Nice to meet you. I'm Janice, Countess Rose's son. Nice to meet you, Santo.
The next day, Mr. Midler's son, a rather thin boy, was brought to the training camp. He resembled his mother, thin and slender, and just as soft-spoken as Midler. He was a handsome boy with a thin face, but he seemed quite shy and spoke in a low voice. Should I take the initiative and be overly friendly?
Nice to meet you. I'm Eugene Yuji, and although I now consider myself a saint, I'm just a traveler from the East. Call me Big Brother! You can even talk to me casually if you want!
"You know..."
Seeing me give a firm thumbs up, Janice looked at Mr. Midler, who shook his head, and Janice bowed with a serious face.
"No. Although I am a member of the Earl family, I have not yet achieved anything. In my current state, I do not have the right to address you, the benefactor of our family, as if we were equals."
Hmm... Should we see him as his father's puppet? Or as someone quite trustworthy? Let's wait and see.
"All right, but you can call me brother. That's what Mr. Midler calls me."
All right, I'll follow my father's example.
After saying that, Janice took refuge behind the men. Just as Midler had said, he was shy and wanted to avoid attracting attention. However, he was watching me from the back. The way he looks at me makes me very uneasy.
Is this it? Do they suspect me because they think I'm a con artist? Well, it's true that I can cure syphilis, a disease that is said to be incurable, in an instant, and I involve his father in a suspicious dance ritual, so it's no wonder they think I'm a nasty con artist or a cult trying to ingratiate myself with the Count's family. If a suspicious stranger approached my parents and told them they could be cured of any disease if they trusted him, I'm sure they would think it was all nonsense.
Hmm... I guess it's okay for people to continue to be suspicious of me. I met a pre-teen boy, so I'd like to befriend him. In this world, there are very few opportunities to meet other men. Wherever you go, there are only women, and men are confined to their rooms.
Well, we'll get to know each other better over time, but for now, let's continue with training camp!
All right, soulmates, let's enjoy today! Let's start with some stretching!
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Since it was only the second day, the members who joined yesterday were much more skilled. They also had more stamina than yesterday, and despite complaining, they managed to follow the slightly longer lesson until the end. They even had the composure to cheer on the members who joined today, which secretly impressed me.
Janice was panting and exhausted, but it was impressive that she was able to hold out until the end on her first viewing. You have the potential to be a macho.
The soulmates drank water and nibbled on the steamed rabbit salad that the servant had brought them.
This is a very unusual condiment. The meat is very tender, and the more you chew it, the more flavor it gives off.
"Compared to beef, it's a little lacking... it has less fat."
"But for a snack after training, this lighter meat is easier to digest than heavy beef."
I like it. The marinade is also delicious. I wonder if you could make soup with it and serve it for dinner.
Well, then it seems that Salad Rabbit is not unacceptable.
Some people don't like the salad chicken sold at convenience stores because it's full of additives, but this is completely homemade, so it's unlikely to be rejected. If you add a touch of flavor with herbs like basil or smoke it, I think you won't get tired of eating it every day. If you get ginger or sesame oil, you can give it a chicken with saliva or chicken bang bang flavor. I'll give my chef some ideas later.
"But it's hot..."
I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand.
This country is at a high latitude and it's early autumn, so it's usually quite cold, but today is a midsummer day and the sun is scorching.
"When it's this hot, I want to take a bath."
Mr. Midler, who had heard me muttering to myself, nodded, also sweating profusely.
"That's true... Should we just set up a pool?"
"Oh, is there one?"
"Yes, at the bottom of the garden. Janice, can you bring that?"
"Okay, Father."
"Then, brother, please come this way. Everyone else, please follow me."
After watching Janice's back as she ran toward the main building, Mr. Midler began to walk, taking me and my soulmates with him.
I had heard that water was a precious commodity in this country, so I wondered if they could afford a swimming pool. The rich are different...
The pool Midler showed me was near a quiet stream at the bottom of the garden. It was a bowl-shaped hole with a stone bottom.
But...
"There's no water... Do you get water from the river?"
There are no running water systems in this world. The only way to get water is to bring it from the river. However, there are no hoses.
It may not seem like much, but in this country, most of the water in the rivers is brown... I remember the shock I felt when I first saw it. It's not that the soil is polluted or anything like that; it's just normal here. As I was told, deep underground there is a layer of peat that acts as a filter for rainwater, and that process is what gives it that color.
By the way, the taste is much worse compared to the fresh, clear water I'm used to. It must be water loaded with minerals. It has a bitter taste, with a rough touch that leaves a tingling sensation on the tongue. To give you an idea of how mineralized it is: if you boil it in a kettle, crystals form that can be seen with the naked eye. If you use an old kettle, the inside ends up looking like the wall of a limestone cave.
Hard water tastes much better if you add a little lemon juice, so I always drink it with lemon, even though that makes it more expensive. Even the drinking water in this mansion is mixed with lemon. I once read in a camping manual that cooling it or adding carbonated water greatly improves the taste... but, unfortunately, neither the technology for cooling nor the method for making sparkling water exist in this world yet. What a shame!
Although the water isn't tasty, it's a precious commodity on this island, and for those who have only ever drunk this water, this is probably how it should taste. I've never seen anyone say that the water tastes bad.
When I asked if they were going to draw water from the river, Midler laughed and shook his head.
"No, no, it's the other way around. The river is for getting water out of the pool. The water is... Ah, here it comes."
When I turned around after hearing Midler's words, I saw Janis running toward me, kicking up a cloud of dust. She was running at such an incredible speed that it almost looked as if she were enveloped in the wind. ...No, that's not true. There really was a tailwind blowing around him.
Using wind magic to create a tailwind around him, he seemed to be running at the same speed as a car. He could barely keep up with the training camp in his natural state, but with the boost of magical power, he could do something like this. The Earl family's magical power is truly formidable...
"I brought it, Father."
"Oh, thank you for your efforts. Big brother, this is the secret of our pool, the 'Jewel of Spring Waters'."
Janice handed him the cloth bag, and Midler took it and pulled out a sparkling blue gem. It had a mystical glow, as if light were constantly dancing inside it. Without a doubt, it was an amazing magical object.
Mr. Midler chanted some kind of spell, and the jewel floated on its own and headed toward the surface of the pond. Wow, what a fantastic sight...! Then, when it reached the center of the pond, it began to release water with incredible pressure. It wasn't river water, but the crystal clear water I was used to seeing. Incredible! It was truly magical!
Mr. Midler narrowed his eyes at my excitement and spoke proudly.
"Well, isn't that interesting? When you chant the keyword, the water starts gushing out like that."
"Is that water safe to drink?"
Huh? Yes. It's the water I'm going to swim in the pool with...
Driven by curiosity, I got into the pool, scooped up some water in my hands, and brought it to my mouth.
Oh... this isn't hard water. But it's not soft either. It's neither good nor bad, and it's completely tasteless and odorless.
Distilled water? I remember the water I licked in science experiments in elementary school. It has no taste because it contains no impurities. The taste of water is basically due to dissolved minerals and other impurities.
Although it's probably not very suitable for drinking, for a different reason than hard water...
Wow! Isn't that amazing? Is this magical object only used in swimming pools? I'm sure there are other ways to use it...
"Ah... well, that's true. You may be wondering why we don't use it for agriculture.
Mr. Midler scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
My family gave me this jewel as part of the floral arrangements for my wife on our wedding day. Just before we got married, the Longfield territory suffered a drought and a severe water shortage. At that time, the former head of the Longfield family begged me to give him this gem, which had been passed down from generation to generation in my family, as a condition for accepting me as his son-in-law, since I was getting married rather late in life. The former head was delighted; he believed that with it he could bring some relief to the village. However...
It makes sense. This island has always been prone to water shortages across its entire expanse. Not only is there a very pronounced dry season, but the soil's retention capacity is low because giant rabbits devour the vegetation. If we could really create rivers with these gems, they would be of enormous help to all the villages.
But soon a dispute arose over water rights. Each village wanted to ensure that its river was upstream, without having to use water that had already passed through other villages and could therefore be muddy.
"Ah..."
I see... Water rights have been a source of conflict in my world since ancient times. In downstream areas, agricultural and domestic waste ends up flowing from upstream. Since water infrastructure is directly linked to people's lives, there is no room for compromise. And even less so when it comes to an artificial river created by the government.
If it were a natural river, there would be no way to avoid it, as that is how nature works. But since it is a water source that only the lord of the territory can create, everyone will inevitably try to prioritize their own interests.
That is how the territory sank into chaos, to the point of unleashing a civil war. Even the nobles of neighboring lands, hearing the rumors, tried to start a war to seize the jewel. I had no choice but to pretend that I did not possess such extraordinary power and ended up sealing it away. Today, I only use it quietly and privately during the summer, to take a bath.
It's a shame because it's very convenient...
My thoughts must have been reflected on Mr. Midler's face when he gave me a wry smile.
Neither I nor this jewel could fulfill the role that was originally expected of us. But even so, the former head of the family loved me like a son-in-law. That is why I decided that the Longfield family would be my home, and it has remained so until now.
"Is that so..."
The more I hear his story, the more I want to be kind to this man.
There's probably a limit to what I can do, but...
But it seems like a waste to leave this issue unresolved. If we start growing vegetables on a large scale next year, we'll need a huge amount of water... Isn't there some way to make better use of it? For example, we could turn vegetable cultivation into a public project, provide subsidies until the plants reach a certain size, and then restrict water use exclusively for that purpose.
—Staring eyes.
As soon as I proposed it, everyone looked at me as if I were crazy. Janice, from a distance, gave me a fierce look. What's going on? Does she think I'm trying to deceive Mr. Midler? Or does she think I'm just a die-hard carnivore who is completely opposed to growing vegetables?
Mr. Midler rubbed his chin and considered my proposal.
It seems we won't be able to control water usage... But it would certainly be a good idea to turn cultivation into a public project. There aren't many vegetables in the garden, so it would be better to use this water to increase the number of plants ourselves and then distribute them to each village after researching cultivation methods. Thanks for the good idea, big brother. I'll think about it.
"Uh, yeah."
I haven't been able to understand where Janice's eyes are going for a while now. It's scary.
As we talked, the pool began to fill up with quite a bit of water. It was quite a lot, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to use it for agricultural purposes.
But when the time comes...
"I'd rather bathe in a bathtub than a pool. I wonder if I can heat this water."
A bath...? What if we turn this pool into a bathtub?
Mr. Midler looked confused, as if he had heard something strange.
That would be a little difficult... There's no way to heat that much water. There's also no space to light a fire under this pool. And since ancient times, it has been taboo to throw a fireball directly into water. Apparently, the water would explode and cause severe burns.
"Ah... a steam explosion."
Steam explosions, as popular as dust explosions, are a phenomenon that occurs when water suddenly increases in volume as it changes from liquid to gas. If a high-temperature fireball were to strike this amount of water directly, boiling water would splash everywhere. This requires years of accumulated wisdom. I'm sure many magicians have tried this in the past and ended up in serious accidents...
Well, I think there is a way to boil water safely if you can't heat it from below with firewood...
"Ah, yes. A hot stone bath."
I snapped my fingers.
"A hot stone bath...?"
I don't think there's anything like that in this country. What you do is throw a preheated stone into the water. Then, the heat is gradually transferred from the stone to the liquid, and it heats up gradually. Even if the stone is submerged suddenly, the heat is not released abruptly, so I think it's less dangerous than throwing a fireball directly. Furthermore
—Wow! So that's how you boil water. You know a lot, big brother.
"No, I just know. The person who came up with this idea is really amazing."
I've heard that some people have tried hot stone baths during their camping trips. I was surprised to discover that you can heat an entire bath using that same principle, and I must admit that I find the idea ingenious.
Apparently, heating the stones with firewood outdoors takes quite a long time, so it's not very practical when you're camping. On the other hand, it is said that in other places they are heated to extremely high temperatures, which makes them very efficient for boiling water. And considering that in this world we have the help of magic, heating the stones to boiling point should be a simple task.
Heating the stones magically is much cheaper than heating a bath with firewood.
Warming up in a bath is very pleasant and also good for your health. If you get sick, you soak in hot water to cure yourself.
I see... However, the doctor said that washing away dirt with hot water increases susceptibility to disease, so it's best to avoid it...
Forget it, that's a huge rumor! We should all bathe at least once every three days! Let's bathe more! Okay?
"I see... If it comes from the saint himself, there's no doubt about it. I understand, and from now on I'll try to take a bath more often."
Yes, I did. If there is a doctor who recommends water ablutions for syphilis and a saint who can cure it instantly, it's natural to believe what the saint says, isn't it? I'm embarrassed to insist on this because of my prestige and because I'm such an arrogant reincarnated person, but I'm going to be blunt. It gives me a headache when people around me smell bad. In the end, this benefits me. Besides, I want to take a bath too.
Well, let's look for stones. Let's gather as many large, round stones as possible, with a solid interior. Let's avoid cracked or hollow stones, as they could explode when heated.
All right, big brother! You've heard the story, right? Let's go find it!
"Yessss!"
At Midler's command, the soul mates split up and scattered toward the riverbank. Mr. Midler may seem shy, but he knows when to be strict. It is said that Japanese samurai families could have any number of concubines if the legal wife was in charge of the household, but Mr. Midler seems to be fulfilling his role as an aristocratic husband.
The soulmates also seem to be having fun, and perhaps searching for stones is a good way to change their mood and get their bearings.
Ugh, another intense stare...
"..."
Janice was standing right behind me, staring at me.
Is this look hostile? Or curiosity? I have no empathy left, so I don't know.
Ah....
"Do you want to look for stones together?"
Nod.
Suddenly she becomes a calm character...
And so we disappeared together on the riverbank.
...She hates vegetables, so she won't suddenly murder me, right?
I'll die with one magical blow, so I pray that nothing will happen to me.
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"Are all the husbands in the bathroom...?"
At that moment, an electric shock runs through all the women in the mansion!
"If you peek, they'll execute you, so don't get any funny ideas."
The security chief's words sent a chill down my spine!
Why?! It's not like we're missing anything, we just want to see a little bit, just a little bit! The husbands are having the saint prepare delicious snacks for them, and we're just watching... We're not even allowed to look?!
Do you think that's a clever explanation? Your husbands' naked bodies belong only to Countess Rose, and it is our duty to protect them from the gaze of commoners!
"Wow, how tyrannical. Nobles don't care what their servants think, do they?"
"That's right. Do you want to see it too, commander?"
"Of course I don't want to see it!!"
Red tears of blood run down the cheeks of the security captain!
"Captain... This is as far as you go...! This is as far as you go in terms of conflict and loyalty...!"
—Oh, he's a pink man. The commander is a pink man...! Understood, commander, we will not spy even if it costs us our lives... We will fulfill our duty!
Meanwhile, in the Count's reception room...
"...So, I thought it would be beneficial for both of us if we could establish a trade route between us and Thousand Leaves for special products. Count? Where are you going with those binoculars?"
Sorry, but let's save that useless talk about making money for later. The best show is about to begin. Gather all your adventurers and wait in the guest room. Okay, make sure no one sneaks in.
"Eh...?"
The Count is heading toward the watchtower!