Chapter 30 – Layout and Large Bath
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“NOW….!”
“I won’t――let you.”
Targeting a certain spot with her chopsticks, Shouko stabbed them out as if thrusting with a spear. But, right before her chopsticks reached their target, someone else’s chopsticks jabbed in from the side and stole Shouko’s prey.
“Wh――――!? Chiyu-chi, you…!?”
“You’re still way too naive, you know Shoko-chan?”
Chiyu stuffed her cheeks with her trophy while looking down on the loser, Shouko.
“Ugh, I won’t lose next time…!”
“Feel free to challenge me as often as you like.”
By the way, we’re talking about grilled meat here. I had set up a small stove on the ground and placed a disc-shaped slate on top of it, using this to grill meat.
If we’re speaking of grilled meat, sauces contribute heavily to the overall taste, but since we don’t have any of those, we’re eating the meat after just salting it. Even so, it’s tasting superbly.
The deliciousness, as if the meat and oil are exploding inside your mouth, has been hitting my brain like a jackhammer. As a male high-school student, I’d love to gobble this down together with white rice.
“Mmh, the meat stuffing is great too. Yomiumi-san, you’re definitely a good cook.”
“Thanks, Shjiyo-san. Ah, would it be bad if I called you Minori-chan…?” Shion asked with a smile.
“O-Of course, I don’t mind.”
“That’s wonderful. Please call me Shion then, okay?”
“U-Understood, S-Shion-san.”
Shjiyo looked somehow happy.
“Aww, how cute. You’re all red, Minorin. You talk casually to me as well!”
“If that’s how it is, just call me Sousuke. Once again, I’m looking forward to working with you, Minori.”
By the way, currently we’re illuminated by a fire in a stone basket that had been installed on a wooden pedestal. Probably because of that lighting, Shjiyo’s face looked reddish.
“T-The pleasure is o-on my side, Shouko-san, Chiyu-san….S-S-So…Kuno-kun.”
“Eh? Why does only my name remain unchanged…?”
“Hehe, you have to honor a girl’s feelings, Sousuke-kun,” Shion said with a broad grin.
Well, I too was yesterday too embarrassed to call Shouko and Shion by their given names, so I can understand her resistance towards getting too chummy with someone from the different sex.
“Haaah, Shio-chan, your cooking is really the best! The meat’s flavor and mushrooms’ food texture in the stuffed bell peppers were perfect and the soup had a gentle taste.”
“Mmh, our head chef.”
“Ahaha, I’m happy that you liked it. I’m going to contribute to this group with my meals.”
While enjoying the great food, we also talked about our new home. Given that Minori and I had come up with a general layout, I briefed everyone about it first.
“A living room is a wonderful idea! Even if I get a private room, I want us to gather for meals and talk.”
That was an opinion very befitting of a talkative person like Shouko.
“I’m glad to see that the kitchen is going to be inside the house. Right now, the wind is always finding a way in. I really don’t want stuff like sand to get into our food.”
It was also decided that I’d install two stoves inside the kitchen in response to a request by the newly inaugurated chef of the house.
Since the kitchen will be indoors, it’d probably be best to add venting holes as well.
“Our numbers have grown, so isn’t it about time for a new bath as well? A Larger bathing area, similar to a spa, would be a dream.”
I folded my arms, considering my childhood friend’s opinion. I definitely would love to have a spacious bath. Of course, the drum-type bath is nice too, but a bath where you can stretch your legs would be even better.
“In that case, it’s going to become a huge chore to heat the water, though. It’s not that I can’t make it, but…”
Minori raised a hand.
“There’s something I would like to test in regards to that.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“Umm, I happened to hit a tree when I missed my fireball. At that time, the fire vanished after a short time with a poof, so the tree remained fine without getting burned. Though, it left some burn marks.”
“What does that mean?”
Shouko tilted her head in confusion.
“In other words, the fire itself will extinguish once the mana runs out, but the fact of the surface having been heated didn’t disappear, I’d guess?”
Minori nodded at my speculation.
“Yes. It doesn’t mean much if it’s just me, but if I combine this with Kuno-kun’s power…”
“Nice! You’re right. I’m first going to put water into a stone bathtub. Then we’ll get it to boil instantly by having you shoot fireballs at the water. And lastly we’ll just need to adjust the bath’s temperature by adding more water. I think this will allow us to easily heat up a bath, even if it’s bigger.”
“Yes. In this case, it’s necessary for you, Kuno-kun, and I to go outside since it’s dangerous to shoot fireballs inside the house.”
“If the water heats up in an instant, it won’t take much effort. Or rather, time doesn’t pass inside my Inventory, so we could create lots of hot water when we have time, store it away, and then release it in the bath, couldn’t we?”
“Yeah, true. In that case, we won’t need to go outside every time, making it possible to have a hot bath even on rainy days,” Minori smiled suddenly.
Still, it’s awesome that Minori’s magic has applications outside of combat as well. It’s great news that we can take a bath every day without having to invest much more effort into this than taking baths on Earth.
“『As expected of Sou-kun』.”
“In addition, 『As expected of Minori-chan』.”
Chiyu dropped her usual catch phrase and Shion went along with that.
“Us girls can take a bath together? Yay! That’s incredible!”
Shouko was rejoicing after having apparently grasped what we were talking about.
Now then, time to go on with the discussion about the house’s layout. There has been a request to add chairs and a table to the dressing room which will be directly connected to the bathroom. I think it’s the same setup as in public baths or ryokan――basically a space to sit down and dry the hair.
In the case of girls, they might also use it for skin care. As such I feel like adding a mirror as well, but I still can’t make one yet.
Although the girls added some more requests here and there, the discussion proceeded without any particular issues. By the way, I told them to throw their unfiltered opinions at me. My friends seem to be hesitant about putting too much burden on me, but I don’t want to build a house that doesn’t satisfy everyone.
And then, the instant the discussion reached the topic of everyone’s bedroom on the second floor, the air between the girls became tense.
“I won’t yield the room next to Sou-kun.”
“I’d also prefer the room next to Sousuke-kun, if possible.”
“U-Uhh, even I want that room.”
“I don’t really mind, umm… But, I think it would be convenient for my room to be close to Kuno-kun’s room to make sure that nothing overly indecent happens…”
Suddenly Chiyu stood up and said, “We’re going to decide on this in the bath.”
Hearing that, the other three nodded as well.
“Ah…well, then I guess I’m going to heat up the water first. I’ll create our new home while all of you are taking a bath.”
Actually I was planning to produce a living space by deploying furniture as a surprise, so the timing is pretty good.
While deciding to make them do with a bath outside for today, I created a big bathing area out of stone with my Crafting Ability.
“Oohh~ It has the size of a hot spring!”
Shouko cheered excitedly.
I deployed water in the bathing area.
“It’s dangerous, if the hot water splashes, so please take some distance. Minori, I’m counting on you.”
“Yes, leave it to me. ――――Fireball!”
Minori pointed her wand at the bath area, created a burning sphere, and thrust it towards the target area. A huge amount of steam rose, accompanied by the sizzling of water evaporating.
Once the steam cleared away, only the hot water with a faint layer of steam rising from it remained.
I slightly put my finger into it, but it was hot. Hence I added more water from my Inventory. Afterwards I prepared a larger barrel with water on a pedestal to allow those entering the bath to adjust the temperature even further. As soon as I enclosed the bathing area with partitioning screens, the bath was done.
“Eh!? The bath is already ready!? Wasn’t that like instantly!?”
“He immediately gave form to his imagination. 『As expected of Sou-kun』.”
“She is granting us a luxurious lifestyle thanks to her magic. 『As expected of Minori-chan』.”
Once again Chiyu and Shion praised Minori and I.
“Alright, please enjoy yourselves.”
“Given that this mostly comes from your power, Kuno-kun, how about entering first?”
Everyone nodded at Minori’s offer.
“No, I’d like to build the new house first.”
Minori apparently came to terms with that.
“Very well, we will take a bath first then.”
“It’s fine, Mino-chan. The water left behind by four beautiful girls will serve well as a reward for Sou-kun.”
“Don’t put weird stuff into the head of a serious girl like Minori.”
After retorting at my childhood-friend’s remark, I headed over towards the hut. Meanwhile the girls disappeared behind the partitioning screens while chattering excitedly.
“You only kept us company for one night, but thanks for your service anyway.”
Since it’s also a place of memories where my relationship with Chiyu progressed quite a bit, I won’t disassemble the hut. I stored it in my Inventory, freeing up the plot of land.
And then I created our new home――base.
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