The legend of the Crimson Demon clan started from Suqing

#335 - Another World Hot Springs

The merchant man, whose ring was forcibly placed on his left ring finger, ran away. To be precise, he was scared away by Yosuke Shima's enthusiasm and obsession.

Being forced to wear a ring by a beastman, everyone knows what it represents. Even Zun Zun, who was far away, could hear the congratulations coming from afar, as well as the merchant man's angry cursing.

"Yosuke, do you know what you've done?"

"No, I just heard that you guys seemed to owe him money. To thank Zun Zun for awakening me, I just gave him a ring. Is that okay? You should know the value of that ring. Or are you saying that you owe so much that even that ring can't pay it off?"

"That's the problem."

Don't be fooled by Yosuke Shima's appearance, which is no different from a down-and-out middle-aged man. He's only 17 years old, just looks old. Plus, he's been a shut-in at home playing games, so it's normal that he doesn't know his actions were a proposal.

… … That's the only explanation.

After all, there's a red magic clan girl who's so simple-minded that when she makes friends for the first time, she'll even say ridiculous things like 'Please take care of me in this life'.

"More than that, I want to take a bath."

"Take a bath?"

"Ah, I haven't taken a bath the whole time I was a dragon. Plus, the high temperature of the Magic Flame Dragon makes me feel sticky and uncomfortable all over. And I feel uneasy without the dragon's wings and tail."

"You brought it on yourself."

This guy didn't care about anything in order to show off. You should know that after using transformation magic, your thoughts and actions will follow the person you transform into. In other words, he's been thinking like the Magic Flame Dragon for the past few days.

"Speaking of which, what have you been circling around here for? Is there anything that you care about?"

Zun Zun was curious.

Yosuke Shima touched his chin and said, "Ah, ah… Although I don't quite remember the reason, I feel like I want to take revenge on someone. It should be the existence of ice, right?"

"Eh!?"

Mabel shivered subconsciously.

If you were to ask who the Magic Flame Dragon hates the most, no one would dare to say they were second to the Frozen God Sword, even Zun Zun would have to be behind it.

"Eh, Mabel?" Yosuke Shima said in surprise after seeing her, "Why are you here? Haven't you already become a knight of the kingdom?"

"Th-that… this…" Mabel's eyes kept darting around, and she said stutteringly, "Y-you see, being a knight of the kingdom will narrow your horizons, so I wanted to have a broader—"

"Because someone caused a scene, Mabel was implicated and fired."

"Yes, I was implicated and fired."

Mabel immediately changed her words.

"What!?" Yosuke Shima was startled, and then scratched his head embarrassedly and said, "Sorry, it seems like I accidentally made you lose your job because of me. How should I compensate you?"

"It's okay, I've already been compensated."

She raised her left hand as if to show off.

"—Look!"

"Oh, it's a Celestial Stone Ring? Did Zun Zun give it to you? Considering its priceless value, selling it should allow you to live without worrying about food and clothing for the rest of your life, right?"

"No, I don't plan to sell it, I want to be self-reliant."

"Is that so?"

Yosuke Shima didn't react much. It was Mabel's freedom to sell the ring or not, and he wouldn't ask too much. Moreover, he didn't know that Mabel had always been thinking about lying down and being a bum. He thought that becoming a knight of the kingdom had always been her goal and vision.

At this time, the elf girl coughed heavily twice, and also raised her left hand, showing off her ring. There was no need to hide it anymore, so she showed it off generously.

"Oh, the elf also has a ring?"

"She redeemed it from the shop, and that's why she incurred the debt."

"Eh, why!?"

Yosuke Shima widened his eyes, not understanding why the elf girl did this. To this, Zun Zun could only say that he didn't understand a girl's heart… Of course, he didn't understand either, otherwise he wouldn't have mistakenly thought that she hadn't redeemed the ring just because he didn't see the ring on her left hand.

"That's not important."

The elf girl petted Mabel like a pet, and said, "Don't you want to take a bath? I know a place nearby where you can take a bath, come with me."

"Oh oh, that's a big help." Yosuke Shima thanked, "I haven't taken a bath for several days, I'm really not used to it."

"Constantly complaining, you're really squeamish, beastman face. You should know that a qualified adventurer wouldn't complain as much as you even if they didn't take a bath for a month."

"Eh — — — —"

Seeming to really think that the elf girl hadn't taken a bath for a month, Yosuke Shima took several steps to the side with a disgusted look, the action of creating distance stimulated her nerves.

"I'm not the same as you, I can't stand a life without soaking in a bath for a month."

"What are you talking about! Since you're an adventurer, then endure it for me! Right, Mabel?"

She asked the other girl.

"No, I take a bath every day."

"Ah?"

The elf girl was dumbfounded.

"But don't you often camp in the wild…"

"Even camping in the wild doesn't prevent me from taking a bath, right? Besides, with the Frozen God Sword, taking a bath is even more convenient."

"You're lying…"

Shouldn't normal camping in the wild be very difficult, even eating is a problem, why is there still energy to take a bath? The Frozen God Sword is too amazing!

Looking at the elf girl who was looking to him for help with a pitiful look, Zun Zun couldn't bear it and twitched the corner of his mouth.

"I actually have the experience of not taking a bath for a month."

"But Zun Zun, don't you have a divine body, wouldn't all the dust be cleared away?"

"That's true."

The smile that had just appeared on the elf girl's pretty face froze. Then she didn't say anything, lowered her head and walked forward on her own, leading the way for the others.

The moonlight was like water.

The four walked a long way before finally arriving at a place where they could take a bath.

"That sign…"

"Yeah, it's in Japanese."

What appeared before everyone was a perfectly standard Ryokan, a tranquil hot spring surrounded by bamboo, with artfully arranged stone lanterns and trees all around, exuding elegance.

Maybelle asked with a hint of surprise, "Zunzun, can you understand the writing on this sign?"

"Ah, it's because we come from the same world."

"A person who transferred from another world..."

The beautiful elf girl pursed her lips and said, "The person who established this inn was a transfer from another world 20 years ago. He, the transfer... Tsuyoshi Shojiro, only stayed in Grand Bahamar for about 10 days 20 years ago, and is said to have died at the age of 88."

"He's already passed away..."

"He was that old?"

Zunzun looked at the sign on the hot spring inn and softly read, "Purgatory Hot Spring..."

"What does 'Purgatory' mean?"

"Roughly speaking, it's the world where people go after death before reaching the afterlife, to settle accounts for their actions during their lifetime. So, that's how he perceived the other world... But in reality, what's it like?"

Yosuke Shimazaki remarked with emotion.

Zunzun smiled and said, "However, what that old man probably didn't expect is that after he died, he didn't go to Purgatory, but to meet a goddess."

"Goddess? Why are you so sure, Zunzun?"

"Because I've died before, and several times at that."

"What—!?"

Her casual words caused the expressions of everyone present to change constantly, some finding it unbelievable, others finding it too absurd.

After all, of the four people present, no one except Zunzun had ever died, and although this world has physical rebirth magic, it doesn't have resurrection magic.

No, it does exist, but only God has done it.

"Zunzun, you—"

"Are you a guest? Or perhaps..."

At this moment, the door of the hot spring opened, and a middle-aged man in a yukata walked out.

"He's a guest. And this man isn't a beastman, he's one of our companions."

"...I apologize for my rudeness. Since you all vouch for him, I don't need to be suspicious." He withdrew his hostility and said with a smile, "Welcome, I am Grantz, the owner and manager of Purgatory Inn."

As the hostility dissipated, the others introduced themselves.

"Oh my, judging from your words, it seems that the elf lady knows a lot about the previous owner. That's right, the affairs of the transferers are very popular even in the countryside. Oh my, both I and the previous owner are very honored."

The inn owner seemed to admire the previous owner very much.

"However," the beautiful elf girl questioned, "it's still hard to believe that Shojiro built this inn single-handedly in less than 10 days. Of course, there's also the theory of bringing the entire inn from another world..."

"That's impossible. When a person from another world dies, everything they brought will dissipate, that's a given fact. After the previous owner breathed his last, his clothes and body turned to ashes before my very eyes."

"Indeed, that's the same as the record of the knight's death 400 years ago."

"Oh, are you talking about the Frozen God Sword?"

"Frozen God Sword!?"

Maybelle trotted up to the two of them, her face full of anticipation, and said, "Are you talking about the Frozen God Sword? It seems you are very interested in the Frozen God Sword, then I, the descendant of the Ice Clan, will tell you the story of our ancestors and the Frozen God Sword! Ahem... That was 400 years ago—"

"We're not interested." X2

"What!?"

Maybelle, who was interrupted, lowered her head like a frostbitten eggplant and dejectedly came to Zunzun's side.

"I didn't expect to see a descendant of the Ice Clan, but the previous owner is different from the Frozen God Sword. This was built with ability—the ability to freely manipulate all biological materials and turn them into objects. The previous owner had an accident before going on a hot spring trip, and then transferred here..."

The inn owner spoke eloquently.

In Zunzun's opinion, this was just an ordinary hot spring inn, but he seemed to be trying to 'sell the concept if the goods aren't outstanding', constantly instilling the benefits and background stories of the hot spring to the guests.

Zunzun listened patiently out of politeness, despite finding it tiresome, and occasionally chimed in to provide a step down.

On the other hand, Yosuke Shimazaki was actually organizing his storage space right in front of them, which was very speechless.

An hour later.

After the owner finally finished speaking, the group walked into the hot spring inn. As soon as Yosuke Shimazaki stepped inside, the owner's daughter turned pale with fright and hid in her mother's arms, refusing to come out.

Zunzun sighed helplessly.

He knew it would be like this.

A kind smile appeared on his face as he walked up to the little girl, squatted down, and said softly, "Hello, you're the owner's daughter, are you working as a receptionist right now?"

"Y-Yes..."

"That's amazing, that's amazing."

Zunzun patted her head.

The little girl woke up from her panic, then proudly puffed out her chest and said, "I'm very good, I'm going to take over my dad's job and become a qualified hostess!"

"Oh! Then, for you, who has such a grand ambition, I should give you a reward, here."

A few candies appeared in her palm.

The little girl didn't take them immediately, she first looked at her mother, and only after she nodded did she happily accept them and shouted loudly, "Thank you, sister!"

"...Brother!"

"Sister!!"

"Brother!!"

"Sister!!!!"

Zunzun's expression changed, but he couldn't get angry, so he could only twitch the corners of his mouth and say with a tangled expression.

"You'll definitely become a big shot in the future."

"—Thank you, sister!"