The Hot Spring Realm

Hot water pooling in a hollow surrounded by rocks.

Steam rising.

Yet the humidity doesn’t linger— it disperses into mist.

With no walls or ceiling enclosing the bath, that can’t be helped.

This was what you’d call an open-air bath.

The name of this bath was Valhalla Hot Spring.

An open-air bath that gently soothed warriors wounded and fallen.

Was this the world of the living, or the everlasting realm…?

No one knows—there is only the act of soaking.

And now… there are two people soaking in the water…

“Why am I here, I wonder?”

“Who can say?”

“…”

“…”

“Why are you here?”

“Who can say? I simply found myself here like this.”

“…”

“…”

“This is a pleasant bath.”

“It is… It hardly feels like something of this world…”

“…”

“…”

“That line just now… it bothers me.”

“How strange… it bothers me as well.”

“…Still. Once you’re soaking, everything starts to feel like it doesn’t matter.”

“Just as Your Majesty says.”

“…Your Majesty? You mean me…?”

“…Your Majesty… yes, Your Majesty… the Kingdom of Lumoria… seventeenth king…”

“That’s right… yes… that’s right! I am the king of the Kingdom of Lumoria! The Wise King, the War God, the Hero King! The supreme king praised by countless epithets!”

“…I think you may be mistaken. I’ve never heard those titles.”

“What nonsense are you mumbling! You are… yes, Count Harekukku, are you not?!”

“…Harekukku… Count… now that you mention it, I was called that…”

“My loyal vassal and right hand! The one and only Sarnare-Lubaras-Harekukku!”

“No, you really must be someone else. I recognize nothing but the name…”

“Come to your senses, Sarnare! What’s the meaning of this!”

“Ow! Your Majesty! Why would you suddenly hit me… ah.”

“Well? Is your head clear now?”

“Yes… I seem to have been quite dazed. My apologies, Your Majesty.”

“Good. Now, Sarnare—do you know where this is?”

“No… I’ve never seen this bath before. I don’t even know when we came here…”

“Hm. Same for me.”

“…Your Majesty, do you remember what you were doing before coming here?”

“Hm…? I believe… yes—Sarnare and I went out to suppress bandits, did we not? And then… right, an envoy appeared from the enemy, and we exchanged words across the river. After that… no, my memory is still hazy. I can’t recall what happened after.”

“…I see.”

“Sarnare—do you remember what happened after that?”

“…Yes. I do.”

“Tell me. It might help my memory return.”

“…Your Majesty, this is very difficult to say, but…”

“Go on. Even hazily, I believe I understand the situation. Tell me.”

“Understood. Then I will be blunt… Your Majesty, we are already dead.”

“…Huh?”

“The reason Your Majesty’s memory ends there is because that is where you died.”

“…”

“I saw Your Majesty’s remains myself. Your upper and lower body were completely severed.”

“…No way.”

“Your Majesty?”

“Ah—no… so it was true after all. Yes. I suspected I’d died. Yes… Really?”

“There is no mistake.”

“I-I see. Good. At least we’re aligned. Then, Sarnare—what became of you?”

“I… after Your Majesty’s death, I fought the enemy… and launched a charge into their lines.”

“Oh? A bold act… But with me gone, you would have been the commander. Why do something so reckless? To avenge me?”

“No, not that. Our road to the rear had been cut off, our army was being trampled… We had no path left but to charge forward. In the end… I believe it was that female envoy—she did it. For an instant, I think I saw her.”

“…My army was trampled, you say? By nothing more than bandits and a mob of peasants?”

“…”

“…I see. Before the battle even began, we lost our commander—our king. Morale plummeted, tactics… failed to function.”

“No. Your Majesty’s death had nothing to do with it.”

“W-what did you say?”

“From the start, it wouldn’t have mattered whether you were there or not… If anything, it was better you weren’t.”

“Sarnare! You—!”

“Your Majesty… I feel no need to flatter you now. Here, your favor means nothing.”

“You insolent wretch! That is treasonous!”

“Your Majesty, calm yourself. You’ll make waves. We’re already dead, you know? What use is worldly authority?”

“Hm… that’s true, but…”

“I do not wish to disparage the dead, but please be aware of yourself.”

“B-but… As a war god, my death couldn’t possibly have had no effect on the battle—”

“…Your Majesty. Across all times and places, now and forever, there is no ‘war god’ who dies before their first battle even begins.”

“Guhf—!”

“Are you all right, Your Majesty? You didn’t leave behind some memoir calling yourself a war god, did you?”

“That’s what you’re worried about?! N-no… well… I mean…”

“…You did leave one.”

“…”

“…My condolences.”

“Will you stop!? That’s not sympathy, that’s a knife to the heart! What is this, public execution after death?!”

“…Your Majesty. It’s too late now, but… this is why people put their affairs in order.”

“That’s the reason?!”

“It is important. To prevent your family from being embarrassed after you die, to prevent it becoming drunken fodder for mockery—‘Let’s send him off with a laugh,’ they say, while sneering… For the sake of leaving only clean memories, it matters to remove one’s shame. All the more if you are going to war.”

“…I want to die.”

“You already are.”

“…”

“…”

“…What did I do wrong?”

“…If you mean the direct cause of death, then: you exposed yourself without bearing an envoy’s flag.”

“An envoy’s flag… I did step forward without thinking. But surely it’s strange for an enemy envoy to attack under a flag in the first place.”

“True enough. But if someone who isn’t even an envoy insults the other side, being attacked is only natural. The flag is merely what allows both sides to tolerate it.”

“…So I died because I stood there without a flag… no, even with a flag, because I stood there at all?”

“That would be the conclusion.”

“…Is that really true?”

“And what do you mean by that?”

“If I hadn’t stood there, perhaps I would have lived through that moment. But what about after the battle began? Earlier you said our defeat had nothing to do with my death— and you, who became commander after me, are dead as well… meaning that once the battle began, I would have died anyway, wouldn’t I?”

“I see… That is true. If it were Your Majesty, you certainly would have died.”

“…Could you not soften it a little?”

“There is no need. Still, for Your Majesty, that was a correct inference.”

“…You always add an extra jab. Fine. So my death, and yours, were sealed the moment we went to that battlefield.”

“In other words, it was Your Majesty’s fault.”

“How does it become that?”

“Because Your Majesty decided to personally lead the army… which forced me to accompany you.”

“…That may be true, but—no, wait. You’re the one who said the enemy was a band of bandits! That’s why I chose to join!”

“…Was it not Your Majesty who first insisted they were bandits?”

“That can’t be!”

“…Well, we can’t verify it now, so let’s set it aside. Still, I believe it was Your Majesty.”

“You just said to set it aside!?”

“…So what Your Majesty wishes to say is that the information wasn’t accurate, and that’s why you died.”

“Exactly!”

“I agree—our investigation of the enemy was insufficient. By the time I learned the truth, it was far too late, but that army’s strength was abnormal.”

“…Was it?”

“Yes. Arrows, magic, spears, swords… nothing could harm the enemy army.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“I am not. Literally, our attacks did not cause them even the slightest pain.”

“…If that is true… then how could we ever win?”

“If a frontal approach cannot win, then we must resort to some sort of scheme.”

“What sort of scheme?”

“…If we soak like this and think carefully… perhaps a good plan will come…”

“…What about poison, or starving them out?”

“Not a bad idea. Not easy to execute, but a good hand that may work even against an invincible army.”

“I do have my own thoughts on tactics.”

“Anyone could think of it, but if it lands, it’s effective. That said—how you use it against them… that ‘how’ is the plan. Understand? The ‘how’ part is the plan.”

“…Sarnare. Do you dislike me?”

“Dislike? I’ve never once thought that. I’ve always thought you were a hassle, though.”

“…All I’ve felt since dying is shock.”

“That would be the virtue you built in life.”

“So now I understand what you really thought of me.”

“This is only the beginning.”

“…”

“There’s no point dragging those things along after death. They only have meaning while you’re alive.”

“…That’s true.”

“…That generosity of yours, at least, I always found admirable.”

“Oh? The vessel of a king, then. As expected.”

“…Sure, whatever. But… isn’t the steam getting thicker?”

“Now that you mention it… I can’t see around us anymore… Hm? Sarnare… I can’t even see you now.”

“…At this point, no matter what happens, there’s no need to worry.”

“…You weren’t calm— you were just giving up, weren’t you?”

“Nothing in this world is worth making a fuss over… that’s all.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I want to live broadly… like you do, Your Majesty.”

“Then watch my way of life closely.”

“…You’re already dead.”

“Why do I have to dream about two middle-aged men bathing? Is this Fio’s curse?”

With a heavy feeling, I woke up and sat up in bed, turning my eyes to the window.

Unfortunately, it looked like rain today.

“Valhalla Hot Spring, huh… If I die, do I end up there too? …If it were mixed bathing, at least…”

Though the sky was grim, another day as the Overlord began.

“I’d like to go to the large bath and clear my head… but for some reason, I don’t feel like going near a tub right now.”