When you think of mountains, hot springs come to mind.
After that, we arrived in the post town, and after pushing our way through the swarms of Beast Races’ gathering to meet Leo, we arrived at our inn.
After taking a quick stroll through the town, we met up with our guide, Talhand.
And after the children fell asleep, we had an adult-only meeting in the tavern.
After our stay at the inn, we set out first thing in the morning.
Following Talhand’s directions, we arrived at the hot springs.
We had heard that Monsters appear around the hot springs, but it was much closer than I thought.
You can see from the rockface the other day meets the milky white of the hot springs.
The entire area was surrounded by a large stone wall to keep the Monsters out.
And if you look down in the direction we climbed up, you can see the post town in the distance.
In other words, it’s an open air bath with a superb view.
And of course, it’s a mixed bath.
But there really aren’t many people here.
There aren’t even any Humans.
If you look around, it’s almost entirely Dwarves and Hobbits, with the occasional Beast Race.
Hot springs probably aren’t all that popular with Humans or Elves.
In Human culture, baths like this are usually the things of Nobility.
Well then, there aren’t many people.
And there are no Humans.
That said, there are men.
There are men and women.
Showing my beloved wives’ and daughters’ naked bodies to unknown men is a good thing.
Wait, no it’s not.
Especially this time, because it’s not just my wives.
Elinalise is here too.
Even if she used to be your friendly neighbourhood adventuring stripper, I will find pleasure in seeing another man’s sexy Elf wife naked.
Wait, that’s not right.
And so, with that in mind, I have prepared a special kind of bathrobe.
It’s a Kantoui Made of a dark fabric.1
It has no particular resistances, but it’s made to feel natural like a swimsuit when wearing it.
The designer is Aisha Greyrat.
“Aisha-nee, they have a waterfall over there!”
“Huh? Were?”
“Look, it’s over there, there.”
“Aah, wait Mama.”
Aisha, along with Eris, Ars, and Sieg all seem excited to be in a hot spring for the first time, and are exploring their new environment.
The dark black fabric isn’t see through, but it does cling, making the figure completely visible.
And they’re moving all over generously exposing it.
Eris probably hasn’t noticed so that’s fine… And Aisha probably doesn’t even care.
Well whatever.
This is a place anyone can enter.
As long as the important places are hidden it’s fine.
Let those who are embarrassed be so.
Although I do hope they don’t cause trouble for anyone else here.
Even here, there are manners that are necessary.
“Hey Blue Mama, you’ve been here before haven’t you?”
“Yes, it was a long time ago.”
“Tell us!”
“Sure. It was right after I had left the Magic Continent, around the time I had just graduated from being a beginner Adventurer…”
Roxy was telling a story to Lucy with Lily in her arms.
Clive was also listening in nearby.
Clive’s face was bright red, probably because of Lucy’s state of dress.
But it’s too early for you to know those kinds of feelings Clive-kun.
Your father, nor I, will permit it at such an age.
“…And so Holy Beast-sama, this is the Saviour-sama?”
“Ruff!”
“I see!”
“…”
Lara and Leo were surrounded by Beast Races’
Lara has her usual bold expression, but she looks somewhat bothered.
It was like this in the post town as well.
“Chris-sama, If you get hot, please say. I will prepare you something to drink.”
“Kaaay~…”
Lillia was washing Zenith and looking after Chris.
She was sitting with me before but she didn’t like the hot water so she quickly got out.
Now she’s clinging to Zenith.
Well, that’s fine.
“…Aaaah! This is the best…!”
“This is the first time I’ve drank Dwarf liquor. It’s pretty strong… But it’s good.”
And Sylphy, Elinalise, Cliff, Talhand, and I are all drinking together.
We bought some Dwarven liquor in the post town and chilled it.
I’ve never tasted anything like it before, I don’t even know what it’s made of, but I do know that it’s good.
It goes down smoothly and as it passed your throat, gives a soft scent of flowers.
The cold penetrates your body and slowly warms you up from the inside.
After we got out of the bath, we headed back to our rooms.
After that we had the rest of the family wait in the inn as Roxy, Talhand, Elinalise, and I went to look for somewhere to install the Teleport Formation.
We only took those used to walking through mountains.
Eris wanted to come too, but I had her stay back as a guard.
And so the four of us entered the mountain.
It was just past the inn.
Somewhere people don’t come across often is ideal for a Teleport Formation.
Ariel once told me that the majors powers want to have Teleport Gates connecting them and they’re currently making plans for it…
But that’s still quite far off.
Lifting the taboo on Teleport Magic.
Until we know that it’s a real possibility, I’ll still have to keep putting my personal Formations where people can’t find them.
If we go too high we’ll be in Blue Dragon territory, so we still have to keep it within reachable range.
“I guess about here’s fine…”
Now that we’ve found somewhere to set it up, it’s time to make a building.
It’s basically made the same as a Dragon Race relic.
Four rooms with a hidden staircase in one leading to the Teleport Formation.
I’ve left Roxy and Elinalise outside to keep watch.
I dig the hole with Earth Magic and begin forming the room.
I had Talhand help out with the specifications of the inside.
Nobody’s going to stumble across here, but the Formation lead to the office.
So in the million to one chance someone finds it, we’d be in trouble.
And so with that in mind, I dressed it up like a real ruin so any travellers that come across it leave satisfied. I even threw in something that looked like a treasure chest.
I set it up like something along the lines of a rest stop.
It should seem like somewhere ancient travellers would be able to take a break.
Talhand was the one who made the furnishings.
He certainly lives up to the Dwarves’ legacy of craftsmanship.
He crafted it all from a single huge piece of stone and even made them look appropriately worn.
By the time the sun set, the building looked like it had been standing there for over a thousand years.
“It’s impressive. I don’t think anyone will be able to tell.”
“There aren’t any plants or moss. Anybody who knows what they’re doing could tell right away.”
Oh.
It seems the craftsman is unsatisfied with his work.
That said, I don’t think anyone will come across it that quickly.
If someone does eventually stumble across it, it should look properly aged by then.
There’s nobody around to clean it after all.
“Is it even alright for us to be erecting a building here? The Dwarves have sealed it off haven’t they?”
“The Dwarves treat the mountain as something of a God and buildings are considered offerings. No matter what we build, nobody’s going to complain.”
Is that how it is?
Maybe I should have made the outside more gaudy instead of hiding it all underground.
The fact that the entrance leads underground basically screams that something fishy is going on.
Well I guess it’s too late now.
“Since we’re done here, we should head back.”
“I’ll be there in a second.”
Finally, I activated the Formation and Teleported.
After confirming that it does in fact lead to the office, I head back.
“All good.”
“…”
“If something comes up I’d be fine with you using it too Talhand-san.”
“No thank you. I shall make due with my feet.”
Talhand shook his head and refused.
So for now, the Teleport Formation is complete.
All that’s left is to head back.
The next day, we set out from the town early in the morning.
And here is where we parted with Cliff and Talhand.
We gave our goodbyes before getting in the carriage.
Cliff is to conduct his investigation today and return to Millishion within the next few.
“Clive, make sure you’re a good boy.”
“Of course!”
Cliff really didn’t want to say goodbye to Clive.
It’s not like they won’t see each other again.
But it’s always painful to part with family.
And so our family vacation ended without incident.
Thinking back on it, all I did was work, but it was a good trip.
I pray this was a good experience for the children and will help encourage them.
Saying it like that really doesn’t suit me.
I hope they all grow up well.