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After finishing our chat, we decided to exit the bath, but…

“Now then, I will also—wahiyaaaaah!!” (Sazan)

Sazan was about to stand up, but immediately returned inside the bathtub.

“W-What is it with you all of a sudden?” (Souma)

When I asked him this, he suddenly turned his back towards me all desperately and…

“I-It is okay! It is nothing!!” (Sazan)

He shouted words that I can’t trust at all.

“No, there’s no way it is nothing.” (Souma)

“S-Stop it! Don’t come! It really is nothing! It is nothing!” (Sazan)

I approached Sazan, and he bend over, desperately hiding his crotch as if rejecting me.

—Could it be that the Horned Paon has gone out of control?!

The worst situation plays in my mind.

My feet stop cold.

“…Uhm, you really will be okay alone, right?” (Souma)

“I have been telling you that for a while now! Just go already!” (Sazan)

“G-Got it. I will do that.” (Souma)

Horned Paon matters are delicate ones.

It would be for the sake of Sazan to not get too involved in this.

“T-Then, I will be leaving. Don’t stay too long in the bath. Ah, also, when you are leaving—” (Souma)

“Just go already! Wait, don’t look over here!” (Sazan)

“I-I get it!” (Souma)

I jumped out of the bath chased away by Sazan, and finally took a breath once I returned to the entrance of the dressing room.

It is tiring to hang out with Leila, but I don’t know where the landmines are planted with Sazan, so there’s a different kind of exhaustion in that front, too.

I wiped my body quickly while sighing, put my clothes back on, and put the Water Dragon Ring back on (if I have it on, I won’t drown in the bathtub, but the effect of the water is also nullified, so the point of taking a bath would be gone, too).

My preparations are done here, but Sazan is still not coming out.

Not only that, when I called him…

“P-Please bring my clothes basket here!” (Sazan)

He made a mysterious request.

“Good grief. He really is a lot of work…” (Souma)

I complained as I searched for the basket where the clothes of Sazan are.

“Let’s see…” (Souma)

This dressing room must be in the format of a bathhouse, there’s a number of baskets ready.

I peeked at each one of them and found one that had black things stuffed in the 4th basket.

“…Aah, this, huh.” (Souma)

There’s a jet black cloak and clothes, and also the book that he has been reading the whole time before entering the bath.

There’s no one else who entered the bathroom aside from us, so this must be it.

“I found it!” (Souma)

“P-Please bring it here! Ah, don’t rummage through my clothes!” (Sazan)

“Just who do you think I am…” (Souma)

I was baffled by this while instinctively moving my gaze to the basket.

When I looked, the name of that book entered my eyes by coincidence.

That awfully thick book’s title is: Big Reference Book of Monster Visuals.

…It wasn’t even a book about magic.

Then what was all that when he was mumbling about magic and whatever?

It seems like he really didn’t want to enter the bath with me.

I was feeling sad about this truth as I placed a towel on the basket with the clothes of Sazan and threw it inside the bath. I then exited the dressing room with my shoulders drooped.

When I returned to the living room, most of my comrades were there and were chatting.

“…You are back, huh.” (Mitsuki)

“Ah, Souma!” (Leila)

Mitsuki was the first one to notice and raised her voice, and Leila ran my way next.

I casually confirm that Leila doesn’t have the Death Bringer in hand and sigh.

This house is dangerous with the bath and Leila and everything else.

“Hmm? Souma, where’s the black one?” (Maki)

I wiped off my cold sweat, and Maki spoke to me in wonder all sprawled on the table.

This girl is supposed to be a princess. Is it okay to not go back to the castle? No, I shouldn’t be the one worrying about this stuff when I am trying to bring her back to a different world.

“Aah, if it is Sazan, he is still changing. Well, I think he will come soon.” (Souma)

“Eh?” (Leila)

The one who reacted sensitively to this was not Maki but Leila.

“Eh? Eh?” -she repeated those words and was looking at both me and the bath, and began to mumble something.

“U-Uhm…changing, you say? …Could it be that you took a bath together with that person, Souma…?” (Leila)

“W-What about you guys? Why are you all gathered here?” (Souma)

I felt something ominous from Leila’s tone, so I cut off her words quickly.

Leila was still saying something, but I already know.

Mitsuki read the atmosphere here and spoke first.

“It is not like there’s anything special. It is just that the people that were in the residence wanted to know about the results of the incident.” (Mitsuki)

“Aah, I see.” (Souma)

Looks like Mitsuki explained to the others what happened at the Mage Guild while I was away.

Well, Ringo doesn’t proactively talk about those things, so it was probably mostly Mitsuki alone telling the whole story.

“Anyways, you came right in time. I have finished the talk here, so I was thinking about having you tell us about the plans from here on.” (Mitsuki)

Speaking of which, we have had to deal with quite a lot of immediate issues until now.

However, you could say the immediate dangers are now gone with the Mage Guild being crushed.

It means that we have finally obtained true freedom.

Thinking about it in that way, everyone being gathered here is also convenient for me.

“In that case, the timing is just right for me as well. Actually, I spoke with Sazan in the bath about moving together tomorrow to obtain a certain spell.” (Souma)

Hearing this, everyone made dubious looks.

“Spell? But for what?” (Mitsuki)

“That’s…” (Souma)

I was about to answer ‘in order to return to my world’ at the question of Mitsuki, but…

“…It is in order for me to become the strongest mage!” (Sazan)

Sazan had appeared at my back at some point in time and answered in that fashion.

I was taken aback by this, but Sazan, who was all warmed up from having come out from the bath, continued speaking smoothly.

“From what I heard, the spell left by the great mage called Morrigan Sprite, Stardust Flare, is the strongest dark spell.

In that case, there’s no one more suitable than me who is the number one mage in the world! Might as well even take his nicknames, too. And so, we have agreed to help each other out!” (Sazan)

He pointed at me and laughed with a ‘Fuhahahaha’.

What is he saying all of a sudden?

“O-Oi, Sazan, what in the world are you sayi—” (Souma)

I asked this in a whisper to Sazan while flustered, and Sazan didn’t change his expression one bit and whispered back to me.

“Are you an idiot? If you tell them honestly, you might get stabbed by the girl there.

Talks like this should be done after laying more groundwork first.” (Sazan)

“That’s true, but…” (Souma)

Leila became unstable just from being away from me for a bit.

If I were to tell her I am returning to my homeland, who knows how she would react.

However, I am simply delaying the issue.

“S-Souma?” (Leila)

Leila must have noticed that we were talking about her in our whispers, she raised an eyebrow.

“H-Hey, what are you talking about all close? I would like to hear about it, too.” (Leila)

She was laughing with an ‘ehehe’, but her smile was strangely dark and her eyes were blank.

…Yup.

I don’t think I will be killed here, but it is certainly a bit scary.

I really should make proper preparations first before I explain to Leila and the others.

Sazan must have felt that I had taken the escape stance, he continued his grand speech.

“Anyways! Me and him will be taking the trials to obtain the Stardust Flare. It is the trials that the famous Golden Mage, Morrigan Sprite, made.

It will most likely be really rough, but there’s no need to worry. Even if it is the best alchemist in the kingdom, I won’t be losing in my ability as a mage—” (Sazan)

I think he began to talk to play it off, but it seems like he got into it while he was talking.

Sazan continued talking passionately, but as if throwing cold water to this…

“Excuse me…” (Mitsuki)

Mitsuki interjected while raising her hand lightly.

She wasn’t bothered by Sazan who curved his lips down and spoke.

“Can I say one thing?” (Mitsuki)

“What is it?” (Sazan)

Sazan takes an arrogant stance with anyone, but Mitsuki was still expressionless and responded indifferently.

“I think Morrigan Sprite wasn’t a mage, but the name of a casino manager though?” (Mitsuki)

“…Eh? But…” (Sazan)

Sazan opened his mouth wide and looked over here as if seeking help.

I averted my gaze.

“He was stingy and didn’t have much interactions with others from the same line of work, and I remember him obtaining great success after driving many mages into gambling…

If I remember correctly, the method to pull them into gambling was to ‘make a famous spell into a gambling prize’. And so, the nicknames he got from that were Golden Mage and History’s Strongest Alchemist of the Rihito Kingdom…” (Mitsuki)

The merciless explanation of Mitsuki made the face of Sazan turn bright crimson from embarrassment and anger after having understood what was going on.

And then…

“Y-You bastard! You deceived meeeeeeee!!!” (Sazan)

Sazan finally turned bright red all the way to the neck, and jumped at me.

The talk was suspended for now, and I was sentenced to 100 pokapoka** punches.

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