Night.
"Fuu…"
Such a voice escaped from Nell's mouth as she soaked in the bubbling bathtub.
The bath salts given by Yuki had been added to the bathtub, so the bathtub had a faintly pleasant aroma, making it very comfortable.
It was as if the fatigue of the day was slowly melting away from deep within her body.
–This was inside one of the church-managed dormitories in the royal capital.
Recently, Nell had been working not in the Royal Capital but in Alfiero, a remote town, and could return to the dungeon every day if there was nothing going on, but since she had been in the Royal Capital on business in the past few days, she could only soak in the bath of the room assigned to her after work to relax and recover from her fatigue.
This bath was actually built within the past year, and was prepared at Nell's request.
Nell, who had grown accustomed to bathing every day in the dungeon, could no longer stand the days without it, so one day she said, "Please make me a bath! I'll pay for it!" asking the church leaders to build a bathroom for her, and so they built it.
Nell even went to the trouble of breaking up a room in the dormitory.
Nell herself was aware that she had been quite selfish, but she was a "bathroom enthusiast" and was prepared to go to war for the sake of a bath.
Not allowed to take a bath? Fine, then war it would be.
Creek! Creek! Creek! Creek!
With her full force, Nell dared to aim for the attack and won a special bath only for her use.
Since Nell rarely expressed selfishness and always did her job well, and since she was now one of the most important people in the country, the request itself was easily granted.
The structure was designed to produce hot water using a magical device, which takes a day to fill with magical power from the magic elements in the air, and once activated, the hot water would continue to flow until it was full.
It was a very valuable item that would worth a fortune if sold, and was used only in royal castles and a few mansions, which showed just how much Nell was valued in the country.
It was because she had a strong connection with the Demon Lord, or rather, Demon Emperor Yuki, as a married couple.
She used to be a soldier, but now she was the wife of the Demon Emperor Yuki, a queen of another country, so to speak…. As a result, there was a bit of debate in the country as to how to treat her.
Overall, it was decided to treat her as a first-class hero, and because of her one and only connection with the extraordinary Demon Emperor Yuki, she was not treated as a subordinate.
Nell was perplexed at first, but she accepted the treatment because she was afraid that if she behaved too easygoing, people might mistakenly think of her as easy to manipulate and she might cause Yuki unnecessary trouble.
Her dignified behavior also added to her status, and even though she may still be considered a [Young Woman] in terms of age and appearance, she knew that none of the high-ranking officials in the country see her that way anymore.
So Nell, who was slowly soaking in her bath, pouted.
"…Well, compared to our bath, it's a little bit different…"
The hot spring bath in Yuki's place was huge.
The waterfall hot spring bath was large enough for the whole family to enter and stretch out their legs. Even swimming would be possible.
If they were not within the dungeon's premise, they would need to be careful when taking a bath. The bath in Yuki's dungeon was mostly exclusive to Yuki's family, and no invaders would be able to go there undetected, so there was no need for any of Yuki's family to be too careful when taking a bath in that place, the little girls were even allowed to swim and have fun in the baths every day.
The little girls would spend the day playing until they were exhausted, and then end the day with a bath. Nell considered that to be a productive day for them.
Above all, it simply felt good to soak in that hot spring bath.
Soaking in the hot spring bath made tiredness disappear in the blink of an eye as if dissolved into the hot water, and on the contrary, it would give one a sense of vitality as if power was rising from the depths of one's body.
The hot spring bath in Yuki's place had numerous effects, such as restoring physical and magical strength, and other benefits that would fit it to be called a "secret bath" perfectly.
This bath made for her in the royal capital was also reasonably spacious and comfortable, since it was built in a renovated room, but… Nell, who inevitably compared it to the bath in the dungeon, couldn't help but think of the bath she was using as so-so.
In fact, despite the spaciousness of the bath, the fact that she was the only one there made her feel relatively lonely.
Since Nell takes a particularly long bath, it was common in their house for someone else to come in while she was taking a bath.
During that time, Nell would speak with family members about unimportant things, one after another, until her body was completely warmed up, at which point she would get out of the bath.
There was a part of her that enjoyed chatting with her family members while soaking in the bath, and that was why she took a long bath.
Yuki was a little cautious about this, and would mostly take a bath at a slightly different time from the women so that they could have their private time, but they would also occasionally soak in the bath together, shoulder to shoulder, to relax.
How blissful that time was!
"…Fufu…when did I become so selfish?"
She could not help but feel dissatisfied with the environment in the Royal Capital, which would be considered a luxury for her past self.
In reality, Nell could return home as soon as she wanted to, and yet despite being a little self-indulgent, she still couldn't help but continue her work.
'No, no, if I keep thinking like this, I'll want to go home right now.'
'I still have work to do.'
'If I continue to feel like this, I will become depressed.'
"Okay! I have to work hard again tomorrow!"
With renewed vigor, she got her body out of the bathtub.
Then, Nell's workdays continued for a while.
This time, the job was to defeat a [War Class] monster that had appeared in the region.
It was believed that the monster came from other regions, and it was judged that the stationed troops and knight corps protecting the region would not be able to handle it, so the task of defeating the monster was given to the Holy Knights of Faldienne, to which Nell was assigned.
However, the job took longer than originally envisioned, to the extent that they had to temporarily return to the royal capital to rethink their strategy.
This was because the monster was so unpredictable.
It was reported that the target, in addition to its high intelligence, seemed to be able to use magic to disappear, which made it extremely difficult to capture it.
The monster's fighting ability was also high, considering that it was classified as [War Class], and the army that first challenged the monster suffered many casualties.
Although it was not clearly known because it could disappear, it was believed that the monster was responsible for several unsolved incidents that had occurred in the region recently.
In addition, after marking all the locations where damage had occurred on a map and examining the information carefully, it had been confirmed that the target was not staying in one place, i.e., not even building something like a nest, but had the cunning to keep moving as it hunted.
This was why the hasty search for the most recently damaged location had come up empty.
As their search continued so slowly, Nell herself was starting to get annoyed to the point she even considered asking her husband to take down the beast before the damage it caused escalated. When she finally found it, she channeled all of her irritation in her blade.
"You know… it's your fault that I've been working for so long. I've had to stay in the field, and I haven't been able to take a bath at all. You have to take responsibility, right?"
Nell slashed her sword with a rather serious anger.
It was not a flashy kind of slash, but one with no frenzy at all, and it caught the monster right in the neck, slicing it open like slicing a tofu.
The chameleon-like monster, which was still trying to move, suddenly fell down with a thud as if it had lost all its strength, and never moved again.
The subjugation was complete.
Nell used to use the holy sword Durandal a lot before, but nowadays, she no longer uses it.
Durandal was not originally owned by her, but rather it was given to her for use by the church that owned it, so she returned it to the church for future generations.
Therefore, the sword she now carried was a sword Yuki created, a straight black sword with the name of [Yoha].
It possessed a formidable cutting ability, and to tell the truth, it was too sharp for her liking.
The scabbard Yuki had prepared to store this weapon was cut in half when Nell tried to sheathe this sword. That moment was still fresh in her mind.
The sword fell down according to gravity and finally stopped when it pierced halfway through the floor.
In the end, she managed to carry it by putting it inside a bracelet that could activate space magic.
So Nell, who originally was not heavily armed, was now even more lightly armed than before. Nell was armed only with a dagger called [Gekka], which Yuki gave her a long time ago, behind her waist.
'I can't point this sword against people…'
'If I am using this sword, I am not convinced that I can go easy on my opponent even if they were wearing metal armor or had their shields up.'
It might be a good idea to ask Yuki to prepare a sword for daily use that was a little less sharp.
Wasn't it too much trouble to have a sword that could cut too well?
Looking at Nell, who slaughtered the monster easily, the leader of the Faldienne Holy Knights muttered in a whisper, "…That's an out of standard sword, but an instant kill, huh?"
Nell was with Carlotta Demeyere, Nell's immediate superior.
"Huh? Well, the only thing that stood out was its ability to sense danger, but other than that, it was just an ordinary monster. If I can hit it head-on like this, there's no problem."
"I see, an ordinary monster. Even though it had the power to crush and break a large tree with a single strike."
"It sure looked painful if it hit you, right?"
Carlotta chuckled at Nell, who said such a thing without a care in the world.
It was definitely a monster that had lethal attack power. One would not consider that simply a little painful.
Even in the current battle, the monster was also showing moves that strongly showed its cunning, such as disappearing in the middle of an attack or setting up a trap-like spell.
Even the elite Faldienne Holy Knights would have to be prepared to lose two or three men to this enemy, but Nell was able to complete the elimination by herself without much effort at all.
The current Nell possessed a strength that could be said to be outstanding even among the heroes of the past, a strength befitting a true hero.
"…Maybe we can have Nell work as an instructor from now on."
"Well, I don't have the confidence to teach people about my training methods. I've recently been training with our pets."
"When you talk about pets, do you mean the Fenrir that your husband has under his command?"
"Oh, no, Rir is one of them, but we also have four other pets that we train with occasionally by having them fight mock battles with us. Compared to how our pets work together when in combat, other monsters I have encountered so far would simply be erased because of their easy-to-read moves."
Nell occasionally trained with Orochi, Yata, Byaku, and Seimi.
The training varied from one-on-one, to two-on-two, to one-on-many, but because of their shared abilities, they were ideal training partners.
Conversely, nowadays, it took four of them to train against Nell.
Rir and Yuki were too different in ability to train properly, and Yuki, in particular, did not want to point his weapon at Nell, so he did not train with any of them at all.
"…I see. Once again, I can see the peculiarity of your household environment."
"It's pretty normal, you know? It's just that their race is a bit regal, but those pets are pretty cute as well."
"I wonder how many people would agree with your words."
While chatting like this, the girls started cleaning up the mess.
A few days later, Nell's work was finally done, and she returned home to the dungeon.
"I'm home!"
Then, voices immediately replied.
"! Nell, you're back!" (Illuna)
"Welcome home!" (Shii)
"…Welcome home!" (Enne)
"Oh! You had a long day at work this time." (Yuki)
"Yes, I'm back. From the look of you, it looks like you've had a long day as well." (Nell)
"Welcome back! You certainly look tired." (Lyuu)
"Welcome back, Nell, I'll make you some tea right away." (Layla)
"Thanks, Layla! This time we had to deal with a monster that was always on the run. I couldn't find it at all." (Nell)
Nell felt herself relaxing at the warm welcome she received from her family as she enjoyed the tea and sweets Layla had prepared for her, and they talked about their work.
The little girls soon went out to play, but for the adults, the most enjoyable pastime was chatting with those who knew them well.
They continued to discuss all sorts of things without stopping, but Nell had a thought that she had been holding back for a long time, so when the conversation came to a close, she let it out.
"Okay, I want to take a bath! I hope to bathe in so much hot water! I would like to bathe so much that I'll melt! I'm going to fill heaven and earth with hot water, and I will conquer the world!" (Nell)
"Calm down, Nell, your language is being eroded by the bathing. All you need to say is that you would like to take a bath." (Yuki)
"I am Nell, a freedom fighter who wants a bath! If you don't give me what I want, I'm prepared to use force!" (Nell)
"Oh, what kind of force are you going to use?" (Yuki)
"From now on, when I make pastries, I'm going to use the wrong amount of sugar and salt." (Nell)
"That's terrorism!" (Yuki)
"Even when Layla will be making the pastries, I will force myself to her side and tell her, [I'll help you! I'll help you!]" (Nell)
"That will be a problem, isn't it?" (Layla)
Nell answered with a serious look on her face, Yuki made a face like, "Oh, come on," and Layla looked at her smiling as usual.
"Husband, Nell is on a rampage. Please control her." (Lyuu)
"Yes, Yuki, Nell is a woman who does what she says. You, her husband, must listen to her demands to prevent her from doing such a terrible thing." (Lefi)
"Oh, oh. –Oh, oh, yes, yes, yes, Nell, the freedom fighter, we are ready to listen to your demands. If there is something more than a request to take a bath, let's hear it." (Yuki)
"Eh? Uh…" (Nell)
Normally, Nell would not think about anything else, as long as she could take a bath, but then an idea popped in her head.
"Well, then… I want to take a bath together with husband to heal the fatigue of fighting as warriors day after day! Oni-san, wash my back!"
"Okay, go ahead, he's your hostage."
"Hahaha, that's a good one, a hostage."
"Don't call me a hostage. –I'll go take a bath. As a husband, I'm going to relieve my wife of her daily fatigue."
"Oh, um… thanks."
"Why are you, the one who demanded it, acting embarrassed?"
And with that, Nell headed towards the Japanese Inn with Yuki, being warmly sent off by the other adults in the group.
Nell and Yuki enjoyed soaking in the bathtub side by side, feeling a little embarrassment and a sense of happiness welling up from the depths of their hearts.
–I think that a bath at home is the best after all.