The New Gate

Book 21: Chapter 1 (8)

“It’s kind of new to me that there’s an entire procedure for taking a bath.”

Filma walked through the door leading to the bath, flanked by a signboard that said “Manners for the bath”. Schnee, Tiera, Sety, Milt, and Yuzuha followed.

Like in the men’s bath, there were no guests other than Schnee and the others.

“Oh, it looks like we have the whole place to ourselves.”

Sety looked around the bathhouse beside Milt, who was excited.

“I wonder if there are many women among the other guests.”

“Well, there are more male adventurers and merchants than females.”

Just as Schnee had said, adventurers who fight a lot of monsters and merchants who often go outside the city tend to be men rather than women.

“We don’t need to worry about that. Let’s hurry up and get in.”

“Ah, so this is a real hot spring.”

Milt’s voice sounded more exhausted than usual as she stretched out her arms and legs and soaked up to her shoulders.

“The baths at Moon Shrine are nice, but this one is different. Maybe it’s the quality of the water.”

Filma said as she lifted her arms and looked at the hot water running over her skin.

Schnee also soaked in the bath next to her and exhaled.

“In terms of efficacy, Moon Shrine is on par with a small hot spring, but I guess the atmosphere also plays a factor.”

The baths at Moon Shrine that Schnee and her group used were not just ordinary water. In terms of efficacy, Moon Shrine’s water might actually be superior, but compared to real hot springs, it felt somehow inferior.

Tiera also seemed to be impressed, as it was her first time at a hot spring.

“This is a hot spring…”

“I can see why people would want to come all the way here. If the other guests don’t go in, they will probably regret it later on.”

“I know, right?”

“Kuh~”

Tiera and Yuzuha were nodding enraptured at Sety’s words. It was obvious to everyone that they liked the hot springs.

“Even so…”

After soaking for a while, Sety slid her gaze around the group of women, keeping it at a constant height.

What she was looking at was a soft flesh-colored object floating in the bathtub.

As she moved her gaze from Tiera, Yuzuha, Filma, Schnee, and Milt in order of proximity, Sety’s expression became more and more grim.

“Sety. Even women should not stare at each other so much.”

“I can’t help it, Sis Schnee. I mean… they’re all too big! I don’t want to notice it either, but when they’re this different, I can’t help but notice it!”

Although Schnee gently reprimanded her, Sety growled in disagreement.

Even if she did not specify where exactly she was referring to, they could tell what she was referring to.

Everyone else except Sety had something that far exceeded the standards of this world.

“I can sort of understand that.”

Sety immediately responded to Milt’s statement.

“Well, how can you tell, Milt? In a way, yours look the biggest out of all of us.”

Milt has a pet.i.te build similar to Sety, but her twin hills were comparable to Schnee’s. In terms of appearance, she was the most noticeable.

Sety was not happy because of the similarity of their physiques.

“Yeah, you see. I told you while we were traveling, right? I’m just like Shin; my real body is in another world. I’m like half dead over there. And my body here is almost the same height and limb length as my real body, but… I intentionally made it bigger! The other side was flat!” 

Milt confessed, lifting it up from the bathtub. Therefore, she could understand the feelings of the one without it.

“Intentionally making it bigger?”

After hearing Milt’s confession, Sety muttered with a look of shock as she stared at Milt’s a.s.set. Even her tone had changed.

“Oh, Hades said that my current body seems to overwrite the other one, so maybe this one is the same size as the other one.”

“Isn’t that unfair?”

In a sense, it could be said that she set her own ideal body shape and reflected it in her own real body. Many people, even those who were not women, would envy her.

“But it’s precisely because I didn’t have it that I can understand the inconveniences that some people have. I can’t see my feet, I have to think about balance when moving, and there are restrictions on what I can wear. It’s the same for you, right, Schnee?”

“Well, yeah.”

Schnee looked troubled by the question.

There were ways to deal with balance and clothing, but it was difficult to deal with the limited field of vision. Schnee had made up for that with years of accustomed experience and improved perception.

Filma seemed to have an idea of what she was talking about and nodded her head.

“That’s right. It’s not something that can be made smaller like spot weight loss, and it’s a problem if blind spots increase.”

“Filma, that seems like another different problem.”

Tiera questioned her statement that she was more of a warrior than a woman. However, the fact that she didn’t deny anything about herself meant that the answer to Milt’s question was “yes.”

“I, I want to say that line once…”

Sety didn’t even try to hide her dissatisfaction.

“But men’s gazes are annoying, you know?”

“The members of this group are good looking, so men are drawn to them. The same goes for sis Schnee and sis Filma, but Milt and Tiera are also pretty.”

“If you put it that way, Sety is pretty, too.”

Filma followed up by saying that this was not something to be pessimistic about. There was no doubt that all of them were above a certain level of good looks.

“This is just one of the physical characteristics. Sety is also an attractive and charming woman.”

Schnee approached Sety and looked her in the eye. There was no doubt that her feelings were being conveyed. However, when Sety heard this, her eyes became a little distant.

“I know you’re being sincere, sis Schnee. But there’s just too much of a difference in specs…”

Schnee didn’t understand why Sety’s gaze was wandering.

Filma and Tiera, who were watching them, said in resignation.

“I guess it’s like she’s taken the best parts of what a man thinks of as an ideal and what a woman thinks of as an ideal.”

“I understand. I don’t feel like I can win.”

At this point, Schnee realized what they were trying to say.

“She has slender arms and legs and a thin waist. Her body is toned like a model, but her b.r.e.a.s.t.s are just like that. If you were in the other world, you’d be inundated with scouts, I bet.”

Schnee reacted to Milt’s words, “In the other world.”

“Are these scouts like the ones here who recruit you to be a party member?”

She would be headed to the other world with Shin. Schnee had already made up her mind and was already prepared. It’s just that the time hadn’t come yet.

Milt’s knowledge of the other side was useful information to Schnee to certain degrees.

“It’s similar, I guess. Over there, there are jobs that sell acting, singing, dancing, and the like. There are various cla.s.sifications, so I think I’d get in trouble if I lumped them all together. In Schnee’s case, I think it’s more like gravure or idol than modeling. Well, I don’t know much about that sort of thing, so it’s just my opinion.”

Milt said that models you see on TV didn’t necessarily have extremely large b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

“That’s not something I’m interested in. Besides, I do my best to maintain my figure, you know?”

Schnee retorted that it was annoying to be thought of as maintaining her current figure without any effort. Milt, hearing this, spoke up a random thought.

“Do you think that if you live an unhealthy lifestyle, it affects your body shape and skin too, Schnee?”

“Of course. It doesn’t matter what race you are. It definitely applies to support characters too. I’ve seen people who ate and drank as much as they wanted because they thought there was no way they could change from the preset values, and as a result, they ended up in a sad situation.”

Schnee declared that there was no such dream as “No matter how much you eat, you won’t get fat.”

Weighing scales exist in this world, too. Even in the dressing room of the Moon Shrine, they were installed for some reason.

“I can see that your slim waist is the result of your efforts, but I can’t imagine Schnee getting fat. Putting aside the sad things that happened to those people, did they actually change?”

“…I actually gained a little.”

Schnee, averting her eyes, answered Filma’s question.

Even so, Filma recalled Schnee’s naked body that she had seen earlier and couldn’t see where the excess fat had gone.

“…Raise your hand if you know where the fat is!”

“I think your waist and upper arms are toned!”

“Um, I can’t think of anything.”

“…”

Milt responded enthusiastically to Filma’s slightly silly behavior, while Tiera replied hesitantly, wondering if it was okay. Only Sety was silent and staring at Schnee’s body.

“Hey, stop it!”

Schnee faced everyone’s gaze and turned around on the spot.

The water was cloudy and white, so it was impossible to see inside, so if she turned her back, all they could see was from her shoulders up, and even then only to her backside.

“Schnee, can you stand up for a moment?”

“I can kind of tell what you want, so I refuse.”

“You’re so thin, how can you tell where the fat is? Isn’t it just an error in the amount of food or water you ate that day?”

“The scale was normal.”

Schnee turned her head to refute the skeptical Filma. However, there was no sadness or irritation about her weight gain.

At this, Sety, who had been silent up until then, began to mutter softly.

“Sis Schnee, is it possible that the weight gained is on your b.r.e.a.s.t.s?

“…”

Silence was synonymous with affirmation. Hearing Sety’s statement, everyone’s eyes focused on Schnee. Even though she turned her back, it was clear where they were concentrating.

“Wow. That’s what you mean by gaining a little. So you honestly told me that it has grown bigger. I wonder when it grew.”

“I will remain silent.”

Filma asked with a smirk, to which Schnee replied in a nonchalant manner. The reason why her ears were red was definitely not only because of the hot spring.

“Sis Filma, it must be that. It was after she was teleported together with Shin. I felt something was off after they were teleported and reunited.”

“I see… I guess that’s one of the reasons why it got bigger.”

“Sety, what were you looking at?”

Filma understood Sety’s point of view. Schnee did not know whether to be angry or appalled at Sety for noticing this.

Tiera, on the other hand, was stunned, unable to grasp the situation.

Filma and Sety saw this and looked chagrined.

“Huh? I’m sorry, Tiera, you can stay as you are.”

“We’ve become dirty, haven’t we?”

“What? What?”

Milt rea.s.sured Tiera, who was confused, by saying, “It’s okay, it’s just a joke.” However, she didn’t explain the reason.

“For now, let me touch it a little.”

“For now, what’s the point? Get away! Sety too!”

Schnee ran away from Filma and Sety, who were approaching with their hands waving in the air. Milt, seeing this, quietly moved away, while Tiera was simply puzzled.

“Humans are foolish.”

Amidst all the hustle and bustle, only Yuzuha was relaxing and enjoying the hot springs.

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