep voice of his that remains in her ears replays.
{Welcome…to my world.}
Every time she thinks back on that voice, the whole body of Madam shivers.
It was an unknown fear. However, that voice had a strange pull that made her sure he would be able to guide her all the way.
(My Angel would be…that Maou-sama…) (Ebifry)
The Demon Lord in legends is an incredibly fearsome being.
But the fallen angel Lucifer who was said went against the Great Light in the beginning of times, was also called the Demon Lord, Satan.
That bold and fearless figure of his, and those words that felt like they could make everything into reality, were strangely overlapping with that legend.
Madam earnestly thinks.
It is true that if it is that Maou, he would even go against "heaven". Or more like, he would grab "heaven", bring it down to the ground, and have it submit.
(An Angel, and also a Demon Lord. There"s no other being aside from that one…) (Ebifry)
While thinking something like that, Madam entrusts her body to the bath.
The scent of the forest silently covered her whole body, and the feeling of being inside the forest even when she is inside the bath befuddled Madam thoroughly.
"Without this construction work, it would have been bad."
"Earning in the warring times is tough after all…"
Tahara walks inside the village while in Steath Stance.
There"s many people specialized in carpentry and public work, but within the workers, there"s also many adventurers hired. Their physical strength and willpower are fit for physical work.
They are being paid 5 big copper coins. Being able to gain this much without risking their lives is a sweet deal.
But well, the carpenters who are specialized in this area to earn a living are paid twice as much though.
The amount of money paid to people who are only strength and willpower, compared to the ones who have polished their skills and have acc.u.mulated several years of experience, will obviously be different.
Rather than chasing their dreams, they chose a steady and legitimate occupation, gaining experience and technique. No matter the world, it doesn"t change the fact that this is the intelligent way of living.
Especially because when adventurers dive into dungeons, they don"t dive on their own, so the earnings will all be divided per person. Because of that, the distribution by contribution is terrible.
For example; if a team of 20 were to dive into a dungeon, the danger will indeed decrease, but in terms of earnings, it isn"t something that they would be able to do while maintaining a lifestyle.
And so, they make teams of 2-4. Because that"s the best balance of "safety" and "earnings".
There"s many rookies who rush on their own and die, and it isn"t rare to hear stories about people who get overconfident after ranking up and would bring many people, and yet, get wiped out.
"At any rate, the bathhouse here is awesome!"
"Right?! h.e.l.l, I would like to live here."
"I hope they make an inn."
While listening to all this, Tahara thoroughly checks the details of the work.
He was particularly fixated in the path that serves as the foundation of this village. He spread out fine stone pavings, and has carefully had it casted magic several times so that it doesn"t break.
That"s because he is sure that, in the near future, carriages will be doing round trips here incessantly.
(Gotta increase the number of commuting carriages…) (Tahara)
Just like the adventurers say, there"s no inn at this village. After finishing their day job, they use carriages to head back to Yahoo city.
They are, so to say, walking advertis.e.m.e.nt paG.o.das, and there"s the need for them to return to the city no matter what in order to spread the word.
They would return to the city and speak about it —about the facility called bathhouse.
That there"s work in Rabi Village, that you can earn to eat; that there"s an uncommon construction work they don"t really understand; those at a glance would sound fishy, but the place where the construction work is being done in is Rabi Village, and when they learn that the one responsible for the whole work is one of the Holy Maidens, Luna, the story changes.
It would turn into an official thing, and it would become a "public project".
Having a trusted figure as the helm of something, every single one of them would be able to calmly work.
(And so, the Holy Maiden in question is…) (Tahara)
Tahara approaches the residential area of the Bunnies, and there was Luna standing up on top of a wooden box acting proudly. They have moved the fields to this area, but compared to before, they are now using much better soil.
It is not just any soil, but something that"s called
(I actually would like to have a big variety of crops grown though…) (Tahara)
Cabbages, cuc.u.mbers, eggplants, potatoes, radishes, onions; Tahara would have liked to grow many crops like those and sell them at a high price in the market, but the more he looks at the market, the more the carrots excel in price in comparison.
Because only Bunnies are able to properly grow them, it is practically a monopoly.
Thinking about it in this way, he had no choice but to judge the carrots as the most profitable.
"We are going to make elegant carrots worthy of my village!" (Luna)
"…I don"t think there"s any elegance to be found in food though." (Tahara)
"Kyaaaa! Don"t suddenly appear, you stalker!" (Luna)
"Why would I even be stalking you for…?" (Tahara)
Tahara lights up a tobacco, and looks at the Bunnies who were doing field work as if they were having fun.
Right now they are having the field group and facility employees alternate mutually, but in time, they will listen to the personal opinions as well as evaluate their affinities, and have them concentrate on one field.
"Looks like it should be fine to expand the fields…Quite impressive." (Tahara)
Tahara says this calmly while puffing out smoke.
It is an incredible work efficiency unbelievable of this small amount of people. It surpa.s.sed the level of being fit to do farming work.
(It is actually the earth and the crops who love the Bunnies.) (Tahara)
It is exactly because Tahara is unquestionably loved by all the firearms of the world that he is able to think in this way.
By the way, pointing a gun at this man was out of the question. It would get jammed at a high rate, and attacks would end up blank. At worst, it would discharge spontaneously, and their equipped firearm would get damaged.
For the people who use firearms as their main weapon, this would be their worst enemy. For some reason he was popular with the female players, but for the male players, they would go: "d.a.m.n siscon! Die!" and criticise him aplenty.
"And so…when will he be coming back?" (Luna)
"Hm?" (Tahara)
"As I said! H-Him, him!" (Luna)
"Ah, you talk about Chief-dono? Ojou-san, Yuu, and that other girl…" (Tahara)
Tahara shakes his head in amazement.
That"s right, his overwhelming popularity with girls was as high as usual. Even in his previous world, that Maou would be a popular person that would be fighting for the 1st and 2nd place in the whole world.
Maou is the organizer of the Game that is being broadcasted to the whole world inside the game, and as the one in charge of it all, he would show in TV from time to time – sometimes, as the chairman of the "Game". You could say he is the man that monopolizes the whole world"s fate.
It was not on the realm of a movie star, he was a famous person that would gather the gazes of everyone in the whole world. Of course, those gazes were not from admiration, but mostly from resentment.
You could say his close-aides of the Nightless Castle are also famous people. They would be featured in TV several times, and there was no one who wouldn"t know about them.
Their heads have an astronomical sum of money set on them, and if someone is able to defeat one of them, they would not only be able to live for their rest of their lives in luxury, they would be able to play around for 10 lives worth.
It was on the level that, just seeing the humans in this world not showing any reaction at all after seeing him, he could tell that this is a parallel world.
(If I remember correctly, there were pa.s.sionate maniacs following Chief-dono…) (Tahara)
Maybe because of the effect of being featured in TV several times, a group called NINE was born, and it was a group that pa.s.sionately supported Kunai Hakuto.
They would have hats or armbands with [9], [NINE], or [Kyu] written on them, and would display them.
"So Ojou-chan is also one of the NINE, huh…" (Tahara)
"Nain…?" (Luna)
"Well, anyways, I will tell him you are getting lonely." (Tahara)
"W-W-W-Who is getting lonely?! It is okay for someone like him to never return!" (Luna)
"Yeah yeah." (Tahara)
Tahara says half-heartedly and then steps into the merchant area.
Chapter 60: Close Aides (Nice, this is how a merchant should be.)
Looking at the many stands, bars, and food carts lined up, Tahara nods up and down.
At the deepest part of the area, there"s the bathhouse, and in the path leading to it, there"s many stores lined up. They would light up brightly at night like night businesses in festivals.
Many of the stores here have a simplistic design, and the things that are being sold are all simple too.
By the way, the stores in this area don"t have to pay a tenant fee. If they get a sell, the money will enter their own pockets which is a dreamlike benefit.
In exchange for that, Tahara has clearly told them that the stores that are not popular will be mercilessly changed. By doing that, they can retain the popular stores and increase the quality.
Maou is not expecting a single bit of profit from this area. The objective of this place is purely to gather people and gain liveliness.
"Tron-san, there seems to be skewers of Rampaging Chicken over there!" (Aku)
"Eat!" (Tron)
Aku and Tron were going around the food carts like they were having fun. Seeing them, Tahara enters deep in thought —about just what in the world is that Aku girl.
(I can somewhat get it for Tron.) (Tahara)
She has an unbelievable physical strength that"s hard to believe is coming from a child, and also has a mysterious ability of seeing people in "colors". For Tahara, those are abilities worth catching the eye of Chief-dono and scouting her.
"Chief-dono" is the type of man that would gather skilled people under him if he had the chance no matter how evil of a person they were, and it was part of his job.
However, from what Tahara has seen…Aku has nothing of the sort.
(That"s just a child… Or does she have something special I can"t see?) (Tahara)
Can"t understand. Tahara can"t understand.
And in reality, Kunai Hakuto wouldn"t have even glanced at her.
That"s why it made it even harder to comprehend.
They don"t know that the person inside of him, Oono Akira, had taken a liking to her. There"s no way anyone would be able to know this unless they are a G.o.d.
(Whichever the case, she is the number one target for protection.) (Tahara)
If Tahara had to choose someone he had to protect in this village, he would without doubt choose Aku.
Even if that meant…everyone aside of her dies because of this.
(She is also different from Ren and Akane…) (Tahara)
Kunai Hakuto likes people with talent.
Even if they are children, he would invite anyone with talent to the Nightless Castle, and would give them a solid standing. With that in consideration, this girl called Aku must have quite the ‘something" hidden.
(Well, she is not a bad girl. Right now we can just leave it as her being the favorite of Chief-dono.) (Tahara)
Tahara was thinking that while he was heading to the field hospital.
In that place that could be called the dwelling of the witch, there"s already many patients lined up. Many of them are poor people.
They came by carriage from neighboring towns or villages because they heard that they will be able to get medical treatment for cheap.
"My headache has disappeared since drinking that medicine."
"My bruise has also been cured since sticking something called a "compress" to it."
"Yuu-sensei…is way too beautiful…"
"Just having the honor of being touched by that hand of hers, I…"
There"s also a number of n.o.bles who have come here from the word-of-mouth of Madam, though still small in numbers.
The people that have received her medical treatment would speak about G.o.dly medicine, so in time, that fame will spread to the whole Holy Light Country.
"That person"s beauty is like that of the moon!"
"No, it is more like the moon reflected in the water surface."
"At any rate, that"s one unbelievable building… Is this what Madam was talking about "the power of the a.s.sets" of this man called Maou?"
"Who cares about the building! Even when I am this old, I have fallen in love…"
The popularity was mostly good.
The cheap the price and the accuracy of those treatments, but most of all, the beauty of Yuu, were pulling people incessantly.
For Tahara who knows about her real personality, he couldn"t help but laugh.
But for the patients here, she must look like the G.o.ddess of salvation. And in reality, she has many medicines and does treatments diligently.
No, they are indeed treatments, but…for her, they are joy-filled "experiments" where she would learn something new every day.
She wouldn"t only prescribe medicine, Yuu at times would also do "surgical treatments".
For the patients that have been put to sleep with anaesthesia, they are lucky they weren"t able to see what kind of face she was making at that time.
(For Yuu, this is basically an everyday paradise…) (Tahara)
Guinea pigs were making a line every day to reach her.
There"s no doubt she can"t hold her laughter.
But well, her skills as a doctor are certainly there, so there"s no loss for the other party.
(Even if I catch a cold, I deeefinitely won"t come here.) (Tahara)
Just imagining it was making Tahara tremble. He felt like not only his body would be tinkered with, but even the inside of his brain.
No, she can actually do that.
At night, Milligan was hiding in a clump of bushes at a place a bit far from the village, and was staring straight at the Rabi Village. This was completely different from the deserted village that was in his memories, and he felt like he was in a dream right now.
The rusty deserted village was trying to change into "something".
He doesn"t know what that something is.
Milligan is an excellent mercenary, and in battle, you could say he is a competent man.
But that"s all. If you were to take that away from him, he is nothing but a mad dog whose only interest is in pushing excessive violence onto the weak, and plays around with their lives.
(I don"t know what"s going on, but I should kidnap a few Bunny brats.) (Milligan)
What he likes is young girls.
He would hit them thoroughly, knock them about, and watch them scream for help as he plays with them like a rag. It is the only moment where he feels satisfied —no, you could even say he is only alive for that sake.
Even for him, Bunny children are a first.
In this country, there"s many legends saying that Bunnies are loved by Cherubim. Because of this, they are also a species that is hard to approach.
But his employer Dona has finally given him the permission.
The moment Milligan made a step forward in delight, a slow voice resonated from in front of him.
It was a carefree voice that felt like it could take away the strength in your body.
"Yo~, An-chan . Where are you trying to go?"
"…Hm?" (Milligan)
Milligan directs his gaze at the direction of the voice, and there was a board on a thick branch of a tree, and a man is lying on top of that board. Seeing as he has a strange steel pole, he must be a guard.
Milligan felt like laughing.
He has seen many guards until now, but he has never seen or heard of a guard with this much lack of motivation.
Even if this is a poor village, a guard lying down wouldn"t even serve as a scarecrow.
"Well, even if you don"t answer me, I already know though. It is more like a formality."
"Sorry about that, bothering you this late in the night." (Milligan)
Milligan thinks.
Rather than killing this idiot and cause a commotion, it would be better to brush him aside in some way and have him be allowed to enter.
Milligan doesn"t know —that the person showing such an "incompetent sight" has already taken a stance with his sniper rifle and is ready to kill.
Milligan doesn"t know —that he is already in his shooting range, and there"s no person that can escape it at this point.
"Looks like I got lost in my way because of how dark it was. Sorry—" (Milligan)
"That so."
*Pang.
A sound Milligan had never heard before entered his ears. And in that instant, his right leg had been blown apart from the root, and he fell right over.
Milligan fainted from the impact, and he wakes right after from the pain. His mouth was opened widely, and he tried to scream, but he couldn"t let out his voice properly.
That"s because Yuu who was behind him had injected something in him.
"Wait, Tahara! Don"t be excessively violent to the body!" (Yuu)
"You can stick them together and cut them apart anyways. Isn"t it the same?" (Tahara)
"You really are a half-a.s.sed man… You don"t understand how to treat guinea pigs at all!" (Yuu)
"I don"t even want to know how to." (Tahara)
Milligan was listening to their voices as he desperately tried to move his hands and sounded a sign.
A precious magic tool that would send a certain light to a far away place.
But the rear guard that he brought wasn"t showing any signs of moving.
"Ah, sorry. Your comrades at the back are inside here." (Yuu)
Yuu opened the > with a smile, and shows the inside to Milligan.
When he saw "that" which was inside another dimension rather than a bag, Milligan raised a scream that couldn"t be called a scream.
That"s because his comrades were inside there in a strange shape. Both arms were twisted around their necks, and from their bodies that had their blood drained, there"s creepy plants growing from them.
"S-Stop! P-Please spare me… I really was lost…!" (Milligan)
Milligan was crying as he pleads his innocence.
By the time he noticed, the pain in his leg was gone, and that instead amplified his fear even further.
But her expression didn"t change. Her smile deepened further instead.
Milligan looked at Tahara with a desperate expression and seeks for salvation, but what was there was a "daily life face" as if he were talking about what to have for tomorrow"s dinner.
"You have been peeking at the village since morning, didn"t you?" (Tahara)
"N-No…I was lost…" (Milligan)
"Heeh, Tron, what do you think?" (Tahara)
"This person is lying. Guilty-na no." (Tron)
"Right~. My senses are also telling me that this guy is a piece of trash lower than vomit." (Tahara)
Who knows since when she was there, but Tron enters the conversation casually.
Albeit impossible, even if Tahara were to accept the excuse of Milligan, Yuu wouldn"t —he was "already dead".
"Now, let"s go… I will have you become important soil." (Yuu)
"R-R-Release me, please…save me…!!" (Milligan)
Yuu grabbed the hair of Milligan and drags him away.
It was like a pitiful insect being taken away by a monster.
"Yuu, it is okay to do whatever you want when you are playing, but properly get the information out, okay?" (Tahara)
"Yeah, leave it to me. I am good at interrogations and "playing doctor"." (Yuu)
"Hiih. Heard that, Tron? Even if you feel bad, don"t go to her place, got it? I honestly don"t want to hear it, but…what is this about "soil"?" (Tahara)
"I am raising a new plant. They grow by sucking blood from the body, but it blooms into a beautiful flower…no, it makes them bloom. I was thinking about giving those flowers as a present to Chief when he returns from the north." (Yuu)
Hearing those words of Yuu, Milligan desperately struggled, but she wasn"t budging at all. The person herself, who was speaking of such a scary thing, had an expression like that of a middle schooler preparing a love letter.
"Hey, Tahara, Chief will be happy about that, right?" (Yuu)
"Y-Yeah…" (Tahara)
"As I thought! When I tested it out on his comrade-sans just now, I felt like the color of the flowers grew more vibrant when I inflicted them pain. I will have this one work hard too." (Yuu)
"R-Right…" (Tahara)
Leaving Tahara whose face was twitching, and Tron who was innocently saying "bye bye~", Yuu carried the "soil" with glee.
Milligan was trying to wring out a desperate voice while being dragged by the witch.
"I…I don"t know…anything…I simply came here…to play as I was told!" (Milligan)
"It is okay. Onee-san will do her best so you can talk honestly. Right, I have a skill called [Memory Alteration]. To put it simply, humans are basically a single body of many memories." (Yuu)
"What…are you saying…" (Milligan)
"For example; your age is a "memory", right? If I were to alter it to 8 years old, your body and mind will return to that of a child and you will be able to talk honestly. Altering your gender might be nice too. Altering your parents might not be bad either. If I become your mother, you will be able to speak about a lot of things without worries, right?" (Yuu)
Yuu stands continues explaining like a teacher in front of a blackboard.
As it went on, the face of Milligan gradually got bluer, and finally, he ended up pale.
[Memory Alteration] was originally a skill that would reset her own Kill Count. Of course, this was to defend against powerful attacks like Sense of Justice and All-or-Nothing.
But because in this world everything including the background details of the world are applied, the uses increase explosively.
A skill that can alter memories. You can become an angel or a demon with this.
"Do your best for the sake of making Chief happy, okay? Onee-san will do her best too." (Yuu)
"S-Save me…!" (Milligan)
"Ahahahaha! Iiiidiot." (Yuu)
The pitiful voice of Milligan finally made Yuu laugh.
It is her…no, this is the actual face of the witch.
"Nooo one will save you, you know? Have you released someone after being told that? You haven"t, right? That"s why I won"t do it either. There"s no way I would. You are not going to die as a human, but as a plant. In time, you will also forget how to speak." (Yuu)
"No…NOOOOOOO!!" (Milligan)
"Ara, what a nice energetic voice. I have been thinking this lately. Dirtying the shoes of Chief is an act of utmost disrespect even if it is an ant. It is the ant that has to open the path, don"t you think?" (Yuu)
Yuu admonishes him gently, and then stores Milligan in the Spare Bag together with his torn leg.
The next day, the Rabi Village welcomed a peaceful morning as if nothing had happened.
And in reality, "nothing" happened.