Chereads / Re: Rune Factory ~A Fantasy Harvest Moon~ / Chapter 23 - Day 23: Runic ability (I)

Chapter 23 - Day 23: Runic ability (I)

[RP and HP restored.]

"Huh?... Where...? Yawn..." 'Ah, that's right, I was taking a bath and I think I fell asleep... How strange, why am I out of the hot springs? hmm?... What is this?' Afterward of our protagonist's little break, Blake was lying on the bath's floor, and if he hadn't been distracted by whatever it was, he was touching, he would have realized who was next to him. 'It feels strange, it has a texture family and it seems to be big... It's almost like it's...'

"Kyaa! Hey, that's very rude! Did you know? Have you ever been told that scales are delicate?" That voice made Blake leave his thoughts and come back to reality and then see that Pia was close to him. "Ahaha, I'm just kidding, my scales are very strong."

"P-Pia? W-What are you doing here...?" But before he finished the question, Blake looked at her and what he seemed to have been touching a second ago. Pia was practically the same from the waist up, the strange thing was what was in place of her legs. It was a tail, but not just any tail, it was that of a fish and it did not appear to be false, it was covered with intense blue scales that shone in the evening light, Blake was fascinated to see it as it was something incredible. It was about five feet long, and it swayed from side to side in an almost hypnotic motion. He kept staring at her regardless of his surroundings or that he was practically half-naked in front of a girl until Pia pulled him out of his trance.

"Is something wrong, Blake?"

"P-Pia... W-What happened to your legs?"

"Eh?... Oh, they turned into a tail! Ahaha!"

"B-But how? Don't you think that's strange?"

"Huh? Is this the first time you've seen a mer, Blake...? That's weird."

"Mer?" With that word, Blake began to understand... Of course not, he was still just as confused "Pia, what do you mean by mer?"

"It means what it means, maybe I added too much toyherb to the hot springs, did the nap make you forget what mer is?"

"So... Are you a mer?"

"Of course! A mermaid to be exact. There are not many races that have a tail like mine, right?" She said it as she smiled and swung her new limb making it impossible to ignore.

'I should calm down... Why does it seem strange to me? I suppose mers are a normal thing to see, but why don't I remember anything about them? It happened to me the same as with magic, losing my memory affected me too much.'

"Are you feeling okay?... Does it bother you to see me like this?" It was not very visible, but Blake could see how Pia's smile disappeared from her face just when she said those words, and when he realized that she had remained silent, he realized how rude he was being.

"What? No, it's nothing like that, Pia, I was just surprised. I think it's the first time I've seen a mer."

"Really? Did you live under a rock all your life? I don't think it was very comfortable, ahahaha."

"Haha, no, you see, when I woke up this morning, I realized that I had lost my memory, so I think it is the first time I meet a mer."

"Eh? Did you lose your memory? Where did you lose it? I'll help you find it." That comment brought a drop of sweat from Blake and made him wonder if she was really serious.

"No, Pia, my memory, I mean I can't remember who I was or where I came from, nothing."

"Oohhh, I hope you get it back soon; it must feel strange."

"Well... Actually, I don't remember anything, so I don't really know how to feel, haha." After he got used to seeing Pia's transformation a bit, Blake asked the question he wanted to ask from the beginning. "By the way, Pia, what are you doing here?"

"Ah, it's true, I came to look for you."

"Why?"

"Because a part of my job is to keep track of the opinions and the time that clients normally spend when using the bath, that helps me to give me an idea of ​​what I should improve so that the next time it is even better. I will make bath time the best in the world, people will come from all over to enjoy it and they will feel like they are on a cloud!" Blake didn't know what to say, Pia's determination was so intense that it seemed that her pupils were on fire. "And I'm here because it took you two hours to get out. I went in to see if you were okay and I found you asleep with all red skin, you looked like a strawberry, ahaha."

"I see... Wait! Was I in the water for two hours?"

"Yes, were you trying to become a mer?" Then Blake turned to see his body, although it was not too reddish, he could see that several parts of his skin were covered with something similar to wrinkles and he realized that what Pia was saying was true.

"I think I did spend a lot of time inside, what time is it?"

"Hmm, it should be a little after five. It will be better to go back inside, you should dry off and put on your clothes, if you spend more time outside, you could catch a cold."

"Yes, you're right... By the way, Pia, how did I end up outside of the hot springs?" That question had been on Blake's mind for a long time, he had an idea of what could have happened, but he needed to confirm it.

"I took you out, of course!"

"S-So you...?" The reason why he was nervous was that he remembered that he had removed the towel before entering, but now it was around him covering the area that it should cover.

"Ah!" That's when Pia understood what Blake was trying to say and her face turned a deep red color. "I-I d-I didn't see anything! I had my eyes closed at all times! Pia is not a pervert!"

After yelling that, Pia sped back inside the inn as she propelled herself with her tail. Blake was still somewhat uncomfortable that he might have been seen naked, but a sneeze from him made him follow the advice from earlier and enter as well. He dried himself as best he could and took his clean and dry clothes from the washing, put them on, and went back to the hall not thinking much about before.

"Well... I guess it was a good bath after all."