CHAPTER 348: CHAPTER 348 ⤞ WIZ’S SHAME REACHES A CRITICAL POINT

Returning to the inn with the party members.

Upon seeing Beatrice and Wiz, I noticed they were walking back from outside holding hands. Their faces showed expressions of satisfaction, their skin moist and glowing.

Had they gone to the hot springs while the party members were away?

"Have you two already finished bathing?"

"Ah, yes. Since there was no one there, Beatrice and I enjoyed it first." Wiz looked a bit embarrassed.

She was always like this — despite her great power, she always placed herself in a lower position.

It was precisely because of her meekness that Aqua always bullied her... or perhaps it was because she was so meek and easy to bully that Aqua hadn’t forcefully purified her yet?

"It’s fine, Wiz." Adam smiled at her and said, "It’s the same for everyone. It’s great that you got to enjoy the hot springs early."

"Yes! Since there was no one at the hot spring pool, it was like Beatrice and I had it all to ourselves, and we really enjoyed it!" Wiz’s expression was relaxed.

Her relaxed demeanor annoyed Aqua, who had spent a tiring day receiving many followers.

"Ah, is that so... It’s a shame I couldn’t bathe together with you."

"...Eh?" Wiz froze for a moment.

She felt like she might have had an auditory hallucination, or perhaps misunderstood... something.

"I really wanted to bathe with you..."

"Eh?!"

"I’ve been looking forward to it for so long..."

"Eh——!!"

"...Beatrice."

"..." Wiz’s face turned bright red.

She had completely misunderstood. At first, she thought she might have misheard or misunderstood, but as Adam continued speaking, her misunderstanding grew. When she heard the final name he mentioned, her sense of shame instantly reached its peak.

Right now, Wiz truly wanted to crawl into a hole. Covering her face, embarrassed, she crouched down and tucked her voluptuous body into the corner.

"What’s wrong, Wiz, are you feeling unwell?"

"...No, please don’t mind me." Wiz murmured these words, and Adam’s concern only made her more embarrassed.

"So, Beatrice, how about it, want to go take another bath with me?"

"...Hmph, I have no choice, since it’s a request from Adam — Betty’s contractor. As a Great Spirit, I don’t have the ability to refuse, do I?"

She spoke these tsundere words. In truth, she was looking forward to bathing with Adam.

She had originally wanted to wait for him to return, but while researching teleportation magic, they both worked up a sweat, so they took the opportunity to enjoy the hot springs.

If only she had waited a bit longer!

But unfortunately, the others wouldn’t agree to them bathing together — even if they were close contractor and Spirit!

"You’ll bathe with me, the Water Goddess — Aqua, and I won’t allow you to bathe with Adam!"

"Wha...!"

Aqua spoke very forcefully, and Beatrice puffed her cheeks in great dissatisfaction.

The willful Spirit was about to lose her temper, but Adam stopped her.

"Well, Beatrice, don’t be angry. If it doesn’t work out this time, we’ll do it together next time when we have a chance."

"...Hmph." Beatrice let out a light snort, but didn’t argue further.

Seeing the look Adam gave her, as a Great Spirit who understood her contractor’s difficulties, she could endure a little grievance knowing she’d be compensated later.

As for the others — though Beatrice was inexperienced in the world, she could still tell that the women present all had feelings for her contractor. Especially this self-proclaimed Goddess who didn’t have any Goddess-like qualities.

Clinging so tightly to her contractor! Are you a baby who needs someone to take care of you?

In reality, Beatrice didn’t know that if it weren’t for what Adam had just said to her making her wary, she wouldn’t have deliberately tried to prevent it.

On the contrary, she might have gone a step further and suggested everyone go to the mixed bath. But now she was a bit sensitive.

"Well then, I’ll go to the men’s hot spring, and you all go to the women’s hot spring, is that alright?"

"Yes, let’s do that."

"...So, what about you two?"

He asked Megumin and Yunyun, who had been sitting on the couch with their heads down since they returned. The two of them had suffered a lot in this town.

You see, although Crimson Magic Clan members had severe chuunibyou, at least people could get along with them and were willing to associate with them.

But the Axis Cult followers were different. They were disasters feared by all — ’demons’ that even the Demon King’s army avoided.

"...I finally understand why the people in the village said to run quickly when encountering Axis Cult members."

"...I understand now too."

"So scary..." they both murmured.

Megumin and Yunyun were still heavily impacted, with expressions that looked like they might cry at any moment.

"Well... anyway, how about going to enjoy the hot springs with Aqua to change your mood?" Adam half-forcibly pulled the two women up from the couch and handed them over to Aqua.

He pushed the three of them to leave quickly.

"Wait, wait... wait a minute!" As Megumin was being pushed along, she turned her head and shouted as if remembering something, "Darkness... what about Darkness, where did she go?!"

"Uh..." Adam’s expression became stiff, his eyes shifty, and he couldn’t bear to look at their expressions.

He couldn’t answer. He could hardly tell them that because it was Darkness’s first time, playing with him had left her rather "springy and happy", resulting in her body not having recovered yet, and she was currently lying in her room recuperating.

He felt a bit guilty.

"Darkness is probably asleep."

"...That’s strange."

"W-what?"

"Why would Adam know that?" Aqua suddenly moved close to him, leaning in and sniffing his scent, "...Is it my imagination? Although it’s still a very pure smell, I feel like there’s been a strange change."

She always had super-sharp intuition at moments like this.

"Ahem, how would I know... you all know, Aqua rushed off in a hurry this morning, so Darkness was with me. Given her personality, she loudly proclaimed herself an Eris Church member throughout our journey and suffered quite a bit in this twisted town, so she went to bed early to rest."

"Oh, I remember now." Aqua made a fist with her right hand and struck her left palm, her face showing a look of realization, "Well, that can’t be helped then. Darkness will have to enjoy the hot springs tomorrow."

Aqua called out to Megumin and Yunyun.

"Come on, Megumin, Yunyun, the three of us will go soak in the hot springs."

"Oh!" x2

Not just the three of them — others couldn’t be left out either.

"Wiz, Beatrice, you two come too!"

"Eh... eh?"

"No, I’m tired!"

Aqua also demanded that Wiz and Beatrice, who had already bathed, join them, naturally causing Wiz’s suspicion and Beatrice’s opposition.

But she used the reason "aren’t we here to get closer?" and with Adam’s mediation, the two who had already bathed finally gave in.

The five of them went to the hot springs together.

Adam did too. After the five of them left, he waited another half hour before going alone to Darkness and Aqua’s room.

Looking at the masochistic knight resting on the bed, he stroked her sleeping face with affection and concern.

He only left when he heard Aqua and the others returning.

✧✧✧

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