Tale of Discovery

Chapter 238: Open Bath ; Short Talk

Getting off me, Yasaka proceeds to inspect her body before stating, "It seems like I need to take a bath immediately."

As a response to her words, I jump to my feet and say, "How about we take one together?"

Perhaps we could take one in the Arena. Of course, anywhere other than the strange pool that renders abilities useless.

"That sounds nice," Yasaka responds, "But are we going to be heading over to the bath in this state?"

Hearing her words and seeing the grin on her face, a smile forms on my lips as I begin to use Clairvoyance to search for the bath she just spoke of.

Soon after, I locate an open bath that is split into three regions. The female, male, and mixed.

Currently, there are four Youkai in the female section, while the male and mixed sections are both empty.

"I can teleport us over," I say.

"Do you know where the bath is?" Yasaka inquires.

"Yes, I just checked."

"Just checked, hm?" she mutters with a curious glint shimmering in her eyes.

"Let's go," I say before creation a gateway leading to the female section of the bath.

As such, Yasaka grabs a spare kimono before the two of us cross through the gateway and find ourselves standing in the open bath.

Two of the Youkai straightaway notice our arrival as one of them points at us while the other one lets out a small shriek.

The other two also look back and see us before one of them exclaims, "Mistress?!"

"Victor," a firm voice reaches my ears, "You wouldn't have happened to have brought us here deliberately, right?"

"Of course, not. I just happened to find the bath and created a teleportation gateway leading to it."

"Hm~ Is that so?"

"Come on, let's get into the bath," I say before walking over to the mildly hot water.

Yasaka follows suit as the two of us sink into the comfortable water.

Looking over at the four Youkai from earlier, I see that they all have odd looks on their faces.

There are two possible reasons for that. One would be the fact that I'm fully clothed in their eyes due to my usage of Rework to appear like so.

The other reason would undoubtedly be me getting the bath with Yasaka, which is a much more plausible reason than the first one in a sense.

Shortly, Yasaka's voice resounds in my ears as she states, "Earlier today, a small group representing the East Youkai Faction appeared and requested our allegiance."

"The East Youkai Faction? What's that?"

"Another Youkai Faction that falls in the Kanto region of Japan. Their leader is a man named Nurarihyon."

"I see. Was the reason for their request of allegiance related to the upcoming war?"

"No," she responds with furrowed brows, "They seemed to want something else."

"So, what was your response?"

"I made it clear that we won't make any decisions until their intentions are laid out for us."

"Which they clearly didn't," I add.

"Yes. They seemed to be trying their best to hide their aims and intentions."

Now, that is some suspicious behavior. For what other reason than the upcoming war could they be requesting the West Youkai Faction's allegiance?

Could it be that they are facing a calamity and require immediate assistance? If that was the case, then they wouldn't have had to hide their intentions.

Then, why? Truly, an odd request.

Shaking the matter off my head, I move closer to Yasaka and wrap my right arm around her waist.

"Oho? Could it be that you hadn't had enough?" Yasaka says in a teasing tone.

Not minding her remark much, I place my left hand under her chin before drawing her closer for a kiss, while four piercing gazes lock onto my back.

---

"It's starting to get late," I say once Yasaka and I are both back in the room we did the deed.

To clear the most blaring evidence of what occurred, I proceed to destroy the futon on the ground before creating an identical one.

"Your powers truly are convenient," Yasaka comments with a smile on her lips.

Beaming a smile of my own, I approach her and embrace her soft body for a few seconds before inching back and looking her in the eyes with my left hand on her cheek.

The next moment, I lightly press my lips against hers for a short while before moving my head to the side and hugging her appropriately.

All of a sudden, the door leading to the room opens as Kunou enters with a smile covering her lips.

Deciding against breaking the hug, Kunou's gaze interlocks with mine as a dismayed look appears on the young girl's delicate face.

"Don't tease my daughter too much," Yasaka suddenly says before detaching her body from mine and walking over to the new futon.

Shrugging my shoulders, I approach the still shocked Kunou and crouch in front of her before hugging her small body.

This seems to break Kunou out of her shock as she excitedly hugs me back and asks, "When did you get here?"

"Not too long ago," I respond, "Where were you?"

Stepping back from me, a slight red hue covers Kunou's cheeks as she begins recounting her efforts in improving her abilities so that she would be able to successfully burn me one day.

"Do you want to kill me that badly?" I say with an odd look on my face.

"No!" she immediately responds before hastily explaining, "I just want to be as powerful as you"

"Is that so?" I say with a smile before leaning forth and giving her a peck on the forehead.

"Then, you better try your best, as I will be getting stronger with passing time."

A resolute look appears on Kunou's face as she nods her head before it melts into one of slight excitement as she says, "How long will you be here?"

Hearing her query, I check the time through an old-looking clock before stating, "For an hour or so."

Kunou immediately beams a bright smile as she grabs my hand and 'drags' me toward a drawer.

---

Having returned to the mansion, I run a quick scan of the rooms, only to find almost everyone asleep.

"They sure went to sleep early," I mutter before making my way to the living room.

There, I find Rossweisse and Ravel who both seem to be discussing something important.

"Hello," I say upon stepping into the room, "Is there anything interesting going on?"

As a response to my words, Ravel just shakes her head and says, "We were just speaking about Your Holiness' prowess."

Intrigued, I beam a smile before walking over to the sofa the two are seated on before taking a seat between them.

Following that, I wrap my arm around Rossweisse's waist and pull her close to myself while curiously gazing at Ravel and saying, "So, did you conclude anything?"

Ravel, who was a little startled by my actions, breaks out of her stupor and says, "We believe that Your Holiness might just as well be the most troubling type of enemy to battle."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because we have yet to get a grasp of Your Holiness' limits despite having witnessed you fight a battle. The fact that Your Holiness killed Loki, a renowned god is enough of a reason for that. Then, ignoring everything else that has happened since then, today we are told that Your Holiness will be leaving for another world while stopping time in this one."

"I see. You're saying that no tactic is certain against me without a complete deduction of all my abilities."

"As expected of Your Holiness," Ravels says while smiling, "You catch on fast."

Raising my arm, I begin to gently pat Ravel's head before saying, "It's not anything worth mentioning. Also, call me Victor from now on."

Ravel's face gets flushes in a deep red as she replies, "Understood."

Taking in a deep breath, I adopt a solemn expression before proclaiming, "I will be leaving for the other world tomorrow."

As a response to this, Rossweisse asks, "Is there anything that we need to do or be wary of?"

"No," I respond, "I will only be 'gone' for an instant. If something unexpected occurs, such as me remaining asleep for a minute, then something must've happened to me.

"In that case, you are to immediately call back Yuno and Krul to the mansion and take defensive measures for any sudden enemy ambushes."

As a response to my words, a serious look appears on both girls' faces as they both nod once.

That settles the last of my worries. My reason for doing this is obvious. Even if I am harmed somehow, I wouldn't want it to affect the others.

After all, one can never be too cautious.