More than ten days have passed since I reported Diabolus to the Adventurer's Association.
　I've been visiting the Society every day since then, but so far there have been no reports of abnormalities in Trent.
　As for the Diabolus, I've also finished assessing how much of a demon it is and received 600,000 G as a reward.
　He also wanted to find out more about this demon and asked if he could give me the horns and trident for 800,000G, so I handed it over.
　1.4 million G just for that demon alone, that's really good money.

　
　She reacted just like Widge-chan in the association of the royal capital.

　As for the black magic stone, it is still shattered, and it is difficult to analyze it at the laboratory in Queress.
　It seems that they are continuing to analyze it, but even if they continue, they don't know what kind of thing they will find out.

'Phew, it's nice to have peace and nothing's going on.

That's right. The bamboo forest is now completely devoid of Trent.

Yeah. Now you can hunt in peace.

　After another day of hunting, I returned home to take a break.
　We also looked around the bamboo forest to see if there were any torrents, but so far we haven't found anything unusual.
　We also checked for labyrinths and places where Grandis had been, but in the end we didn't find anything.
　I guess it's safe to assume that Diabolus was the cause of that commotion after all.......maybe.

''After hearing Okura-san's story, I thought for sure there was going to be a big battle in the future...''

Hmm?　You said there might be a mastermind behind this, but you never said anything about that, did you?　Well, not that it's not a possibility, but if I were to think about it from my opponent's standpoint...

　If the mastermind of the crime might be there, it's normal to think that they'll do something to bring that person down in the future.
　But since we don't have any information at all, the only thing we can do is look around.
　And if I were to consider the situation, I'd say....

"The moment one of my guys is hit, I'll run.

　Hearing my words, Sisha has made a very subtle face.
　Luna, who is on my lap, also heard that and is looking at me with zit eyes.

''It's not because it's Heihachi........''

'How rude!　He's the kind of guy who uses his family to sneak around in the first place.　If he's there, he must be a coward. The fact that reports of Trent's discovery have gone down a lot since then is the best proof of that.

'When you say that, it sounds somewhat convincing...'

　He was the one who was secretly working in the depths of the forest, deep in the middle of a secluded area like that, even using his own crew.
　I don't know if that was an experiment or if it was to do something to Queres, but he must be a very cautious opponent.
　It's undeniable that the magic light stone Diabolus had in his possession could have been shattered by our attack, but it's also possible that Diabolus was ordered to shatter it himself.

　Even if it was a family member, it was a reasonably strong demon, and if it was hit, it wouldn't be surprising if it fled once.
　Or rather, if it were me, I would run away from this neighborhood at that point.
　I don't know what the purpose is, so it's not necessarily so, but since Trent's abnormalities have subsided, that line is quite possible.

In any case, it seems that the anomalies in the area around Queles are over for now, so that's good.

Yeah. ...Too bad I didn't get paid for the mess after all.

That's the motivation behind your proactive attempts to solve the problem, isn't it...

　Well, for now, we can rest assured that the ruckus has been resolved.
　I just have to be careful, though, because something might happen in the future.
　However, I'm very disappointed that we didn't get a cost reduction or magic stones, although it was resolved.
　If that had been treated as a big defeat, and I had gotten about 100 magic stones, the box gacha might not have ended up like that.......ugh.

''So, what are you going to do from now on?　Since the problem of Queres is solved once, do you want to collect magic stones for the gacha again?

''Hmm, yeah. For now, let's save up at least 1,000 magic stones before the next gacha. If I can, I'd like to exceed 2,000.

How many are there now, sir?

163 pieces.

'At the very least you have to collect at least ... 837 more.

It's those kinds of specific numbers that depress me...

　To be honest, even 1,000 feels like a small number, but if I set my sights too high, the Noles will probably have a mental breakdown.
　I'll ask the Nors to help me hunt accordingly, and if I have time, I'll go to the Goblin Forest to successfully incite Sisha to go to the Goblin Forest.

''By the way, how many magic stones are being sent by Dius-san, Glynn-san and the others right now?

'Well not every day, but every few days I get three or four. Sometimes six or seven on a busy day.

　I've kept track of how much is in there, but it's not like Dius and the others are sending me magic stones every day.
　Unlike us, they probably don't go hunting every day, so that's only natural.
　Most of them are hunted by Dius and his team, and when there are a lot of them, Glynn and his team may also be hunting for you.

''Oh, you're sending quite a few of them to us.

It was a good decision to get their help after all. For our sake, we will get more collaborators!

It wouldn't be so hard if it was so easy to increase it.

　It's steady, but even if just one magic stone is sent from the others, I'm grateful for it.
　It would be helpful if I could gather more collaborators like Noll said, but it's tough because we can't increase the number of collaborators that easily under the conditions.
　It's a good thing that you're not just a good talker, but also a great deal better at speaking.

It's a good idea to have a bath soon. Hey, Luna-san.

Yeah. I'm tired of hunting again today.

　Once the conversation has settled down, Sisha stands up while picking up Luna and says she's going to take a bath.
　A bath.........

''Speaking of baths........don't you want a bath soon?

What do you mean by that, sir?　We already have a bath, sir.

No, do you want an extra bath with the house extension?

　I haven't used the house extension features lately, and it's time to add something to it.
　And since it's such a big deal, I'd like to have a bath.

I'd like to have a bath if I could, but I don't know. A house extension bath would be much easier to use than the current one.

'Yes. I can still go in with Luna-san as it is now, but it might be easier to get in if it were a little bigger.

Mmm, it's always squishy when we're in that round bath together.

　The bath we're using right now is like a big tub made of wood.
　We use it to boil water in it, but I asked Esther to magically make the water come out of it.
　It's not big enough to fit your legs fully outstretched, so Cisha and Luna, who are both in it, seem to be feeling a little cramped.

But even if you want to add more, is there enough points to do so?　If I recall, the baths require 5,000 points...

So I'm thinking of taking apart the SSR's adamant shield and LCD monitor that I'm not using.

You haven't used it since you came out.

　I haven't used it in a long time since it came out, and I feel like it's a bit of a letdown, but I'll use these two to add a bath this time.
　The Adamant Shield is unlikely to be used anymore because of the pot lid...
　I'll probably have a chance to give SRs to Dius and the others in the future, so I'm going to keep the ones that came out of the box gacha this time, just in case.
　Okay, Nol and the others seem to be in a good mood, so I'll just add them to the list....

'Ah........but I'll have to make a new room for Noor and Sisha first.

No, I don't mind taking a bath first. My current room is comfortable, and I'm more interested in the house extension's bath than anything else!

'As for me, I'd like to see you prioritize the baths, I'm sure they must be gorgeous since you're going to spend 5,000 points on them.

'Well I'm sorry then, but I'm going to have to make a bath this time.

　I had forgotten that Noll and Sisha weren't in the House Extension room yet.
　But the girls wanted me to prioritize the baths over that, so this time I'm going to take advantage of that and let them make a bath.
　When the next mess comes, I'll have to make a new room for them this time....

　Permission was granted, so I quickly launched the House Extension from my phone.
　Then I selected the SSRs, the adamant shield and the LCD monitor, and disassembled them.
　One SSR converts to 2,500 points, so I now had 5,000 points, which is what I needed for the bath.

　I then use the expansion function to set up a bath at the end of the corridor that leads to my room, and immediately go to check it out with Nol and the others.

I can't believe it's separate for men and women. It's like a public bathhouse...

What is going on inside, sir?　We're going to go in immediately!

'Then I'll have to get a change of clothes. Come on in with me, Luna!

Hmm, I'm tired from hunting again today. I hope it's a relaxing bath...

　As I went to the end of the hallway, I saw that a new door had been added to the building.
　And when I opened the door and entered, there were two entrances separated by a blue brick and a red one.
　Wow I didn't expect that much consideration to be given to this. This is pretty big.
　We had just returned from a day of hunting today, and each of us went back to get a change of clothes and other things to try to get in right away.

　We got our clothes and entered through the blue brick door, which was a transparent glass sliding door.
　And behind it is a bath with a ridiculously large tub.
　It's big enough to hold 10...well, more than that, even if there are more people in it at the same time.
　It's equipped with showers and such, just like a public bath in my world.
　I don't know where the hot water is coming from in the bathtub, but it's nothing to be concerned about now.

　There is a black panel next to the entrance, and it seems that you can adjust the temperature with it.
　There's also a button with a mop drawn on it... does that mean the cleaning is automatic?
　It's really the best of the gacha-produced stuff.......5000 points indeed.

'Oh this is great.

'Yeah, I guess so. This one doesn't look too small for a large group of people to fit in.

I haven't been able to stretch my legs and soak in a hot tub in a while. I like taking a bath a lot, so I'm happy.

　I'm excited to see if I can take a bath this big.
　I'm the only guy in the bathtub, so it's a bit lonely, but I'll be able to take it easy when I think it's private.
　I like going to public baths, and the thought of being able to stay in this bath for a long time makes me feel good.

Oh, is that so?　I like it a lot, too; let's take our time getting in there, just the two of us.

'Yeah, yeah. ........hmm?

　I quickly put my hands on my clothes to take them off as there were shelves on the floor like a public bathhouse, and I put my clothes in them.
　That's when I finally noticed that Estelle was intruding.

''.......why are you here?''

What, no?

No.

　Esther, who was there before I knew it, is tilting her head next to me and wondering.
　She put her hand on the second button of her own shirt and already seems ready to unbutton the first button and take it off.
　Oh, I didn't notice because he was so natural........

　When I said no, Esther looked at me with a serious expression and started talking.

''........Brother, I think it's time for us to get to know each other better.

...Yeah?

So why don't we take this opportunity to do some naked hookups?

I appreciate the desire to get to know you better, but I reject it!

Mmm.

　I let Estelle have a change of clothes, pick her up and take her towards the women's bathhouse.
　Her cheeks are puffed out and she looks terribly unhappy, but it's not like she's going in there with me....

　I go back to the men's room, take off my clothes and get in this time.
　And while I was lightly washing myself before getting into the tub, a voice echoed in the bath.

''Oh!　It's very spacious!'

　What ... why does it sound like Nole?
　I stopped washing my body and looked around and saw a large gap between one side of the wall surrounded by white walls on all sides and the ceiling.
　
　Thinking about what's on the other side of one wall........ugh.

　 What am I imagining?
　I thought about bringing my wall shoes for a moment, but I shouldn't do that. That would be criminal.

'Nole I didn't think you would, but you wear an eye mask in the bath too.'

'This is not what it looks like!　I don't do that when I go in alone!

'Are you still embarrassed to show your true face, even with us?

"One on one is fine, but with two or more, it's no good...

'Huh, it's still getting a lot better, but I guess I'm not ready to leave the eye mask yet.

　Noll seems to be wearing an eye mask in the bath as well.
　He seems to be fine with it one-on-one, though, so it's getting a lot better than before.

　Apparently, Noll and the others don't seem to realize that I can hear them.
　It may be mean, but since this is the case, let's just listen to the conversation in silence.

It's a good thing to have a large bath.

'Yes. I've never been in a bath this big before, so it's refreshing.'

　It seems that Noll and the others have finished washing themselves and have started to soak in the hot tub. The girls seem to be in a good mood for this bath as well.

　I've already finished washing my body and am slowly soaking my shoulders in the tub.
　I've always taken a bath, but it's different when it's this open and spacious. And it's a private room.
　It would be nice to have a bottle of milk or fruit olefin after the bath, but.......it's not that well equipped.

''Oh, that's nice. It's easy to stretch your legs and get in.

''Uh-huh, I'm glad to hear that Luna-san seems to be feeling good.''

　I can even hear a reluctant voice that doesn't sound like Luna's little girl.
　There must have been a story about vampires not being good at running water or something, but...................but there's not a hint of that in this voice that sounds like it's enjoying the extreme.

''Mm, there's a cushion of sis-ha, it's comfortable.''

"I'm embarrassed to hear you say so...

　Sisuha's cushion.................What is that all about?

'But I feel a little sorry for you that we are all four of us in this room, and Okura-dono is all alone. It would have been better if you had joined us.

'I tried to go in with you, but you kicked me out. I'm so sorry to hear that... yeah, really.

"Even dirty Okura-san wouldn't be able to bathe with you so proudly, would he?

"What, Heihachi's a skank?

''Yes, that's right. There was a thin book hidden in an empty box in Okura-san's room. The bottom of the box was double-layered to hide it, so he seems to be very cautious.

　You're calling me a dirty old man!
　I wanted to shout, but more importantly, my heart jumped at Sisha's next statement.
　Hey, how........how come you know where my secret collection is hidden!
　You went to the trouble of hiding it in the bottom of an empty box and covered it with a board on top, which should have been perfectly camouflaged... but you looked for it when you cleaned your room!

　Forgetting that I'd been listening in silence, I started yelling in a panic.

'Wait a minute!　What the hell are you doing looking for me?

'You heard me!

'Oh, I'm more interested in what the book is about. I'm going to go check it out.'

No!　Hey!　You have to stop Esther!

"...he's already gone, sir.

"d*mn it!　Whoa!

　Following the sound of fluttering footsteps, I also hurriedly get up from the hot tub and head outside.
　I wiped my body with a towel and hurriedly stepped outside wearing only my pants, I encountered a scene where Estelle, with a towel wrapped around her body, was trying to get out.
　I hurriedly seized her and managed to get the place under control... but then she pursued me quite a bit about the thin book.
　They gave me a break from showing me the actual thing, but it looks like I'll have to think a bit more about where to hide it in the future.......