Chapter 379: Royal Bathing and Royal Meal
Incredible!
“Yes, truly,” I said.
- Ha ha ha! That's the same! That's the same!
It was the first day of our stay at the royal palace.
First of all, we were shown the personal bath of the royal family. Although I had seen enough luxurious baths before, this one was on a different level.
Of course, everything was in marble. A beautiful lion statue served as a hot water tap. Huge magical chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and episodes of someone's heroic deeds were painted on the walls. And the fact that these paintings were redrawn every three months only added to their greatness.
A wide pool served as a bath, around which grew deciduous trees of an unknown species, of a huge size. Probably each of them was over 100 years old. There were more than ten trees in total, and the size of them would fit as a shimboku from jinja temples in my native Japan.
From what I heard, they were very valuable magical plants. The fruits from these trees appear to have a healing effect.
Although I had the feeling that this was a very dubious waste of money, it was probably all done in order to show the greatness of the country to the foreign envoys.
Although I do not think that the king created these luxurious baths only for this purpose. Maybe, with his general love of provocative things, such bathing suits are quite in his style?
- First, you need to wash off all the dirt!
- Yeah.
We washed ourselves in a slightly different place. Even the soap and other personal care products here were of the highest quality. Mea quickly talked about their custom of taking a bath.
Although I thought there would be no shortage of maids at the royal baths, the only maid among us was Quina. It seems that half-beasts do not favor strangers when taking a bath, and even the royal family is limited to just one servant.
- Let me rub your back. Go here.
- Yeah.
Oh, what a beauty, this is how the bonds of friendship are strengthened. I could not help but be moved by the care with which Fran and Mea helped each other during the wash. And they rubbed the backs of each other, and helped with the hair, lovely. And Fran Mea treated as a friend, as an equal to herself.
- Right, right! - I rejoiced.
So I continued to watch them.
- Now it's Teacher's turn.
- ABOUT! Then I'll help too! Do not remain in debt to the Teacher!
Fran was not at all shy, and Mea didn't seem to be too worried about me. No, I certainly told her that I used to be human. But since I'm a sword now, it doesn't matter anymore.
And I myself, looking at Fran, did not feel a shadow of embarrassment. Perhaps this is because she was like an unmarried daughter to me.
Fran began rubbing me with a soft sponge of incomparable quality. Mea didn't seem to be worried about me rusting. I am a magic sword after all, and I have my self-repair, so there was nothing to worry about.
Nevertheless, Quina, of course, did not stand aside. Quina, wrapped in a towel like a tank top, hurried to pick me up from Fran and Mea.
- Quina, what are you doing?
- Yeah.
- Come on, wait a minute. How long have I said that a noble lady should know what shame is? He may be akin to family to Fran, but to you, madam, he is completely alien.
- But what's wrong with that? This is the Teacher.
- Certainly nothing good. Anyway, Master, let's do it this way.
Before I could guess what was on her mind, she wrapped a cloth around her eyes on my wolf emblem. Looks like she intended to make sure I didn't stare at anyone. Hmm, by the way, no one has figured out if these eyes can see.
In fact, my entire body had vision, so this manipulation did not particularly change anything.
Well, what to do … To be honest or not? I think it’s worth keeping silent so that Quina will be calmer … But I’m afraid to blab it in the future.
I should be honest.
- This, one of my skills, "special vision" allows me to see everything around me, so does it make sense to cover this part?
- That it is true?
- Yes.
- So, you saw the mistress in such an inappropriate form from all sides?
- Yes.
- Here's how.
Hmm? Is she angry? What is Quina's anger like?
“Do you know what responsibility you would have had to bear if you were an ordinary man who saw the bare skin of an unmarried woman from the royal family?
A responsibility? Does this mean, "I am responsible for ensuring your happiness"? Scary!
“Although the Teacher is a very extraordinary character, you cannot marry anyone off to a sword.
Well, of course! After all, if you think about it, Mea is from the royal family. Of course, she should be strict about who she is naked in front of. But it seems that she herself is not fully aware of this.
- He's just a sword, it's okay! Really, Fran?
- Yeah.
- Eh. Master, I beg you, don't look if possible.
- Okay, I understand you.
So, until we left the baths, I looked at the painted ceiling. However, this did not mean that I wanted so much, just Quina reacted to every movement of my gaze. Cold sweat seemed to creep from her gaze, even though I was a sword.
Probably the effect of her skills "Recognize Presence", "Interrogation", "Recognize Magic", "Control Magic", and her title "Assassin Killer" helped to capture even the slightest movement of my magical energy. I would not want to become her enemy.
Therefore, to the smallest detail, I remembered the image of the heroic deed, which was captured on the ceiling.
After the swim, a banquet took place. No, it's better to just call it dinner. In Mea's room, without much manners, everyone ate their food as they always did.
And now the worry was not about Fran, but about Mea herself. Since she had been an ordinary adventurer for a long time, such a meal was more to her liking.
Fran, who hadn't eaten anything but my concoction for a long time, looked very pleased. Of course, the royal chefs prepared very tasty dishes.
At the Niku Matsuri (Meat Festival), their cooking would have gained a lot of points. I mean, all of their dishes are meat, meat, and more meat. I don't mean just that there was a lot of meat in the dishes.
All the food was in one way or another with meat. So there was pork in beef, poultry in a composition with lizard meat, and stuff like that. And meat salads, and meat soups. Fran and Mea ate the dishes one after the other, and I even worried that they would not get heartburn.
Although they are half beasts, and a carnivorous type. As I briefly overheard from Quina, she prefers vegetables herself. Apparently, because she is of the herbivorous type, half-beast-tapirs.
It's hard to be a chef in a land of half-beasts, however. Tastes differ so much among different nations. However, in general, they remain human, so that under normal conditions they are able to eat meat, vegetables, and fish. The common people do not seem to be so picky.
Only aristocrats can afford to be picky.