Before becoming the guild's 'receptionist', Louisa-san's real job was something else.

　Her 'Shiatsu' has the effect of speeding up party members' self-healing and improving their physical condition to help them sleep better. It's not just the condition of "anxiety" but also "paralysis" that can be treated, so although there were times when it was done as a first aid measure during a search, she basically used it to help her return to her base to rest.

　-- although I have a faint memory of talking about it while receiving 'acupressure'. Like many people who fall asleep while being massaged, I couldn't keep my consciousness, and I found myself flying out of the bath and into the living room.

　And at the entrance to the living room, Louisa-san keeps bowing to me in her bathrobe. I'm not sure if she always does this after a bath, or if she wears her hair tied up in a choushuuuu - a woman's appearance like that looks very fresh, but it's not the time to be dogged.

I was never allowed to go into a... and even, oh, even a massage in the bath...
''Le, Louisa, please lift your head. I haven't done anything wrong, and I'm more than willing to thank you for it...

　I can't use my skills to recover myself, so I hadn't fully recovered from the amount I'd been drained by the 'backstand', but thanks to Louisa-san's help, my recovery was speeding up and I was completely full of energy.

　However, it seems that she gradually came to her senses during the process, and Louisa-san apologized incessantly after she left the bath. I remember that her guard in the bathroom was ironclad, so I'm rather relieved - but if she didn't wear a bathing suit, I'd feel faint again, thinking that she was not wearing a bathing suit.

(Well, if a bathing suit gets wet, too... is that a promise I won't tell you? I'll just have to be forgiven for being unconscious too...)

..........

　And Theresa is also still very red after getting out of the bath. My guess is that she was embarrassed when she saw me receiving 'acupressure' from Louisa-san, or something like that.

''........I'm always so impressed with Atobe-sama for having a promising future or something like that that that I keep repeating gibberish and so on.......It's no wonder that she thinks I'm a calculating woman, you know, for something like this. .....
''No.......I'm also grateful to have Louisa-san in charge of me exclusively, or I'm happy to be able to recover in my quarters like this. It's just a matter of holding on to it, so don't worry too much about it. I'm honestly happy that people think of me as having a promising future, because it wasn't common before I was reborn. Now, please look up.

　I got up from my seat and urged Louisa to look up at me, as it was not a good idea to make her bow her head and sit herself down.

　I wonder if she uses different herbs than in Ward 8, and the soap smells good. It would be true to say that they all use the same stuff.

　At such a close distance, Louisa looked up and looked at me. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to find a solution to this problem, but I'm sure that I should be more attentive to her as an older woman, seeing as how she's always been a capable woman, and she's completely vulnerable.

''........Atobe-sama.......''

　And then you realize - this distance, and this atmosphere. I wonder if this isn't what the world calls 'opportunity'.

　It's not just the heat left over from the hot water. Louisa-san's eyes are moist, and before her lips are about to spin her next words, I notice several gazes being directed at me.

''Nah ... so I told you, these things are in poor taste, Misaki.
'Again~ It's Ellie, isn't it, who suggested we go see it because she was curious?
'Huh........what's on your mind? There's no way anything is going to happen to Louisa-san and Rearward-kun, we're all worried about them.
Ladies and gentlemen how long have you been watching this?

　Apparently Elitia, Misaki, and Igarashi-san were observing us - it would be counterintuitive to leave in a hurry, so I cleared my throat and kept an appropriate distance from Louisa-san while clearing my throat.

''Nah, what can I say.......Louisa-san is also in the same room, so it was just like that, as long as we go in together with moderation, it's okay.''
''Ha, yes........it's just as Atobe-sama said. Until now, we weren't exclusive, so I wasn't able to use my skills, but from today onwards, I thought I would like to use them. Can you all take 'Shiatsu'?
'What ... that in the bath ... oh, Rearward, are you sure you're okay?
''Wow, I've never seen Kyouka's sister so upset before. Suzu-chan is becoming a big brother-child lately too - I hope you're glad it's just the three of you.

　I'd like to say that Misaki was just being funny and not stirring things up too much, but it's hard for me to get mad at a woman my sister's age because of my personality.

　At the facility I took care of until I went out into the world, there were kids who were juniors, or 'younger kids', and they called me 'big brother' and 'big brother'. It's a memory I'll never forget, although it makes me feel choked up when I remember it.

' '........What's with the enlightened look on your face? If you look at me like that, I have no choice but to trust you.
'I was thinking of enlightenment or something from the past. Well, Louisa-san was wearing a bathing suit too, so it's not that risqué.
''I'm sorry... I'm fortunate that I have enough judgment left to think about such things... I'm embarrassed enough in my bathing suit...'' ...

　Louisa pressed her flushed cheeks. And Teresia was also red, and Madoka came down from the second floor to break the air that seemed to be on an endless loop, wondering if there was something wrong after all.

''Ah, um ... brother, why are sister Teresa and sister Louisa bright red?　Oh, the bath was hot or something... it's difficult to adjust the temperature of the water, isn't it, the bath in the labyrinth country?

　It's hard to explain it just because she's out of the bath, but Madoka agreed with me. Considering her age, it's too early to start imagining things about men and women, and I hope she'll remain pure and mature.

　　　◆ ◆ ◆

　It was before bedtime, but everyone still had some energy left in them, so they decided to use the transition doors that were set up one by one in the area where the quarters were located and go to the warehouse to assign the equipment they had acquired.

　A member of the garrison was watching the hut where the transition doors were set up, albeit at a slight distance. Elitia told me that this was a measure to prevent them from breaking into other people's warehouses.

''It's not impossible to have someone else transfer the tools to you so that your karma doesn't go up, so.......Misaki would understand, though.
'Huh ... oh, don't remind me, I still can't sleep when I think about that time.

　It's hard to know that we have to be careful not only about the demons in the labyrinth, but also about the same searchers, but we should at least take precautions to protect our friends.

''Brother Alihit, this is where I put the things I got from the box earlier.

　The storage room was small compared to the room for opening boxes, but there was enough space to store the items obtained at this point in time. If I were to use an analogy, it would be about the size of a school classroom and about three meters high to the ceiling.

　The shelves were arranged along the walls to store what Madoka had put in, or what she could get her hands on. I decided to start by looking at the contents of the red box I got from the "Dockyard Bee".

　The first one, the anklet is appraised. An appraisal by Madoka's skills revealed the details without any problems.

　◆Anklet of Insect Repellent + 1 ◆

　It's effective against insect-type demons.
　Preventing poison up to 'Poison 1'

'I see... I don't know what 'effect' is, but the effect of preventing 'Poison 1' might be useful for something.
Even 'Poison 1' can be fatal when you're low on energy. From 'Poison 2', you'll have to heal within a few hours or prolong your life while recovering... The sooner we can counter the poison, the better.

　According to Elitia's advice, there will also be a labyrinth in which anti-poisoning measures will be mandatory - she has something called the 'Black Currant Charm', which is effective like equipment just by carrying it around, and prevents up to 'Poison 2'. He said he could do it.

'This would be better equipped by a member of the team who is most likely to be attacked.
'What about the idea of putting it on Zion's leg?　And there's not much we can equip.
''Ah, yes. There are times when I'll activate 'Covering' and I'd like to do no damage if possible, but I'm sure it won't be so easy in the future.

　After listening to the other members' opinions, I decided to have Sion equipped with the anklet. I didn't bring him to the warehouse, but he's staying at the quarters with Louisa-san - they both looked lonely, so I had to get them home early.

''This Poison Honey I'll have to use it each time, but it looks like I can make a poison arrow.
I think I can do it. You can apply it to the blade of your weapon with a brush. I think I've got enough for five arrows in one bottle.
Okay, I'll take it.

　Suzuna puts a vial of Poison Honey in her pouch. I think it can be applied to Teresia's throwing dagger, Dirk, but since it's difficult to apply poison and throw it on the spur of the moment, it's supposed to be used in a battle that can be prepared in advance.

The other thing is the 'jumping stone'. Either attach it to your flying tools or use it to increase your jumping power.......
"Shouldn't you use it as a weapon for your rear end?　And it's easiest to imagine the bullets jumping around the most.
It's going to be quite tricky to use but if you put it on Theresia's shield, it might make it easier to play the enemy's flying tools.
''At the moment, I don't have a clear idea of what it's used for, so I think it's a good idea to try it on a weapon. It's a good idea to try it out on your weapon. If it doesn't seem to be useful, you can take it home and think of other uses for it.

　Listening to that reliable commentary, it now seems even more likely that we should take a whole class of Elitia-sensei's lessons before proceeding with the search - Elitia's cheeks blushed with embarrassment as she realized that she was receiving everyone's admiring gaze.

''Well, even if you look at me like that.......you can just use my opinion as a reference.
'I'm really learning. I'd like to take Eritia's opinion on how to take the skills as well.
'That's a leader's job. I'm the vanguard and it's my job to protect you and cut in... you'll need someone to lead you so that you can use the tactics in a real battle. Alihit has done that, and I think he's capable of doing that.
'Well I get it. Well, since I'm at the back of the pack, I should be more aware of my command moves.
''Big brother, I do come forward frequently, though. Your last-minute courage is amazing, and even if I had my brother's skills, I would never be able to use them.
"You're doing this with a certain degree of certainty. When we were working together, he would tell me that if I couldn't make it, I would never make it, and when I was on the edge, he would say, 'I'll try to make it work...'

　If you've done some work, you'll see what your capacity is. However, trying to make a filling blow when it looks like you can take down the demon with one more blow is no longer a calculation, because it's no longer a situation where you have no choice but to do so.

　This last-minute choice could be fatal one day - we must not forget that both 'Backstand' and 'Back Front' have risks as trump cards.

''I'll have the 'jumping stone' attached to my equipment. Melissa, can you do it?
'I can process two or three before I go to bed. More than four and you might not be as efficient.

　The fact that I can ask my party members to do the processing is very encouraging. Also, the magic stones that are not attached to my equipment are the 'shimmering stone', 'explosive stone', 'earth dragon stone', 'fire boxing stone', and the rest will be the 'confusion stone' that is already attached to one of my equipment.

''.........A lot of them. It's rare for a party to leave so many of them unattached. They all jumped in and tried to put it on something right away.
''Yes, every once in a while a weapon with a magic stone would come in, and it would sell out quickly.
We're going to take what we get and try to put it to use in the real world as soon as possible. Every time I can do one more thing, I'm going to be able to deal with more situations.

　Everyone nodded - by discussing everything like this, I feel that the entire party's awareness and skill level will increase.　

　As a result of discussing the uses of the remaining magic stones, a shimmering stone, which allows you to use the 'Mirage' series of techniques to bewitch your enemies, was attached to Theresia's shield, and an explosive stone, which allows you to use the 'Blast' series of ranged attacks, was attached to Suzuna's bow.