KON POV
“HYAAAHHOOOOO!”
“WAAASSHHOOOIII!”
SPLASH!
“Oi guys! Wash yourself properly first before diving in!”
Geez these two. After eagerly anticipating a hot spring experience for quite some time, their first instinct was to jump into it like it was a swimming pool.
No matter how many times I look at it, this is simply amazing. The indoor hot spring is incredibly spacious, featuring various pools of hot water with different temperatures, along with another pool filled with refreshing cold water.
I’ve heard that hopping back and forth between hot and cold water is great for blood circulation and skin health. And let’s not forget about the décor of the hot spring itself! Stepping in, it felt like entering another dimension. The design and contemporary setting seamlessly blend with the natural elements, from the intricate rock formations and lush foliage to the giant mountain painting on the wall.
If I look up, there is even a glass rooftop for a stargazing experience.
Is this what rich people experience daily?
I’m feeling a tad envious, but all this opulence and excessiveness is a bit much for me. If I had to live here, I reckon all the extravagance would eventually just become a hassle and annoyance.
Yeah, with my sour grape technique, I will deem my compact and cozy apartment to be better than this in the long run. Uhuhu.
“Oi Kon, the water is fine! Come on in!”
“Gimme a sec!”
The space was so vast that I found myself speaking a bit louder. I removed my hairband, letting my hair cascade down. It’s getting longer, but I’m not quite ready to cut it yet. Maybe I’ll just trim it a bit at the barber shop, but for now, it’s fine as it is.
I took advantage of the opportunity to properly wash my hair and body with the provided shampoo and soap. There’s no way I could ever afford such a luxurious, nice-smelling brand in my life, so I’ll make the most of it while I can. Call me a cheapskate, but I’ll be using it again tomorrow too.
Once I finished washing up, I grabbed the towel and wrapped it around my head to keep my hair from dripping into the hot spring. Then, I slowly dipped my body into the blissful hot water. This pool is around 35 degrees Celsius—quite nice. I wonder if the other three pools will be increasing to 40, 50, and 60 degrees Celsius. I want to try them out later.
“Kon, you are not gaining any muscle.” Venti shot out of nowhere.
“Hehe, I bet you now that he is living well in his apartment, he is getting fatter.” Accused Zack.
“Stop pinching my belly. I’m still doing my morning workout properly.”
Well, they’re not wrong. Compared to my life in that city slum sector, I’m living far better now and eating more nutritious, balanced food. The commission rate is much better than I had expected, and there’s no shortage of work for me to dive into.
All I had to do was spend a day or two memorizing a district’s layout that most couriers deemed as a pain in the butt to navigate and scoop up all the requests. Food and data shard deliveries are particularly booming nowadays.
Ehehe, at this rate Limun’s shampoo brand and bath bombs will be achievable even after I save up for years’ worth of apartment rent. HeheAHAHHAHA.
“Stop tickling me! What’s wrong with you!”
“Nay, Kon, it won’t do for you to slack off. You should learn some form of martial arts that strengthen your upper body more,” Venti scolded, wagging his finger in front of me.
“Humu humu. Ze muscle speaks, Kon! It cries for a better future!” Zack chanted like a nut-cased pastor.
“I tried; it doesn’t help much. My constitution is weird like that.”
I talked to Elizabeth about the importance of knowing your goal, but in this case, I feel like it’s crucial to know when to cut off your losses. It was tough saying goodbye to my forever 6-pack body plan. On the bright side, I have a higher-than-normal amount of red and pink muscle.
Meaning I excel at light to moderate-intensity training like long-distance running. However, explosive power and short burst exercises are not my forte. That’s why Aikido and Judo are my preferences when it comes to melee combat.
“What about you guys? What the heck have you been doing while I was out doing courier commissions? Stalking a restaurant owner and eating 7-star foods?”
“Hoho, what’s this? Little Kon is talking back at our body now? Feast on these bad boys!” Venti Stood up.
“AIYAYAYA!” Zack screamed his usual nonsense.
The two idiots started a series of bodybuilding poses right in front of me. I could hear some weird song playing in the background with GO GO GO sound effects, but I couldn’t care less. I averted my eyes, lest I puke into the bathwater.
Also, stop swinging those things around. I swear if that thing pokes my face, I’m gonna slap it off.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“We have only been visiting Lady Kathy’s place a couple of times. Their food is hella good though.” Zack said.
“How did you even get past the security?”
“We just ran past.”
“You what!?”
“It’s no biggie, we got rejected by the dad, but soon after, we got invited for a tea party by the lady. For some reason, when we sneaked in and checked around the house for Elizabeth, the lady found us and addressed us by name before we even introduced ourselves. Strange, huh?”“
“Sneaked in? Are you guys crazy!? They must have researched your background and everything before you even set foot into their home!”
“So? I never did any crime, or anything scandalous.”
“And yet you trespassed their property?”
“Trespass, smash pass, the Lady is jolly good-natured, and it all ends up fine in the end, didn’t it?”
My face went deadpan, now even deader than before, and my jaw dropped so hard it was about to hit the floor. Zack does have a few screws loose. I glanced back at Venti, but he just shrugged.
“Hey, it seemed fun at the time, and we were given lots of snacks.”
I put both of my palms onto my face and submerged my face in the bathwater. Oh god, these people will be the death of me one day. It’s a miracle we’re not in a precinct right now.
Wait…. Why do I have to get arrested along with these idiots?
Anyway, bygones are bygones. Let’s hope the dad doesn’t carry over any grudges, and the mom doesn’t feel disrespected. I just have to try harder to curry their favor on behalf of Zack and Venti. Otherwise, we might all end up being escorted to the gallows or something.
Self-reflection complete, I emerged from my water bath submersion to face these two grinning looneys. What the heck are you two smiling at?
“Why Elizabeth?” I asked Zack.
“Hm?”
“Do you truly plan on recruiting her to be our Diva?”
“Maybe? She doesn’t even have to be a Diva if I’m being honest.”
“Uh, another forward like Venti then?”
“Sure, why not?”
I looked back at Venti, and he just shrugged his shoulders as usual whenever I tried to reason with Zack. I say “Reason with Zack,” but it’s just me asking questions and Zack spewing whatever crap flies through his brain at the time.
“Hey, don’t look at me. Zack’s the man with the plan.” Venti pointed at Zack. He is hopeless.
“Then Zack, you choose Elizabeth out of all the possible talents in the Martial arts club because of your intuition?”
“Yep, that’s right! Oh and also because she looks strong and she seemed like she knows what she wants.”
Oh, if that’s the case, then it’s fine by me, I guess. His intuitions are rarely wrong. If you want something, then go for it, I suppose. It’s not like I have the final say when it comes to matters like this.
“Oh? you are fine with it?” Zack raised his eyebrow.
“As long as you are at least 90% sure then I don’t mind. I just wanted to know the other reasons besides her having a nice voice.”
“Ahaha, that too.”
“You recruited her because she is a person with clear ambition, correct?”
“Yep.”
“Then what about me? I may be good at finding my way around places, but I’m not exactly brimming with ambitions.”
“Then you can be our mascot?”
“Don’t push your luck Venti, mascot my ass.”
“Aww, don’t be like that. You remember last time we infiltrated an all-girl school in disguise?”
What the heck do you mean “we”? It’s just you dressing me up in a stolen girl uniform and throwing me into the wolves! I had to fight for my life as I was being chased around by some rabid senior girls.
“I don’t want to remember it, anyway. We should go now. It’s almost time for dinner.”
Maybe I’ll come back here later before turning in for the night. I want to try out the back-and-forth cold and hot water.
---
After the bath, we were guided by a servant to a dining hall. I say “dining hall,” but the double door for the room itself is taller than 5 of my bodies stacked together. Are we still talking about our celebration? Is this even normal for a daily family dinner? My sense of values is going haywire right now.
The door opened for us to be welcomed by Elizabeth and her parents, but this time the dad had a more cordial expression on his face. I wonder if it’s because the mom is standing beside him.
“Welcome to our family dinner. I assumed formality might be a bit too stifling for you, so for this current celebration, we shall do away with a buffet-style dinner. Please enjoy whatever you fancy.”
The gate opened to reveal a wonderland beyond.
A Food wonderland.
Foods here, Foods there. Foods everywhere.
It felt like I was in a theme park, reminiscent of my childhood visits with the other orphanage kids. However, this time, the sheer size and abundance of colors were overwhelming.
Is that a literal chocolate fountain next to the Super Tower cake? Why on earth is there a tower of champagne when we’re just barely of drinking age? And further back, are those statues of Elizabeth, me, Venti, and Zack made out of ice?
“UWOOOOGHHHH!”
“MOGAAARRRHHHH!”
“OI, YOU RASCALS!”
“F-father, wait desuno!”
The two idiots already ran inside, stuffing their mouths with whatever they could grab while being chased around by the dad and Elizabeth. I’m still stuck at the entrance, gaping at it all, while the mom giggles beside me.
Oh god. How many people could all of this feed? No, the better question is how many weeks could I live off of all this assuming everything can be refrigerated? Can I just live in this hall? Just eat and sleep, eat and sleep until I eventually die of food poisoning?
“Ufufu, if you are not sure where to start, why not come with me and enjoy the appetizer first?”
“O-oh, much obliged.”
Mrs. Kathy guided me around the banquet hall, and we started with an aspic jelly soup served inside a small melon. Wait, no. It’s a honeydew melon. Despite its rich flavor and sweetness, I could feel myself getting hungrier every time I chewed on it.
It’s delicious and invigorating.
I let the second bite linger a bit longer in my mouth before swallowing it.
“Salted plum?”
“Oh my, your taste bud is quite something.”
“Ahaha, thank you for your kind words.”
The more I indulged in this jelly soup, the hungrier I felt. The umami taste of the soft-shelled turtle spread evenly across my tongue, and the aftertaste of salted plum left me craving more. Truly a masterwork that made me look forward to the rest of the banquet dishes.
“Ufufu, Try the sashimi next.”
“Kirimi? It’s so thin.”
Kirimi is a thinly sliced fish fillet that people either dip in sauce or a hot broth. However, such thinness speaks volumes of her immaculate knife work. The slices are so thin they appear transparent. I dipped one in the presented brown sauce for a moment before putting it into my mouth, and it burst with flavor.
A multitude of flavors burst inside my mouth like a colorful firework. Veggies, stocks, herbs, and reductions all blend seamlessly without any contrasting profiles, creating harmonies along with the slight umami taste from the sliced fish.
It’s just far too many ingredients to count within that sauce alone. How many? I could name a few, but it would barely scratch the surface compared to the whole picture.
All these, and she is still a 7-star Masterchef?
How high are the ceilings?
“Your jaw is dropping you know. Fufu.”
“Ooh, pardon me.”
Let alone trying to gauge her skills, I couldn’t even fathom the things she must have achieved before arriving at this point. She looks so young too, even though she called herself an old lady. Could she become the next 10-star Masterchef?
“Ara, I’m grateful for the vote of confidence, but come, there are still other things to try.”
She guided me around the super tower cake, to various other dishes. It was like a full-course experience that people in a five-star restaurant and above would enjoy. The only difference is that I got to savor it while walking around the hall, like a culinary adventure with Mrs. Kathy as my guide. Such bliss. It felt like I was the main character in a children’s storybook fantasy, being toured around by a guide in a gastronomic paradise.
Yes, this is what delicious happiness tastes like.
Now if only those two idiots could pipe it down and stop acting like a reverse Santa Claus, packing food in a large plastic bag, it would be a much nicer experience.