Chapter 30: Level Up

November 17th, 2022

Beta reader: My_Own_Worst_NPC

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Since the bath was ready, I went to the lodge to inform everyone there.

I felt like my chest was going to burst with excitement.

“Everyone, the bath is now ready!”

When I called out to them in the hallway, the guests came out of their rooms in droves. However, Lotte Gram was nowhere to be seen.

“Okami [1], can you check up on the commander? We’re heading out first.”

“Understood.”

I knocked on Lotte Gram’s door, but there was no answer. The door turned out to be unlocked, so I quietly entered the room…

“Excuse me…”

As I entered the room, I saw Gram’s figure sleeping peacefully on the bed. She must’ve been pretty exhausted from traveling all the way here.

Her sleeping face had quite an innocent look. Staring at her face made me smile unintentionally, and it was during that moment her eyes fluttered open.

“Eh? Ah? What?”

She was acting weird, maybe because she was surprised. [2]

“I’m sorry ma’am. I knocked on your room, but there was no answer, so I got worried and entered to check your condition…”

“Don’t worry… I was sleeping…”

“I’ve come to let you know that the bath has been prepared… If you would follow me…”

“Alright.”

Just as I happened to look over the table, there was a half-finished model of a sailing ship. At that moment, for some reason there was a mix of worry and embarrassment on Gram’s face. I guess she didn’t like it if anyone saw her work.

But, I really loved these kind of things, I couldn’t help it!

“Oh wow. That’s so cool. Sailing ships really do hold some kind of romanticism, don’t they?”  

“……”, Gram let out no response.

“Ah, p-please forgive me, It’s the first time I’ve seen something like this in a long while, so I got excited.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yeah. I’ve never been on a large sailing ship before, since, you know, men aren’t allowed onboard.”

In this world, men aren’t allowed to get on board a ship, that is the information that I got from Captain Milano.

“I see… It’s a pity… that you can’t get on a ship…”

It was an awkward conversation, but I was glad that Gram was properly speaking with me for the first time.

“That’s right. Well, in the first place, I might not be suited to board a ship. Since I’m afraid of storms… and I don’t like how boats are always swaying… However if I’m only looking at it, then it’s really fun.”

“Me too…”

Oooh! Aren’t we thinking alike then?

“And that’s why looking at a ship model is fun, right? You can immerse yourself in its splendor even from the inside of your room, not to mention that it makes a good display for interior decoration.”

“Uh-huh…”

…Uh-oh, I think I’ve talked too much on my own. Gram is now looking at me with blank face, I’m sure she’s exasperated with me…

“I’m sorry, I’ve been rambling so much. Well then, please follow me, I will show you the way to the bath area.”

“Uh-huh…”

When we reached outside, Lane and the others were already waiting for us.

“Were you resting, Lotte-sama?”

“I fell asleep for a bit…”

Gram is really a woman of few words, isn’t she.

“Please come this way, dear guests.”

I led the group to the bath by the river, which was filled with citrus grass and had a nice refreshing aroma.

“Hoo… This is quite something!”

The officers nodded in satisfaction and, without hesitation, undressed one after another. They didn’t even mind taking off their clothes while I was still standing there. So I checked the temperature of the hot water while enjoying their state of undress.

Hmm… I think the water is a little too hot.

“Iwao, add some water here.”

Iwao No. 4, who was standing by my side, added a large tub of water. It was a hot day, so it would be better if the water temperature was lower than usual. I rolled up the sleeves and hem of my clothes and stirred the water with a long board to lower the temperature of the bath.

Suddenly, I noticed that everyone was paying attention to my appearance.

It seems that I wasn’t supposed to roll up the hem of my chinos and exposed my calves.

“Okami, please don’t stimulate the soldiers so much…”

Lane gave me this warning while being completely naked. No, no, rather than me, it’s you who’s giving too much stimulation…!

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want my clothes to get wet from the bath water,” I tried bowing my head to apologize, but the soldiers tried to placate me instead.

“Well, no harm done right? It’s only us around here after all.”

“True, but it’d be bad if it were seen by the rest of the soldiers.”

I see, so in this world, it is considered taboo for a man to expose his calves. I’ll need to keep that in mind.

“I’m sorry I showed you something so unsightly.” I said while sticking my tongue out, and suddenly everyone looked down in embarrassment. Gram, in particular, looked visibly upset and dazed.

She’s lowering her face so much, as if trying to bury her head in her divine mounds, which looks far softer than any other woman’s.

Huh? Wait…

She suddenly fainted in the bath!

“She fainted because of overexcitement! One of you, make some ice and help me cool her down. Lotte-sama! Lotte-sama!?”

W-was it because of me?

 But all I did was roll up the hem of my pants and make a ‘tehepero’ pose. [3] Oh, turns out my shirt was also unbuttoned to the second button. Well, it was hot, so maybe I unbuttoned without realizing it.

Really, I didn’t notice it was unbuttoned!

“W-we need to get Gram-sama out of the bath quickly!” I jumped into the bath in a panic to save Gram, but everyone there stopped me.

“Okami! D-do you have any idea what state you’re in? Y-your shirt and pants are wet and see through, please don’t come here or you’ll excite Lotte-sama even more!”

Everyone was staring intently at me, and I was starting to get excited from all the attention. Things were getting out of hand.

“I-I’m sorry, I’ll go change right away!!” I got out of the bath and ran toward my room as fast as I could.

♢ Lotte Gram’s POV

Shirou, his clothes translucent and clinging wetly to his body, was running away from the bath.

The officers were gazing at him as if trying to etch the view into their memories.

“H, hey, you think he did it unintentionally?”

“I don’t think he did that on purpose. Actually, I don’t think anyone would be able to pull off such a shameless act intentionally.”

“This is bad…  I’m getting so excited I can’t calm down…”

Hearing the officers words, Vice-commander Lane let out a sigh.

“He’s too defenseless… I heard he has been living alone on this island so it’s kind of understandable, but still… Lotte-sama, are you alright now?”

Having her neck cooled down with some ice, Lotte finally regained consciousness. “It’s okay, I was just a little surprised…” So she said, but her heart was still beating furiously.

It was the first time she saw a man’s leg in close proximity, and so coquettishly sticking out his tongue.

A man’s legs were pure white and only sparsely hairy, just like the stories I’ve heard. And if that tongue were ever to caress my body…

Her imagination was too powerful for her own good and she fell unconscious again.

♢Back to Shirou’s POV

I had gone and done something really bad. I never thought that Gram would end up fainting. I think she’s really not used to getting along well with men, though I don’t think it’s because she dislikes the opposite sex; she was staring at me intently.

I’ll have to properly apologize to her later…

I took off my wet clothes and put on new dry ones. I made this shirt myself by sewing together the fabrics I created using my magic. [4] While I could just use my magic to create a proper shirt, it would take 12 hours to complete, so I’ll just have to shelve the idea for now.

The shirt that I made myself was a simple one that I put on over my head and wrapped around my waist with a rope. [5]

As for the bottom part… Hm?

Wait, how come there are no more pants?!

“Goku, where are my pants?”

Goku replied by making a washing motion. Oh yeah, I was telling Goku No. 6 to do laundry awhile ago, which would mean I don’t have any other dry clothes at the moment.

Since it would be time for dinner soon, I couldn’t wait around for my clothes to dry, so I had no choice but to wrap a sheet around my waist like a pareo. [6] I made the hem as long as possible so I wouldn’t be exposing too much skin.

As for the underwear… Yeah I didn’t have anything else aside from the skimpy red pair that I got from Leanne. Is that really the only choice that I had?

No, that’s a no go too. If I wore that it would be seen through the white fabric, which would be a terrible idea.

…

…alright, time to be a man and just go commando!

…or maybe not. I didn’t have enough confidence to go out without underwear.

In the end, I created a long strip of sheets and turn it into something like a loincloth.

It was the day when not only my creative magic got a level up, but my sewing skill leveled up too.

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1  Proprietor/Landlord

2 Look Shirou, if I sleep at an inn and suddenly find myself awake while being stared at by a cute landlady, you bet my ass I’ll be acting all weird and shit too.

3  Tehepero: Tehe (making giggle or a ‘tee-hee’ ) + pero (sticking out tongue). Basically tehepero is like this:

Source: https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2019/12/tehepero.html

or this:

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/853713673085529401/

4 Shirou can sew a cloth out of fabric textile? Damn. This is the first time I see a male character in a Japanese Web Novel who can do that.

5 Ah, turns out it was nothing too complicated, I think. The idea is just cut a circle in a middle of a square cloth just big enough to put your head in, and then fasten the side with ropes, something resembling a poncho.

6 From Wikipedia: A pāreu or pareo is a wraparound skirt worn on Tahiti or other Pacific islands. The term was originally used only for women’s skirts, as men wore a loincloth, called a maro. Nowadays the term is used for any cloth worn wrapped around the body by men and women.

It is related to the Malay sarong, Filipino malong, tapis and patadyong, Samoan lavalava, Tongan tupenu and other such garments of the Pacific islands.