Chapter 21: The Bow's Exploits and Hot Springs

As we traveled I tweaked the bioplant seed a bit more to create a "disposable" version which maximized initial fruit yield, but could be killed incredibly easily and in some cases started to wither within an hour of being planted. I also utilized the fact that they always left at least one seed when they died so I didn't have to worry about running out. We tended to used them every few days to keep Blake well fed and to keep a fresh supply of fruit to sell. It was quite helpful since our next destination was an area that was in a famine similar to the one that Motoyasu had brought the seed to. It seems there are a lot of areas suffering things like this.

Anyways on our way to said famine stricken area we stopped in a town to listen to rumors and sell what we could. Neither goal went as expected. Apparently the lord of the area had been placing stupidly high taxes on everything. He only let certain merchants do business because they bribed him and he hired mercenaries to enforce his rule. But the night before we got there, a group of adventurers had removed him from his position. It seemed odd that a group of adventurers would have the authority to do that, then I heard that the king had supported their actions. I was able to piece things together when Seb told me that he saw Itsuki being thanked by some girl for saving her from that lord. Combining that with the scarce rumors I had heard of him before, it seems that Itsuki masquerades as a normal adventurer looking for injustice or misdeeds that he can set right. I guess his main concern is that people are hurting other people rather than hunting dangerous monsters or completing quests. At least I hope it is something like that rather than getting a kick out of revealing himself after doing something heroic. I suppose it isn't really any of my concern, but I hope he is at least considering the long-term consequences of his actions.

Because of the sudden lack of taxes, people expected the price of everything to go down, but since we were on the edge of an area in the middle of a famine, food prices were still high. It made trying to price our goods a bit awkward but we sold all the fruit we had on hand and bought some ingredients for medicine and compounding at a good price. We weren't able to get much information about the other towns affected by the famine, since everyone only wanted to gossip about the heroic adventurers that saved them from the evil lord. So we just headed to the next town and refilled our carts with fruit, using my disposable bioplants, when no one was around.

The next town was exactly what one would expect a town in the middle of a famine to look like. As soon as people saw that we were carrying food, they immediately swarmed the carriage trying to barter with any goods they had on hand. Many of them looked like they hadn't had anything to eat in days. I accepted anything that I thought I could resell somewhere or seemed like it could be useful. After the fruit from the carts ran out, I planted a few of the disposable seeds, since the area was in a famine I estimated they would only last an hour or two.

We also found out that most of the people were refugees from a country to the north. Apparently the king had been taxing them heavily, despite the famine, and a rebel group had formed to depose him. They mentioned an adventurer with a bow, who I assume was Itsuki, having been hired from Melromarc and playing a major role in the fighting. While things did get better for them right after the rebels took over, it didn't take long for them to raise the taxes even higher than the previous king. Why is it that "heroes" always think that the job is done as soon as you take down a bad guy or tell someone to do something different and never stick around to make sure it worked? Hell, there's a chance that the king wasn't actually bad at all and the rebel group just used the situation to instigate people and convince Itsuki to help. I'm going to have to talk to Itsuki about not believing everyone who asks for help.

After hearing everything they had to say I decided to give them a seed with the same properties as the one I left in the village that was overrun by the original bioplant, except I removed the property that caused it to leave seeds when it died. I also made sure to warn them about the chance of it growing out of control and that it would be better to destroy it than let it fall into the wrong hands.

After passing through several towns and villages in the famine area, we received a request from the accessory merchant to make a supply delivery to a hot spring resort. I figured it would be a nice chance to relax for once. Once we got there we dropped off the supplies and booked a room. Next we headed to the hot springs. It had been a while since I had a proper bath. While traveling we were usually only able to clean ourselves off in rivers or using wet rags. There had probably been some inns with baths in the towns we passed through, but not any of the ones we stayed at.

Seb and I went into the men's baths after having to stop Blake from following and having her promise to stay with Talia.

"Ahh, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would experience something like this." (Seb)

"First time taking a hot bath then?"

"Yes, this is my first time being at a hot spring town. Even as the next head butler the best I ever got to clean myself with was a tub of warm water, and that was rushed to minimize time away from my duties. What about you Sir Endou?"

"Baths are actually quite common in my home world. And even in Tortus it isn't uncommon for an inn to have one. Though, they aren't as common in the beast-man tribes, since they can't use mana to heat the water."

"I see, compared to such luxuries I supposed the life as a traveling merchant preparing for the next wave must be woefully lacking."

"Every world has its own perks and drawbacks. My home world has technology and knowledge of physics, but no magic and people tend to ignore anything that doesn't directly pertain to them. Here it's the opposite, there is magic and people are interested in any news they can get of other places, but the level of technology is centuries behind."

"Would this other world, Tortus, be a middle ground then?"

"More like a third point on a triangle. The magic there is the remnants of the technology possessed by an ancient civilization in a world that caused its own self-destruction. For the most part it is more versatile but less powerful than the magic here. Of course if you get someone powerful casting it then it can be more powerful than anything I've seen in this world so far. They have managed to use it in a number of ways that is similar to things technology is used for on earth, more so since Hajime can create just about anything he puts his mind to."

"Ah yes the demon king, you serve. After seeing your strength I shudder to think how strong he must be."

"Strong enough that if he wanted to, he could break a planet rearrange it and put it back together. I doubt he would ever have the need to do something so troubling though."

I haven't seen Seb look that surprised in weeks. "And you were once able to harm such a being?"

I fully recognize that even knowing I'm not yet as strong as I was, it is difficult to believe. "To be honest, I think he was holding back so no one else would get hurt. He may have also recognized that I was determined to prove myself to Lana and that he was the reason I had to go to such lengths. He's also the reason that Lana believes I need to have a harem with seven women. I still don't know how she expects to find three more when the others were pure chance."

"That may be the first time I've heard of a woman wanting her man to take multiple wives and seven is a rather large number."

"I know, it's because Hajime had seven wives before the bat-" I heard a loud splash of water come from the women's bath. Please don't let the girls have heard me.

"What do you suppose that was?"

"Hopefully nothing to worry about." I was worried.

That night, for the first time Talia and Blake worked together in an attempt to share a bed with me. I tried to use the excuse of staying up to craft things, but they still managed to drag me over, pin me down and cling to my arms. Seb saw what was happening, but instead of helping me, he left the room and abandoned me to my fate. How did I end up with a 10-year old raccoon and a 4-week old bird clinging to me like this?

POV: Women's Bath

Talia and Blake were soaking in the bath trying to listen in on Seb and Endou's conversation. While also in keeping an eye one each other to prevent peeping.

"…Lana believes I need to have a harem with seven women. I still don't know how she expects to find three more…" Talia's eyes widened as she directed her full attention towards the conversation on the other side of the wall. Of course that meant she didn't notice when Blake snuck up behind her. Or when she grabbed her from behind causing Talia to jump with an "EEP" that was very out of character for her and caused a large splash when gravity brought her back down.

"Blake what do you think you are doing." Talia whispered while glaring daggers at the loli who had a devious smile on her face.

"You heard him, right? There are three spots left, which means we aren't competing with each other unless at least two more rivals show up. Even then, we just need to work together to claim our place."

Talia took a moment to realize what Blake was suggesting then started smiling as well. "And how do you propose we go about this?"

Thus was the start of a powerful alliance within Endou's party that he would be unable to defeat, partially because he forgot all about being able to punish them through the slave and monster seals.

AN: Absolutely nothing lewd happening here, nothing at all.