Chapter 126: Natural Hot Spring
[You discovered a natural hot spring pool.]
[The boys, not thinking too much, stripped off their clothes and jumped straight into the steaming water, playing around happily in the warm stream.]
[Surrounded by the comforting warmth, your fatigue is soothed — both body and mind are healed.]
[...]
[The debuff effect from staying up late has disappeared. Your personal stats and skill ranks have returned to normal.]
[Tonight you will have a quality sleep, and your body may experience a certain degree of growth while resting.]
[Although you return empty-handed tonight, enjoying such a luxurious hot spring isn't so bad after all.]
A while later.
The sun gradually dipped toward the west, half of the crimson dusk sinking into the mountains, transforming into warm, alluring halos of deep red light.
Amid the faint white mist rising from the hot spring, several boys leisurely soaked in the pool, leaning against the edge, their faces filled with utter relaxation.
"Kimochi~~~"
They all let out the same sigh, their bodies melting from the warmth.
"What's wrong, Sir Eikou?" Tristan asked lazily. "Aren't you going to continue hunting magical beasts?"
"It doesn't matter anymore," he replied softly. "When it feels this good, who cares about hunting."
To catch a monster, he'd need to roll a Great success — Eikou decided to just give up on that.
He splashed some hot water with his hand, flinging it right onto Tristan's face.
"This mountain really is a rare treasure, even having a natural hot spring like this. Tomorrow we should invite the girls to come bathe together."
Eikou said,
"By the way, I did ask Jeanne Alter to bring a swimsuit. If she wears it, maybe she'd agree to bathe with me, right, right?"
He was just joking, speaking casually. With Jeanne Alter's tsundere personality, forget about bathing together — she might not even have brought the swimsuit in the first place.
"They probably wouldn't agree. Bathing together is a big challenge to their embarrassment levels — not to mention we've got Roland here," Charlemagne said with a hearty laugh.
"I simply like being naked; I'm absolutely not a pervert with any bad intentions," Roland declared seriously.
"No one said you were a pervert, so what are you defending yourself for?" Eikou replied.
[Please perform a skill check for "Instinct."]
[Result rolled: A — check failed.]
[Perhaps something happened nearby, but you didn't notice it at all, nor did you feel suspicious.]
It seemed like a sound had reached them.
Eikou turned his head, only to see the dense trees surrounding the hot spring gently swaying in the evening breeze, the rustling of leaves echoing softly.
Must be just my imagination. Haha, I'm scaring myself.
[You remain completely unaware that something is approaching.]
[You continue your private boys' talk.]
The moment girls were mentioned, everyone started chattering excitedly.
"Honestly, I don't quite get it,"
Charlemagne — the most straightforward man among them — spoke up.
"It seems like you guys especially enjoy spending time with girls. I don't hate women, but I still prefer manly adventures! That looks way cooler!"
"Charlemagne, hard to believe you're French. You've got the face of a typical protagonist, but not a single hint of romance in you. A team full of men is boring as hell; the adventure between a boy and a girl is the true romance of men! And a harem party with only female allies around the protagonist — that's the pinnacle of JRPGs!"
Eikou spoke with the tone of an expert.
"But well, at least in your Twelve Paladins, besides Astolfo, you've also got that beautiful and adorable girl Bradamante, so you guys don't look too... gay."
"Ha ha, don't be fooled by appearances. She might look cute, but she's straightforward, hot-tempered, and outspoken — no different from the rest of us," Charlemagne laughed.
"That's true, after all, you guys are close comrades. It makes sense you'd have similar personalities." Eikou nodded. "Anyway, she's still really cute."
"Don't praise me like that," Charlemagne said. "Being called cute makes me embarrassed — if you're gonna praise me, say I'm cool instead."
"I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about Bradamante."
Eikou rolled his eyes, his expression full of exasperation.
"She is really cute. Don't tell me you've got a thing for Bradamante?" Charlemagne couldn't help but gossip.
"That's not it,"
No — saying he had no interest wouldn't be completely accurate either.
She was clearly a pure and righteous female knight, yet she possessed a mature, voluptuous body that didn't match her innocent face — those full, round hips and that admirably bountiful chest made it hard for any man to stay calm upon seeing her.
Moreover, she was the same age as him — perfectly fitting the image of the ideal heroine in the adventurous journey that Eikou had always dreamed of.
"Even if I really were interested, I still couldn't just casually strike up a conversation with her. My private life right now is a total mess—better not to start any new romantic subplot."
"You say that, but…"
Everyone turned to look at him together, asking the question they'd been holding back for so long:
"You keep saying you don't want to get close to girls, but why are you so friendly with Jeanne Alter then?"
"Eh? Umm… yeah, that's true, isn't it."
Eikou seemed to have just realized it himself.
But he didn't look flustered or embarrassed at all. On the contrary, he smiled brightly and said honestly:
"Maybe it's because I really enjoy spending time with Jeanne Alter. She's cute, and so easy to tease, I just can't help it. Every time I see her, I want to pinch her cheeks. Being around her is always fun."
Eikou thought to himself — maybe this is how those onee-san and married women see me too, huh?
All the guys thought the same thing at that moment.
"Though it's a bit late to say this now…"
Eikou looked up at the sky that was gradually darkening, thinking it was about time to head back to camp.
"But me and Jeanne Alter, ever since that day we met and had that huge fight, I guess we've already…"
Before he could finish, a series of terrified screams suddenly echoed from the boys in the hot spring.
"Eikou, behind you!!"
"???"
[At that moment, you all finally sensed something strange in the surroundings.]
[A pack of demonic monkeys — they had stealthily approached while you were relaxing in the hot spring.]
[Because the skill check for "Instinct" failed, you didn't notice them at all.]
[By the time you realized it, those monsters had already snatched up all your clothes and run away.]
Hearing the boys' screams, Eikou immediately turned around.
What met his eyes were several demonic monkeys dangling from the branches, one hand tightly clutching their clothes as they swung away with agility — and in just an instant, they were gone.
Damn it, our clothes are gone!
"Those damn demonic monkeys! It was bad enough they stole our barbecue last time, and now they dare steal our clothes too?!"
Furious, Eikou climbed out of the hot spring, ready to chase after them — but suddenly froze as a chill ran through his entire body.
"..."
"..."
His eyes widened in horror.
At that moment, he suddenly realized something extremely serious.
Without clothes, running around the mountains like this — wasn't that way too humiliating?!
No, there was an even bigger problem…
That was — with this "Adam" look, how the hell was he supposed to face the girls again?!
"Wh-what should we do now?"
Eikou looked toward the other guys who were in the same miserable situation as him.
Could it be… without clothes, they were going to be stuck in this damn place forever?!
...