LIGHTNOVELWORLD Episode 42
Chapter 42
After finishing studying and having dinner, I arrived at the changing room of the bathroom… accompanied by Vivian.
“Um, I can undress myself though…”
“You need to get used to being undressed by servants. While it’s different for knights from the Baron or Knight Baronet households, knights from the Count’s household receive treatment not much different from nobles.”
I had always thought knights were impressive, but I never imagined they’d be treated as highly as nobility.
However, I wanted to voice my opinion about the situation of Vivian helping me undress.
“Well then, is it unacceptable if a male servant does it?”
“…Certainly, it’s not a job typically done by female servants. However, if you recall Lady Alshade’s words, you might understand this situation better.”
The reason Alshade appointed Vivian as both my educator and caretaker was to build resilience toward women and as a countermeasure against honey traps.
This time, the reason Vivian had come all the way to the bathhouse with me was likely the latter.
Well, sending a honeytrap operative into a bathhouse where nudity is expected might be a strategy that anyone could come up with, and it’s possible it’s just a worn-out tactic.
“…Even if I understand, it doesn’t mean I have to agree.”
“Please resign yourself.”
While we conversed, Vivian’s hands didn’t stop, and I wasn’t struggling either.
I knew I couldn’t do anything about it, so voicing complaints was perhaps my last form of resistance.
“Please lift your right leg.”
“…”
I followed Vivian’s instructions and lifted my right leg. I felt like I had become a dress-up doll.
“…Well then, let’s head to the bathhouse.”
“Understood.”
“(Vivian is so composed that I’m starting to feel embarrassed about feeling embarrassed.)”
Even though I felt quite embarrassed being undressed by Vivian, she didn’t show any change in her voice, and the fact that I was the only one perturbed by this situation fueled my sense of shame.
The only consolation was that Vivian hadn’t undressed herself. If she had, I might have been overwhelmed and confused by various emotions.
“(No, perhaps it would have been easier if I had just gotten confused and not thought about unnecessary things…)”
While pondering such things and escaping into my thoughts, I followed Vivian as she led the way from the dressing room to the bath.
“…This is amazing!”
The bath was far larger than I had imagined, with immaculate white stone floors and walls exuding a luxurious ambiance. The bathtub itself seemed to be made of the same stone material as the walls and floors, and it was spacious enough to accommodate about twenty people.
Thanks to alchemy, the facilities like showers were well-equipped too, making the bath quite comparable to the bathrooms of my previous life.
Amongst such a scene, the most striking feature was undoubtedly the gold dragon’s head installed on the wall. Water was steaming out from its mouth, flowing into the bath.
“…What’s that?”
“As you can see, it’s the hot water outlet. The interior of this bath is a reflection of the former lord’s taste, and I’ve heard that this gold dragon head installation was one of their particular obsessions.”
“I see…”
The gold dragon was so meticulously crafted that it looked like it could come to life any moment.
However, since dragons in my previous life were synonymous with coolness, learning that someone had been particularly fixated on it made me uncomfortably recall my embarrassing past moments of chuunibyou, unintentionally exposing my secret.
“Well then, let’s start with getting your hair done.”
“Yeah, please.”
“Please take a seat here.”
Seated on the chair prepared in front of the mirror, just near the shower, Vivian stood behind me.
Due to the bizarre situation of being naked and having someone else cut my hair, my embarrassment was quite evident, and my face, reflected in the mirror, had turned slightly red.
If only the bathroom were colder, I might have used that as an excuse to at least wear something minimal, but the bathroom was warm, probably due to the flowing water.
“How would you like your hair to be cut?”
“…I’ll leave it up to you.”
“Certainly.”
I didn’t really understand anything about hairstyles, so I entrusted it to Vivian.
Since she was a noblewoman’s maid, I assumed she would be knowledgeable about fashion and stuff. Besides, she probably wouldn’t give me a buzz cut or anything.
“(Just watching would make me even more embarrassed, so maybe I’ll just close my eyes. I remember there was training in mana manipulation that could be done in a meditative sort of way…)”
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and focused inwardly.
Deep within my abdomen, which I hypothetically considered my dantian, I sensed the flow of mana circulating through my entire body.
“(Looking at it this way, there are unused pathways, and the amount of magical energy flowing isn’t consistent… Also, quite a bit is leaking out.)”
The magical energy coursing through my body follows pathways somewhat akin to blood vessels, spread throughout like a network.
However, not all of these pathways are active.
If we were to compare it to blood vessels, the finer pathways akin to capillaries had closed off parts where mana wasn’t flowing.
I thought I could open them by consciously channeling mana, but it was obvious that even though it might not escalate to the level of mana release, there would be some degree of pain involved.
There was no guarantee that pain wouldn’t make my body move involuntarily. It would be risky to move while someone was cutting my hair, so it’s probably better not to attempt that right now.
That leaves me with the other two issues to consider.
If the flow of mana isn’t consistent, it might create irregularities in the strength of my body enhancements, And the mana leaking out of my body is simply wasteful.
Thankfully, both of these problems seemed solvable through mana manipulation.
“(…It’s quite challenging to maintain a consistent flow of mana and prevent it from leaking outside the body.)”
The flow of mana wasn’t consistent to begin with, as evidenced by the varying amounts emanating from the dantian.
So, I thought, why not produce mana consciously from the dantian like when using spells? But that strategy didn’t work smoothly either.
It felt like when I tried to extract the necessary amount, extraneous elements clung to it, causing instability.
As for the leaking issue, I couldn’t precisely control the minutely fragmented mana particles. I could barely manage to prevent mana from leaking out of one hand.
“Rios-sama, I’m done.”
Just as my concentration wavered, Vivian addressed me. It was a good stopping point, so I opened my eyes.
“Oh!”
Opening my eyes, I realized that my field of view was considerably wider than usual, prompting an exclamation of astonishment to escape me, momentarily overshadowing my embarrassment.
It was only natural—the bangs that used to obstruct my view were now gone. Despite it being a logical outcome, it had been quite a while since my sight felt this expansive, since those bangs had been with me since childhood.
To assess the current state of my hair, I looked at the mirror. It seemed that she had simply shortened my hair overall, resulting in a clean, simple short haircut.
My appearance had previously carried a somewhat somber impression, partly due to the hair covering my forehead, but now, with my hair cut short and my eyes more visible, my overall impression seemed considerably brighter now.
“You have beautiful eyes. It makes sense that you kept them hidden.”
“…Thank you.”
Slightly bashful at Vivian’s straightforward praise, I scratched my cheek with my right hand.
“Now, I’ll proceed to wash your body.”
“Huh?”
The hand that had been scratching my cheek came to a halt.
As I awkwardly twisted around in a mechanical manner reminiscent of a rusty tin robot, I was met with Vivian, sleeves of her maid attire rolled up, standing ready with a smile.
…I had completely forgotten about the honey trap countermeasure.
“I can manage the washing myself!”
“I won’t let you escape!”
Before I could make a move to flee in order to preserve my dignity, Vivian seized both my shoulders with her hands, restraining me.
“…Between Alshade-sama and myself, which would you prefer? Opting for Alshade-sama would likely entail participating in a shared bath…”
“…Th-That’s… that’s cheating…”
I bowed my head, releasing all tension from my body and signaling my surrender to Vivian’s authority.
“I’m glad you understand. Well then, if you’ll excuse me.”
Confirming my newfound compliance, Vivian turned on the shower and let warm water cascade over me.
“…It’s a bit ticklish.”
“Please endure it.”
“But it’s hitting me right there?!”
“Yes, it is.”
“…W-Wait, there… at least let me do that part myself!!”
“I can’t allow that.”
“I’ll rinse you off now.”
“…Ah, yes.”
…The bathroom is quite spacious.
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