Chapter 103

After finishing our shopping, I met up with Yoshioka for dinner.

Tonight’s menu was kushiage (deep-fried skewers of meat and vegetables).

Skewers of beef sirloin, taro, shrimp, and pufferfish came out at the absolute perfect timing.

The root vegetable salad was delicious too.

For the drink, Yoshioka had picked out a red wine.

Personally, I prefer beer with deep-fried food, but the wine was great as well.

“By the way, Senpai, can your Transfer Portal skill not cross between world walls?”

“I tried, but it was a no-go.”

The Transfer Portal skill gives me the ability to connect any arbitrary locations and travel between them.

Right now, I had the Home set at my apartment and the Portal set at the barracks.

It was incredibly convenient because my commute effectively took one second.

Plus, since the Portal’s destination hooked up to the anteroom connected to Lady Clara’s private quarters, it came with the added bonus of allowing me to slip her out without anyone seeing us.

Lately, rumors about our relationship had started making the rounds among the soldiers, so you could say the timing was just right.

The question Yoshioka brought up had actually been weighing on my mind for a while, so I had tested it immediately after being sent back here.

The results were exactly as I just described.

I can physically set the Portal itself, but I can’t return to the Home.

Presumably, the ability functions perfectly fine as long as both the Home and the Portal are located on Earth.

It would probably be totally possible to hop from Japan to New York.

But traveling from Japan to the Kingdom of Saxens seemed to be out of the question.

“It would’ve been so convenient if we could move between worlds without relying on the summons.”

“I know. When I think about what might happen if something ever goes wrong on Lady Clara’s end…”

If I were back in Japan and Lady Clara suddenly found herself in a state where she couldn’t cast the summoning magic, the thought of being stranded left me with a crushing sense of helplessness.

If things went south, we could be separated for the rest of our lives.

Though I suppose if Ria summoned me, we might be able to manage somehow…

“But it might be too early to give up hope.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, skills grow over time, don’t they?”

That made sense.

I had simply assumed that the skill’s growth would just mean an increase in the maximum number of portals, but it was entirely possible that as its proficiency went up, the ability would scale enough to cross the dimensional boundaries between worlds.

“True. I’ll make sure to keep using it diligently.”

A remarkably plain skill had arrived for the first time in a while.

Still, it seemed like it would be quite practical.

There was barely any running water in Saxens, which was a far cry from Japan where water gushed out the moment you turned a faucet.

Here, everything had to be drawn up from a well bucket by bucket, which took a lot of physical effort.

Even just washing your hands was a whole ordeal.

While one liter was plenty for drinking water, it was nowhere near enough for daily household use.

If you tried to wash your face or clean dishes, it would disappear in the blink of an eye.

I imagined the volume I could generate would increase the more I used it.

Since I would likely be using this even more frequently than Weather Prediction, I figured its level would shoot up in no time.

The total strength of our supply unit this time came to 112 people.

The thirty carriages were packed to the brim with provisions, two magitech cannons, powdered magic stones, and standard soldier equipment.

Accompanying us were a single priest and one sutler’s carriage.

A sutler handled the inventory.

The shopkeeper was a large, forty-year-old woman named Magda, an incredibly energetic, high-spirited motherly figure.

She looked the part so much that some of the soldiers openly referred to her as “Ma.”

She didn’t seem to mind at all; in fact, she looked rather pleased to be addressed so familiarly.

She naturally chatted cheerfully with the soldiers, though she wasn’t above barking orders or scolding them when needed.

The camp priest was a twenty-one-year-old deacon named Udo Lammertz.

While I had worried about friction regarding the Elder or Enlightenment factions, Lammertz introduced himself as a member of the Eben school.

If I recalled correctly, Bach the engineer was also part of the Eben school.

To put it briefly, the Eben school was a dead-center moderate doctrine that essentially preached, “Let’s all just get along, whether you’re Elder Faction or Enlightenment Faction.”

It boasted a massive following, and even the current Pope was said to be from the Eben school.

Personally, I preferred a flexible stance, but it was rumored that high-ranking priests within this faction were often knee-deep in corruption.

Being accommodating can sometimes give rise to collusion, turning into a breeding ground for foul play.

According to Emma, who belonged to the strict Elder Faction, the Eben school was a degenerate teaching, and she firmly believed that religious doctrine should be far more rigorous.

“Well, it’s still a hundred times better than the Enlightenment Faction, though,” she had added at the very end, so it didn’t seem like we had to worry about any immediate infighting.

Tomorrow, we would finally depart for Romanburg.

The briefings with our companions and the final cargo inspections were at long last finished.

Since she would be leaving Dresden for a while, Emma had headed back to her family home.

She was going to unwind at Baron Petersen’s estate for at least today.

Fiene had already set off toward Ebba-berg.

Yoshioka was holding down the fort with Miss Bianca at Amida Trading.

Back in the office, Lady Clara and I were pushing through the last of the paperwork.

“I’ll brew some coffee. Please take a small break.”

“Yes. I would like a strong café au lait in a small cup.”

The sun was setting, casting the room into twilight.

The steam rising from the kettle hissed softly.

The moment I opened the container retrieved from my Spatial Storage, the rich aroma of coffee bloomed throughout the room.

“What a wonderful scent…”

Lady Clara closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

“How do you plan to spend this evening?” Lady Clara asked, her eyes still closed.

“Let’s see… Since we’ll be on a continuous march starting tomorrow, I was thinking of setting up a bath tonight so we can just relax and unwind.”

A long time ago, I had bought an inflatable vinyl pool intended for baths, but it had been left completely untouched.

Without Yoshioka around, hauling the water and heating it was such a chore that it fell by the wayside.

Filling the pool to the brim with hot water would be brutal, but if we only went halfway, making four round trips between the well and the room would be more than enough.

If I hauled two red eighteen-liter jerrycans at once, balancing them in both hands, I could make it work!

As for heating the water, I had four portable gas stoves on hand, and if we used the hearth in the kitchen, we could manage.

“A bath, huh…”

I prepared the slightly strong café au lait exactly to her request.

“Would you like sugar?”

“Yes. I will add it myself.”

A single teaspoon of sugar dissolved into the coffee cup.

“You live quite elegantly, Kota. For lower nobles, even taking a proper bath is no simple matter.”

“Would you care to join me, Lady Clara?” I asked, keeping my tone completely casual.

At the barracks, they usually just wiped down their bodies with hot water, so I figured it would feel amazing.

I had bathrobes ready too, so I could even give her a head spa.

“…Is it truly alright?”

“Of course. It’s perfectly fine as long as you just bring a change of clothes.”

Lady Clara downed the café au lait in one go.

I had put in a generous amount of milk, but wasn’t it still hot?

“I see… Yes. Actually, I have wanted to try washing your hair for some time now!”

Huh?

Lady Clara clasped her hands in front of her chest, looking delighted.

“Fufu, I shall make sure to get you sparkling clean. Oh, why don’t we spar for a bit first? Sweating heavily will only make the washing feel far more rewarding!”

Human beings all have hidden quirks.

Lady Clara was no exception.

And it turned out that Lady Clara absolutely loved cutting my nails and cleaning my ears.

She had a particular obsession with ear cleaning; she had even told me, “I will clean them beautifully again in ten days, so you are strictly forbidden from cleaning them yourself until then.”

Apparently, she found great satisfaction in pulling out a massive hoard.

“It feels a bit embarrassing to have you touch my head when it’s all sweaty…”

“But I like it. …Is it a no?”

When she blushed and looked at me with such a sorrowful expression, I found it impossible to refuse.

“Ah… please go easy on me.”

“Yes!”

Giving an energetic reply, Lady Clara stood up.

“What’s the matter?”

“I told you, didn’t I? Let us head to the training grounds.”

The training session was officially locked in.

There was one area where Lady Clara’s presence proved to be a massive help.

She generated the hot water using her magic.

“While my specialty is ice-cooling magic, heating up water is well within my capabilities.”

Inside the room, I lined up the two inflatable vinyl pools and pumped them up.

One was the actual bathtub, and the other was the washing area.

I didn’t forget to stoke the fireplace to keep the room completely warm.

Thanks to Lady Clara’s magic, one of the pools was filled to the brim in less than three minutes.

“Well then, I’ll be waiting in the other room, so please take your time and enjoy the bath.”

“U-Umu.”

Lady Clara sounded unusually hesitant.

Was she worried about something?

Ah, was it the part about washing my hair?

“I’ll be using the bath after you, Lady Clara, so if you’re still willing to wash my hair, we can do it then.”

“Yes…”

Oh, I guess I was wrong.

Judging by Lady Clara’s expression, that wasn’t what she wanted to say at all.

“…Or rather, would you like to go in together?” I invited her naturally.

Of course, I kept my face serious, but there wasn’t a hint of desperation in my voice.

“…T-That is… um… I do wish to enter together. However, well… until the very end… um, crossing the final line is still… That must wait until we have properly held our wedding ceremony…”

I needed to help her calm down.

“In other words, you want to take a bath together, but you want to save the actual intimacy until after we’re properly married—is that it?”

With a bright red face, Lady Clara gave a series of frantic nods.

Call it a culture gap, but within the sensibilities of the Saxens upper class, premarital intimacy was an absolute taboo, so I could completely understand where she was coming from.

While holding back would be tough, taking a bath together sounded like a lot of fun.

Even if we couldn’t go all the way, it felt like it would bring our hearts even closer.

“Understood. Then let’s do exactly that.”

“Kota, are you truly alright with this? For a man… it must be difficult, right?”

It was tough, sure, but it wasn’t like it was unbearable.

If I were still a middle schooler, it might have been dangerous.

“I’ll be fine. Well then, it’s a bit cramped, but shall we try getting in together?”

“Yes…”

Answering in a voice so quiet it almost vanished, Lady Clara looked incredibly endearing.

I dimmed the room, leaving only a single candle lit.

After all, I was feeling pretty embarrassed myself.