Chapter 71: A man who owes nothing

April 22nd, 2023

Beta Reader: My_Own_Worst_NPC

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So, it’s back to normal days, with me working hard in the innkeeping business while the adventurers are exploring the dungeons as usual.

Numerous adventurers have fallen inside the dungeons, and ships carrying new adventurers arrive fairly regularly. As time went by, the white maggot was mentioned less and less, and eventually faded from memory.

As far as I’m concerned, only one thing is different now; Sierra has started to dive into the dungeon.

She said she was trying to earn money for her retirement, but I think the real reason is because she’s still worried about the white maggot. She has been teaming up with Cecily’s party now, and even able to explore the dungeon beyond the fourth basement level.

Cecily’s team gained a massive boost when Sierra joined, and now they’re getting quite rich themselves from all the loot; they all have enough money to stay at Shirou’s Inn and have been continuously living there.

The earning from the loot had been divided equally amongst them, so Miina’s income has more than quintupled. [1] It feels as if they have become a Matagi group from the north-eastern region of Japan.

I remember once reading about them in a book called “Matagi Account”. [2] The actual practice seems to vary between regions, but it is said that the meat and skins are equally distributed among the bear hunters regardless of their roles, and so I thought Cecily’s team was similar to that.

When I asked her about this, she said, “Everyone puts their lives on the line equally, so naturally the reward is the same.”

In this team, Cecily is in charge of the vanguard, Sierra is in charge of high-power attacks, Rouge is in charge of defense, and Mina is in charge of disarming traps and navigation. Oh, and Miina has an additional task, we dubbed it as ‘garbage collection’.

“Okami-san, I picked up something else today!”

Miina has a keen eye, so she often collects things that are lying around within the dungeon, and I would later use [Repair] on them while acting like I’m making an appraisal. At first, the objects she picks up may seem like useless garbage… alright, most of them are actually useless garbage, but occasionally there are some treasures hidden among them.

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Repair target: Hikaridama (Ball of Light)

Description: After 3 seconds of activation, it emits a flash of 1.1 million candela, causing blinding. [3]

MP consumption: 16

Repair time: 18 sec

＃＃＃＃

Like today, she managed to pick up a ball about the size of a quail egg, which turned out to be a stun grenade-like item.

“A lot of the monsters in the dungeon are weak against light, so this could be useful. How many of these do you have?”

“Seven. At first I thought they were just monster droppings, but I’m glad I picked them up.”

It is true that they look like mud dumplings. Miina certainly does have a knack for these things.

“So, are you going to exchange it for gold?”

“I think it would be better for us to use it in dungeon exploration than to exchange it for gold at the guild. I’ll talk to Cecily-san about it.”

Glancing towards the other item she brought, there was a copper cup with a greenish-blue tint on it; it looks just like a small championship trophy with an old wooden base.

I wonder what this one is.

＃＃＃＃

Repair target: Soda cup

Description: When fresh water is put into the cup and activated, it instantly becomes carbonated water. Maximum capacity 700 ㏄

MP consumption: 33

Repair time: 14 seconds

＃＃＃＃

Heeh, this is interesting.

“Oh hey, Cecily, would you girls be willing to sell this to me? I could use it for making drinks and cooking.”

“Shirou, I don’t mind giving it to you if you want it. Actually, you can consider it as a present from me…”

“That’s alright, I have enough money with me, so I’ll pay.”

Truth be told, I’m not even sure what I’m going to do with the amount of money that I have now.

Maybe I should think of a way to be able to spend it for something meaningful soon. Or maybe I should just follow Sierra’s example and save enough money for my retirement.

Anyway, in the end the soda cup was given to me for free out of the goodwill of the whole party member. But I don’t like to be in debt and owe a favor to other people.

“I’ll make some highball drinks [4] for you girls later. No wait, rather than that, it would be better if…”

“Better if what?”

Rouge and Miina were staring at me with confused looks on their faces. Meanwhile Cecily and Sierra were keeping their cool, but I know they are actually getting excited with anticipation.

“Alright, let’s get you ladies some carbonated hair wash!”

A carbonated hair wash is, literally just washing your hair with carbonated water. [5]

“Eh? A hair wash? You’re going to wash our hair?”

That’s right Rouge. After all, I’m a man who doesn’t like to owe a favor to someone else. Also, tonight is finally the moment when I get to see your oh-so-big-but-hidden breasts that you’ve been bragging for so long.

“Oh, Okami-san, do you think you can give me a hair wash too?”

“Of course, Miina. After all, weren’t you the one who has found the magical tool for me?”

I made a mental note to do it carefully when I wash her hair later.

“W-when you wash my hair, don’t forget to do it in your Onii-sama mode, okay?”

“Roger that.”

Don’t worry, I’ll do it like we usually do, Sierra.

Cecily, meanwhile, has suddenly freezes on the spot. Now this might be a problem.

“Cecily, you don’t want a hair wash?”

“ T-T-T-T-THAT’S NOT THE CASE!!”

There’s no need to shout. Sheesh.

“I’ll only be doing a simple head spa. There’ll be no weird service included in it.”

“O-o-o-of course. I wasn’t hoping for anything weird anyway.”

 To tell you the truth, I was hoping that you would want anything weird included as part of the service.

“Also, I want you all to absolutely tell no one else about this, okay? I don’t want any more fuss like the last time.”

By last time, I was referring to what happened after I gave massage to Master Elza, who was totally exhausted by the whole white maggot fiasco. She’s over 70 years old, basically a grandmother, so she was not too sexy, but she was so happy with the massage I gave her that she started spreading the word about it everywhere.

Thanks to that, I was very troubled by the endless number of people who wanted me to give them a massage.

If it was revealed that I am giving a hair wash this time, I’m sure there would be a big commotion again. I know that, rationally, it’s better if I just don’t give any hair message.

However! I want to thank everyone for giving me the magical tool! So, I would not let myself be discouraged by the prospect of people making huge commotion!

My heart was screaming with such pure emotion!

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It seemed that the order of the hair-washing was decided by lottery; the order was Miina, Rouge, Sierra, and finally Cecily.

After all the other guests had gone to bed for the night, all the golems were placed around the bath and put on high alert. No one was allowed to approach the baths.

I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, which by this world’s standards is rather a stimulating outfit.

“E-excuse me.” Miina was led inside by Goku when all the preparations were finally ready.

“Don’t be shy, come here.”

She moved a little closer to the mat where I was sitting. Needless to say, she’s completely naked. Miina looks shy, but she is not trying to hide her body.

Just like most of the adventurers here, she has the ideal body proportion. I thanked the flounder again for bringing me to this isekai world.

“You don’t need to be nerveous, I’m only going to wash your hair.”

“B-but, I can see your thigh…”

I see. Even a mere shorts is already stimulating enough in this world.

“I understand, but there’s no way for us to proceed if you keep standing over there, isn’t it?”

As I guide her hand toward the mat, Miina finally relents and sat down near me.

“W-what should I do now?”

Hearing her voice, I couldn’t help but put on the act of a gentle older brother, just like how an older sister would gently talk to her younger brother back on Earth.

“Then, can you please put your head on top of my lap?”

“Eeeh?! Y-you’re giving me a lap pillow?!”

“Yes. After all, I’m supposed to give you a hair wash, right?”

“I-I understand…”

I can’t help but find Miina, who timidly puts her head on my lap, to be cute.

“Well then, I’m going to pour carbonated water on your head now.”

I slowly sprinkled sparkling carbonated water over Miina’s head and massaged her scalp.

“How was it? Does it feel good?”

“It’s… really nice. I feel like I’m going to melt away.”

Meanwhile, Goku pouring water into the soda cup whenever it’s empty, to keep re-supplying the carbonated water. It seems that carbonated water tends to wash away the dust and oil from the hair, which will keep the scalp and the hair beautiful and clean.

After thoroughly washing her hair with the carbonated water, I then washed her hair with shampoo before finally rinsing it.

“My hair feels soooo cleaann. It feels so fluffy, and yet so refreshed.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Then, can you please call for the next person to come in?”

　After that, I did the hair wash while checking out Rouge’s hidden big breasts (I fondled them a little, by the way), role playing with Sierra as usual, and teased Cecily, who was a little stiff. All in all, I got to spend a busy but meaningful evening.

Also, I think I managed to return the favour to them by doing the hair wash.

Yep… Let’s do it again sometime soon!

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1 Quintupled: Increased by fivefold. And yeah, I had to look it up from the google.

2 Matagi (wikipedia):  traditional winter hunters of the Tōhoku region of northern Japan, most famously today in the Ani area in Akita Prefecture, which is known for the Akita dogs. Afterwards, it spread to the Shirakami-Sanchi forest between Akita and Aomori, and other areas of Japan. Documented as a specialised group from the medieval period onwards, the Matagi continue to hunt deer and bear in the present day, and their culture has much in common with the bear worship of the Ainu people.

3 One candela is about as bright as one candle light. ((MoWNPC: We call them lumens in the US. The world’s brightest flashlight only shines at 100,00 lumens, which can light up things over 4000 feet away.))

4 Highball (Wikipedia): A highball is a mixed alcoholic drink composed of an alcoholic base spirit and a larger proportion of a non-alcoholic mixer, often a carbonated beverage. Examples include the Seven and Seven, Scotch and soda, gin and tonic, screwdriver, fernet con coca, Tom Collins, and rum and Coke.

5 And so after some 5 minutes research, I concluded that carbonated hair wash is indeed a thing! However, whether it is better than regular hair wash or not is still inconclusive. ((MoWNPC: Dude, we know Shirou is just getting his fill of lady companionship, and who can blame him?)) Alright. Fair point.