This morning, Asue-chan dug up a hot spring.
Until now, to wash ourselves we either went to the nearby river, or wiped our bodies using towels soaked by the water generated from the [Water Spirit Stones] and collected inside earthenware pots, but from now on, we can relax by soaking inside the hot springs.
However, mysteriously, even though it didn't seem like a hot spring can exist in this area when I observed its topography and geology, we found one.
Well, this is a fantasy world. Something like this is normal, probably.
Anyways, for today, I cooperated with Asue-chan and her group, and we poured our hearts in the hot spring's development project. Fortunately, we had the manpower of skeletons who did not need rest. I was able to summon a very large number of them, allowing us to come up with an otherwise unthinkable level of working efficiency.
Thus, by using some of my abilities, and other skills, we got all the work done before night came.
In the end it became like this, one very large mixed bath, a men bath, a women bath, three special baths which only executive-classes like me and Ogakichi-kun are allowed to use. It turned into quite a big place.
Although one of the special baths is an open-air bath penetrating the mountain's surface, however, it was hard to see from outside due to the mountain's rocky terrain. Also, the steep cliff made it difficult for non-flying enemies to try invading from here.
However, saying it was 'just in case', we heavily booby-trapped the place.
Naturally, after finishing our dinner, the very first to enter the completed hot springs were us, the executive-classes.
The others, who entered a hot spring for the first time in their lives, were healed by it.
I had already confirmed that there's no harm in drinking the water beforehand in the construction stage, and I designed an air conditioning system making use of [Wind Spirit Stones] to clean the air from toxic gases, so there's no worry of someone dying from poisoning.
Rather than harming, the hot water, just like in a fantasy, had the side effect of improving one's recovery in addition to other effects, so I will continue to use it from now on.
This was a good find.
I'm thankful for Asue-chan.
[Day 73 Sidestory: A Certain Female Slave's POV]
Hot springs, I have heard of their existence from my grandfather a long time ago.
Water of high temperature flowing out from the depths of the ground, it is an enjoyable paradise of this world. The look in my grandfather's eyes when he told me about it looked distant and nostalgic, so I remember it very well.
My hometown was attacked by bandits, my house burned to the ground and all of my family was killed. By chance, that day I have been outside in the forest and thus survived. I chose my current life, enlisting as a soldier rather than becoming a prostitute, and to this day, I still haven't experienced what's called a 'bath'.
When I was still a villager, I wiped my body with a wet cloth or washed at a nearby river with my friends at most. However, some of the male villagers often come to peep, and when winter comes, it freezes over, so most of the time, I wiped my body with a wet cloth.
After I became a soldier, I noticed a huge improvement. Although I couldn't soak my whole body with water, I was able to use a magic item called a [Shower Head] which pours warm water at me from above.
Nevertheless, that by itself was a bliss, and I couldn't help imagining how it would feel if I were to soak my body in a hot spring.
Then the war against the elves started, and the corps that I was a member of got chosen as a part of the forces to fight in the war.
If I gain some achievements in this war, I may get promoted, although for a commoner, not much promotion could be gain, but even so I was motivated to live a better life.
The result... I got caught and became a slave.
After I got caught, I thought that there was no meaning in the result of my original choice now. I became a soldier rather than a prostitute, because I didn't want to sell my body, meaning I thought that becoming a solider was my way out. But from now on, I'll be constantly raped by goblins and hobgoblins, I'll live only to be used for their breeding purposes. I thought that such a dark life would be my fate.
But I was wrong, it was different.
The goblins had more discipline than I thought, and above all they were gentle. Although it might sound warped, but as I got used to them, I began feeling that goblins have some charm to them.
The lives of the women caught by goblins in the stories that I heard from my seniors were awful, being constantly violated until they become worn-out and eventually die, but for me, after becoming a slave, my living conditions have become even better than before.
The bed is soft and fluffy, and the meals are delicious.
And above all, today, a hot spring was dug up!
The one who discovered it is a half-lord called Asue who emits an air like that of an elder sister.
Therefore, the plan today was changed to prioritize the development of the hot springs. I was one of those who helped.
And it was completed in one day! I think that the addition of the labor force of the restless beings called skeletons contributed most to this fast completion of the work.
After the executives entered first, we got permission to enter.
My long-cherished dream, the hot springs that I have dreamed of are as great as I heard from my grandfather.
They're right in front of my eyes now.
When I went in, my whole body seemed to be enchanted with a feeling that cannot be expressed. It was pure bliss, it felt as if my fatigue was being taken away by the hot water. My sore muscles became more relaxed and felt better, my blood flow also improved, not to mention the comfortable warm feeling.
When I tried drinking the hot water, I was overcome with a sense, as if energy is overflowing from my body.
'If it means that I can enjoy this paradise every day, I'm okay with my current life' I mused.
Yeah, it's not bad. Today, I found the happiness that I could find only here.
(I edit this using the combinational text from INA.XP32 and Okydonkey. Credit to them and to MTL for translating this from Japanese to English that I could sort of understand.)
(I tweaked here and there, changed some of the sentences into clearer form, and so on. Hope you enjoy!)~guiche95