Yousei Bishoujo ga Nounai de Tasuke wo Motometekurundaga?

121. There’s no ‘too early’ in making a blunder

“Hmm… It’s quite large.”

That was Atsushi’s first impression after entering the hot spring of the inn. Other than being big, there were also several choices, each with a different color.

“Even though it’s deep inside the mountains like this, the facilities are better than I imagined. And there are many types to choose… The natural one, the electric one, there’s also a sauna… ah, there’s the one with the jet too. Amazing.”

Mutsu Hakamura was located in such a rural area that it was normal to think there would be no electricity. Even so, this inn was so well equipped that it could be said that it was perfect. Even if someone said that this place was deep in the mountains, no one would believe it right away.

On the other hand…

“But, there really aren’t many people huh… just me and that sinking woman…”

While saying such things, Atsushi first took a shower before going into the hot spring…

“Hmm?”

Atsushi felt some kind of discomfort there.

It wasn’t that there were too few guests for this big place.

It was something else,

He said the words that he just blurted out again in his mind.

Just me and that sinking woman…

That sinking woman…

…………sinking woman?!

“……. Oi oi oi oi!”

And so, Atsushi hurriedly carried the sunken woman to the dressing room, even though he was still surprised.

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After some time.

In the dressing room, the sunken blond woman woke up.

“Well well, it was dangerous. I can’t believe I fell asleep there. Even though it was my own fault, still…”

“But, the one who got surprised the most was me…”

Atsushi involuntarily muttered such things to the woman.

No wonder. After all, just having a woman in the men’s bath was strange enough, but she had sunken in the water. It was really not a situation anyone would ever consider any day.

For the time being, it would be bad to leave her as it was, so after they both finished changing clothes, the woman called out to Atsushi.

“But, well, thank you for helping me. Umm…”

“I’m Atsushi Yamagami.”

“Ah, self-introduction. Right. I am Kounan Egawa. Oh, it’s a pen name. A poor manga artist person who draws mystery manga.”

“I-I see… Nice to meet you.”

Atsushi gave an appropriate response.

I don’t know why but… I feel like that pen name is insanely dangerous…

In his heart, he inadvertently thought so, but he didn’t dare to say it out loud.

“But why were you in the men’s bath…… and was sunken?”

“Well~, I often come here, but this time that demon editor of mine secretly came along. And threatened me, “What the hell are you doing here, you haven’t even finished anything of your next project”… Then, I was confined in a room with only canned food to survive until a while ago. As I finished my work, I went to the bath to relax, and…”

“You mistook the men’s bath for the women’s bath.”

“Yes. Fortunately, or unfortunately, there are really few customers this time of year. I didn’t realize that I went to a men’s bath until you helped me. Well, well～, what a blunder, Hahaha…”

Egawa said with a laugh.

Indeed, she had dark circles under her eyes. Clearly, she wasn’t getting enough sleep. However, Atsushi didn’t expect her to mistake the men’s bath and the women’s bath… if there were a lot of other guests, it might have turned into a terrible situation.

“Even so, it’s rare for a customer to come here at this time of year. Usually, it’s only me and Icchan…”

“Icchan…? By any chance, are you talking about Kaneda-san?”

“Oh, you know Icchan?”

“Yeah. I just met her in the hallway not long ago.”

Judging from how Egawa called Kaneda, it seemed that the two were quite close.

From the looks, they seemed to be close in age. One was a manga artist and the other one was a novelist.

“I see, I see… By the way, why are you here, at this inn?”

“Why…? Well, there are various things…”

“Hmmm, various things, I see… Well, I won’t pry into it. But, let me say one thing.”

“What is it?”

“You shouldn’t wander around too much here at night. It seems that a certain ghost sometimes wanders around this time of year.”

“You mean that the spirit of Mutsu, which is also the name of this village?”

“Right. So you know about Mutsu huh? From what I’ve heard, it seems that Mutsu still has lingering feelings for this world, and at the time when Mutsu died, which is this season, the spirit would appear at this inn. Well, I’ve never seen it myself before.”

The story that came out of Egawa’s mouth was exactly something that could be found anywhere.

However, Atsushi felt a little skeptical about the story, so he asked.

“But why showing up at this inn?

Mutsu was once torn to pieces by the villagers. If that resentment were to go toward them, it would be against the villagers. It should be so.

So, Atsushi found that it was a bit strange for the spirit to appear in the inn, a place where people who have nothing to do with the village would gather.

“Because the place, this inn, was the place where Mutsu’s grave was.”

Egawa casually said the reason, blowing away Atsushi’s doubts.