4

Abeeb’s royal capital was truly famous as a tourist destination that made use of hot springs.

In particular, the large public hot spring in the middle of the royal capital was a famous tourist attraction, and it was packed with many local enthusiasts and large numbers of foreign tourists.

Although it was late at night, Noel took Beth out as soon as they arrived in Abeeb, and tonight the two of them were strolling through the steaming hot spring town. He said he would take her to the actual hot spring tomorrow morning.

“I joined the goodwill mission on the condition that I could sightsee with Beth. Surely there is no problem.”

Noel said that, and with Naranda and the goodwill ambassador, who seemed busy preparing for socializing and diplomacy, glaring at him from behind, he took Beth out for a stroll through the Abeeb royal capital late at night.

“H-How frightening, Noel-sama… I wonder if magic has been cast on this town. Before I knew it, I had bought so many unnecessary things…”

Beth stared at both her hands, which were full of junk, and trembled.

Beth usually did not have much material desire, but in the late-night hot spring town of Abeeb, every time she wandered into a shop without any particular purpose, she ended up leaving with something in her hands. She could not suppress her excitement.

The souvenir shops, which were noisily packed with tourists, were full of junk Beth had never seen before.

There were bear carvings, for example—a souvenir for Ezra—strange beautiful-woman masks—apparently meant for Eloise—a small copper purse charm with a dragon coiled around a sword—this was obvious even without asking; it was probably for Rodney—and even triangular pennants. This one seemed to be for decorating her home.

Souvenir goods that she would absolutely never buy under normal circumstances looked truly appealing no matter how she thought about it, and she could not help wanting them, so she pestered Noel and ended up buying many souvenirs.

Noel smiled, bought every piece of junk Beth wanted, and said,

“That is what hot spring towns are like. The real pleasure is eating things you normally would not eat and buying unnecessary things you normally would not buy. Your fiancé is capable enough, so I will buy you everything you want. Do not hold back.”

Noel, who had already stayed in this country many times for academic conferences, was used to it.

Noel watched Beth happily eating the hot spring town’s famous cheap sweets with her mouth full, smiling happily himself, and the two of them brought their happy day to an end.

Then, on the second day of sightseeing, the long-awaited hot spring finally came.

The place Noel took her to was a large tiled outdoor facility located in the middle of the royal capital’s plaza, where anyone who was a citizen could bathe.

“Wow! This is almost a pond. It is amazing!”

“That is true. At this size, it really is like a pond made of tiles. This is a public bathhouse, so anyone can bathe here, and it is an Abeeb specialty. Beth, you should rent a bathing outfit at that building over there, and afterward we will meet by the lion statue here.”

As long as one changed into a special bathing outfit in the adjacent building, anyone was allowed to enter.

This hot spring was a place of relaxation for the citizens and the centerpiece of tourism.

Mount Abeeb, which towered in the northern part of this country, was an active volcano, and because of the effects of its volcanic activity, hot springs apparently welled up here and there.

The water quality here was managed by water-magic students from the Royal Magic School as part of their practice, and since it was said to have become a good training ground for water-magic students, the water quality was extremely high.

Old and young, men and women, and even small children all wore bathing outfits and splashed about, happily swimming in the warm water.

“Rather than the magical bath I imagined, where hot water came out of the huge ground, this feels like a fountain plaza in the middle of town turned into hot water and made into a playground!”

The world really was vast, Beth thought in admiration. Since Beth knew only the countryside where she had grown up, she had never even imagined that the hot spring Noel had explained to her would be such a huge and enjoyable place.

For Beth, a bath had only ever been a place to cleanse one’s body, but this was no such simple thing.

The bath here was just like a playground.

There were golden lions spouting hot water from mouths installed on all four sides of the bath, which was like a giant pond.

There was a slide down which hot water flowed.

In the back, there was also an interesting bath with a mechanism enchanted by magic that made bubbles gush up.

Incidentally, the facilities for nobles were inside a stone building a little farther in, and they apparently used private rooms by reservation.

Noel had heard in advance that the general outdoor facility for commoners was far more interesting than the private rooms for nobles, so Beth and Noel were thus leisurely enjoying the outdoor hot spring for commoners together.

“That is true. In practice, it is a playground, but this hot spring also has medicinal effects, though they are mild. I have heard that if it is a minor physical ailment, playing here will set it right.”

Noel was letting his body sink into the bubbling water and exhaling with a sigh, but as expected, his beauty stood out considerably among ordinary people.

When he wore the same bathing outfit as everyone else and entered the bath just like everyone else, Noel’s beauty instead stood out like a sculpture, making him look like one of the beautiful sculpted statues scattered around Abeeb’s royal capital.

There was no end to the young girls who stole glances at Noel’s lightly dressed skin, blushed, and watched him.

“That is amazing. In that case, the people of this country would not need doctors.”

Somehow displeased by the girls’ gazes toward Noel, Beth clung to Noel’s neck and tried letting herself drift in the bubbles with him, and Noel was extremely pleased.

“Yes. This facility is a tourist recreation facility, but there are also facilities that specialize in treating illnesses with hot springs. The closer they are to the source, the stronger the effects, so there are many sanatoriums deep in the mountains.”

Noel bought water containing fizzy carbonated water from the stall beside the bath, handed it to Beth, and said,

“Tomorrow, we will leave the capital and go toward Mount Abeeb. There is an exalted person undergoing hot-spring treatment at the royal family’s detached palace there. My work this time is only to diagnose that person, so tonight, shall we walk around eating delicious food and looking at tasteless postcards?”