Chapter 77

"Hehehe... Finally! It's finally complete!!"

A mysterious stone was placed right in the middle of the river.

While staring at it, I roared alone in the forest.

It was the sixth day of being holed up in the Rurubu Forest.

The surroundings were already pitch black, and since the bath construction work was done after the hunting, I had been working silently every day using [Night Vision].

And the monsters would attack regardless of my situation, which was quite frustrating...

But, nevertheless!

There was a self-made bath right in front of me.

I wanted to share this excitement with someone, but there was no one around!!

...So I decided to talk to myself.

On the second night of being holed up.

While exploring methods to build a bath, I couldn't find a clear answer and was gathering branches for a bonfire, thinking of any good ideas.

Then, when returning to the hole, I casually used magic to create a foothold on a stone pillar about 1.5 meters tall.

It was simply because climbing a stone pillar as tall as myself was tiring after a day of hunting.

"Create a hollow."

I couldn't erase stones, as I had experienced in the Locker Plain.

So, could I create a hollow? It would be nice if I could.

This experiment was mixed with such a simple wish—

The result was a perfect hollow.

It wasn't clear whether it was eroded or compressed.

If it followed the same logic as soil, it was probably the latter.

I used [Earth Magic] Level 1.

Moreover, since I used it casually, almost no magic power was infused.

But even so, a hollow about 1 cm deep was created on part of the stone pillar, and after repeating it a few times, it became possible to hook my foot.

This was the first step in deciding the design of the bath.

On the third night of being holed up.

I first created a huge stone.

When I said "huge," it was just what I said when casting the spell.

"Create a huge, square stone."

This phrase was clearly conveyed to the spirits, and it was the limit of [Earth Magic] Level 3 that I could use.

Using 29 magic points, a stone block about 2 meters on each side was created.

It suddenly appeared right in the middle of the river.

Then, within the day, I used [Earth Magic] to sink the stone block into the riverbed, lowering its height by about 1 meter.

In other words, it was half-buried in the riverbed.

This resulted in a stone block about 1 meter high, 2 meters long, and 2 meters wide sitting in a river with a water depth of about 50 cm.

This size would not be washed away even if the river flow increased due to rain.

Also, it seemed like the riverbank around the base had become clearer, but that might have been my imagination.

On the fourth night of being holed up.

I sat on the stone block and dug relentlessly.

Of course, it wasn't something that could be done with a sword or a knife.

If I did that, I wouldn't be able to use them for hunting, so I dug using only magic.

Technically, it was compressed, but since I couldn't feel the difference by touching it, I will use the term "digging" here.

Naturally, the amount that could be dug at once was not much compared to soil. It was inevitable because of the hardness.

Despite the slow progress, I tried various things during the work.

"Create a hole."

This could dig the stone according to the amount of magic power.

However,

"Remove the stone."

"Extract the stone."

Such phrases that hinted at the disappearance or separation of the stone did not work with the spirits.

The criteria for judgment were ambiguous and difficult, but compression was possible, while disappearance was in a different field of magic.

I suspected it would be something like [Space Magic] that I was seeking, and I continued to work, exploring a more efficient way to use magic.

However, I received a summons from Lady Feilir and had to use [Divine Power], so the work was interrupted.

On the fifth night of being holed up.

I continued digging the stone block, trying to make up for the previous night.

I even used a bit of the magic power I recovered in the morning to dig before going hunting.

By the fifth day, monster hunting had stabilized, and with my level-up, the remaining magic power at the end of the day increased day by day.

I also intentionally suppressed my magic power to advance the bath construction work.

From the fifth day, I started to think about the final design of the bath.

The large stone was 2 meters square.

I could make a circular bath like in a resort or a rectangular bath like in a typical Japanese household.

Given that the stone was 2 meters high, I could even make a standing bath if I wanted to.

But among these options, I chose the most popular and familiar rectangular bath.

It was the most reassuring, but that wasn't the main reason.

While making it, I also thought about how to warm the water.

With this stone block and its location, it was impossible to heat it from below.

So, the only method was to put in heated stones.

Where to heat the stones?

If I heated them at the base or by the river, I would have to figure out how to transport them to the bath, which I wasn't confident I could do. So, I decided to heat them next to the bath.

This way, I could push the heated stones into the bath with something.

So, the 2-meter square stone became half a bath and half a space for heating the stones.

And today, the sixth day.

I finished the basic shape of the bath in the morning and had been making final adjustments until just now.

First, I tried a plug for the hole in the bath.

If I failed here, all my previous work could be ruined, so I was very careful and first experimented with a plate-shaped stone lying around.

The materials for the plug were the skin of a Small Wolf I collected today and the sticky silk I made the Rig Spider release.

The sticky silk was a mysterious, squishy, and slimy material, so I thought it would seal any gaps if I used enough of it.

I rolled up a small piece of Small Wolf skin, covered it with the sticky silk, and stuffed it into a hole I had made in a stone, then poured water on top.

The water accumulated on top, but no water dripped from the gaps in the plug.

The sticky silk did not dissolve in the water.

Even when I changed the water to a warm temperature, there was no change in the sticky silk.

This was a success, no, a great success.

It could be easily removed with a slight push, so I thought it worked well as a plug.

There was a bit of stickiness left, but that was unavoidable.

With this experiment successful, I could open holes in the bath itself without any problems.

I made one hole facing upstream and one on the bottom of the opposite side to create water inlets and outlets.

I shuddered at the sight of water immediately flowing into the bath.

With this progress, there was only one thing left to do.

I hurriedly gathered branches, placed them in the space next to the bath, and used [Fire Magic] to ignite them, then started throwing stones into the fire.

I didn't know how many stones I needed, so I decided to heat more than enough.

The stones were about 50 cm above the water level, and the river flow was calm, so there was no worry about them getting wet.

All I had to do was wait for the stones to heat up...

Suppressing my excitement, I started to take off my clothes.

▽ ▼ ▽ ▼ ▽

Holding only my sword, I stood naked, staring at the bath.

It took a long time.

I didn't expect it to take this long for the stones to heat up.

For over an hour, I waited naked without eating.

During this time, monsters came to check out the bath, and I naturally defeated them.

The Orcs were strangely scared of me, but it was too late to put my clothes back on.

Just a little more.

So, I gripped my sword and waited quietly.

When I finally put three red-hot stones into the bath, the water started to bubble vigorously...

Would it be okay?

Were three stones too many?

Let's see... hmm.

It's warm, but not unbearably so.

If so, I'll add more stones and enjoy a lukewarm bath first.

If it's too hot, I'll get dizzy quickly.

But I'm glad I made it larger.

The bath is about my height, and if I put the stones in the corners, I won't touch them and get burned.

Plop... Plop... Sizzle...

Well, let's get in.

It's been a long time since I've had a bath—here I go!!

Splash!

"Ah... ah... ah... ah... ah..."

This is amazing. I didn't know a bath could be this good.

Looking up, I saw the stars shining brightly in the sky, unobstructed by trees in the middle of the river.

In front of me was the bonfire where I was heating the stones.

And I was in the river, surrounded by water on all sides, 360 degrees.

It's a view that makes even a seaside hot spring look like nothing.

Normally, a hot spring in a river would be by the riverbank.

No one in their right mind would build a bath in the middle of a river.

Ah... ah... ah... ah... ah...

"There!"

"Yip!?"

With that, let's move on to the next step.

I got out of the bath, which was now at a good temperature, and looked at the homemade cutting board next to the bonfire.

On it was Orc meat (Prime).

It was fresh, having just been hunted while I was waiting naked.

It was definitely A-grade meat.

I had already heated it a bit, so I decided to finish it off.

The best meat in the best environment.

I doubt anyone else is enjoying such luxury.

Haha... Hahaha... Hahaha!!!

What a wonderful world.

With magic, even a novice can do such things.

Those with cheat skills must be enjoying life even more.

But I'm enjoying it even more?

This ability might be a cheat, but it doesn't improve without effort.

So, I will continue to work hard.

The more you taste effort and hardship, the more you can savor the joy and pleasure afterward.

Takuya, the hero who is probably already strong and enjoying a luxurious bath with women in the castle, has never experienced the thrill of entering a bath with a sword in hand.

"Hmm!!"

"Guh...!"

Well, is it almost done?

Yeah, it looks good.

All I need to do is sprinkle some salt—

Ah... It's really delicious...

A beer would be perfect, but that's for another time.

I don't know what would happen if I drank with this body.

Ha... I should also make the backrest a bit steeper and smooth out the bumps on the bottom.

While I'm at it, I could make some armrests on the sides of the bath.

I'll adjust these things with the remaining magic power while enjoying the bath in the days to come.

...I hope Lady Feilir likes this bath.