The new shampoo, hair treatment, and body soap that Kuro brought seemed to have a refreshing scent, and I felt very refreshed after being washed.
I personally like the scent of the new shampoo... It was better than the shampoo I'm using now, so I asked Kuro to tell me where the store was and decided to go buy some later.
Anyhow, I swapped roles with Kuro and washed her back, and as she requested, I applied shampoo to her hair. It was the first time for me to shampoo someone else's hair, so I was a bit nervous, but I was glad that Kuro seemed satisfied.
After I was done, it was finally time for us to get into the bathtub.
[Fuuu, this feels so good~~]
[Baths are really nice, aren't they?]
[Kaito-kun, you really like baths huh.]
[Yeahh~~ I guess I do. I used to buy bath salts and stuff like that when I was in my former world.]
[Bath salts? ...Ahh~~ I think I've heard of that before. It changes the color of the water when you put it in the bath, right?]
Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen bath salts in this world. I've heard that there are baths at nobles' homes where scented bags filled with herbs are floated in the bath, or where flowers such as roses were used, but I've never seen such a bath at Lilia-san's mansion, so I've never seen one.
[It does change the color of the water, but it also changes the scent... Bath salts come in many varieties, including ones that recreate onsen water.]
I explained what I knew about bath salts to Kuro, who seemed to be interested in them. Kuro listened curiously for a while, and a few moments later, she seemed to be thinking of something.
[...Now that's the look of a business owner you've got there.]
[Unnn, it sounds kinda interesting, so I'm thinking of trying to make something like that... but in case I do make something like that, I was wondering how I would develop it.]
[Can't you just recreate the vibe of a famous onsen or something like that?]
[Hmmm, from what I've heard, it's better to think of bath salts as something that basically targets the general public, and onsens, you see, are still rather minor in their life. No, I suppose it would just be something onsen lovers would like.]
[...Ahh, I see.]
I was inadvertently speaking from a Japanese' point of view, but indeed, onsens just had a strong aspect in our culture. I don't know all the tourist spots in this world, but I don't think I've seen anything related to onsens being sold.
However, the fact that Kuro referred to it as rather minor means that there are probably places like that.
[For example, among Kaito-kun's acquaintances, Isis likes onsens. She even built one in her own castle... Well, in Isis' case, I feel like she was probably more interested in the idea of taking a bath together. There's also Neun, who is quite fond of onsens, and she sometimes goes to take a bath in the onsens in the remote areas of the Demon Realm.]
Onsens in the remote areas of the Demon Realm... I'm a little curious. I'll ask Neun-san about it next time.
[Well, just like that, I think people like them who likes onsen would like such a product, but the general public weren't really familiar with onsens, so even if you were to market bath salts that recreate the vibe of an onsen, they wouldn't really get what you meant.]
[I see, bath salts themselves haven't been established yet in this world, so you would want a sales pitch that will attract interest first huh.]
[Unnn. Well, there are still a lot of things to think about like cost reduction, so we can just think about that after we tried making it once.]
Seeing Kuro say that with a smile, I suddenly remembered what I had been thinking about earlier.
[Hey, Kuro... For example...]
[Unnn?]
[Bath salts that create the vibe of a noble's or the royalty's bath... What about a sales pitch like that? I've heard that some nobles bath with scented bags or flowers floating in their bath water...]
[I see! That's a good idea. The word "nobles" would be easy for them to understand, and there are many people in the general populace who yearn for the life of a noble. Such a direction certainly would work... We could also ask the collaboration with some celebrities back in the Demon Realm, and add a tag-line like "Creation supervised by ●●".]{br}{em}(T/N: Lillywood's bathwater gimme){/em}
[Ahh~~ That sounds like it would be famous.]
Lilia-san herself has a pen modeled after the Sky Dragon, so I suppose there are goods regarding the celebrities in the Demon Realm being sold, including the Six Kings and their executives, so I think such a direction is possible.
[If I want to lower the costs, the materials should be... Oops.]
[Kuro?]
[...Uryaaahh!]
[Wait!? Why are you suddenly hugging me!?]
Kuro, who had been wearing a serious expression on her face, suddenly looked as if she noticed something and jumped towards me.
Surprised by her sudden action, I reflexively hugged her back... but even when we had towels wrapped around our bodies, both of us were almost naked... and our bodies were abnormally close.
[Ahaha, well, I just thought that since I'm taking a bath with Kaito-kun, I'll think about those work-related matters later.]
[But how is that related to us cuddling like this...]
[I want to cherish this time I had together with Kaito-kun~~ and these feelings I have for you are growing stronger~~... Did you not like it?]
[...I- I think that's too sly of you to ask that.]
[Fufufu, I guess so... I love you, Kaito-kun.]
[Like I said... things like that... are unfair.]
The look on Kuro's face as she smiled happily and told me she loved me was so cute that I was unable to say anything else other than that.
I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm blushing like crazy right now... How should I say this... I really am no match against her.