“Well, I’m glad that’s resolved, even if it took longer than I thought it would.” I sighed.

“Melly’s probably worrying about us, so we should quickly get ready.” Rapunzel suggests as she goes to put on her pajamas.

Yeah, she’s right. Haa, I kinda don’t want to get changed though. I mean, yeah, my robes are more comfortable than my pajamas, but that’s not the reason. The issue is, every time I put on my robes, I have to rebalance my mana, especially since the robes can’t really hold onto my mana when I’m not actively using them. Like, they lose around a third of their mana every time I go to sleep. It’s so annoying!

Oh, also, I’ve not washed my robes yet, despite the fact that I just grabbed them from the case after they’ve been there for who knows how long. Though, considering how clean they seemed to be, maybe they were washed before I tried them on? I did announce when I was going to try them on the day before, so, if they really wanted to, someone could have washed them for me.

Oh, I just realized that my robes might end up being fairly annoying. So, unlike my multiple priestess and standard healer robes, I only have one saintess robe, so I can’t just swap to a new one once it gets to dirty. Haa, I’m going to be filthy, huh. It’s not like you can easily wash your clothes while traveling, especially since the Hero rarely leads us to towns, so I’ll be stuck like that. Man, that’s going to suck.

Wait, I can clean myself! I have a spell for that! Well, multiple spells that, when used together in a very mana-extensive way, can actually clean me and whatever I’m wearing. Yes! I won’t end up being extremely filthy as we travel!

Okay, I should at least test if it would work first before getting excited though, as my plan might not actually work. I cast my spells, and… what?

What was that? Like, my spells did work, but they felt, off… It was like, like they were delayed by something in my robes before they eventually worked. But the thing that interrupted them, what was that?

Well, only one way to find out, I think as I cast my spells again while making sure to pay attention to how and why my robes seemed to pause my spell.

Hmm, that’s odd… Casting my spells now feels similar to how it feels to overwrite one buff with another. Like, I had to remove the original spell before I could apply a new one. But, why? What could I even be removing? And why did that thing come back even though I had previously removed it?

Well, that just means I need to cast my spells again. Luckily, with my robes, and recent growth, I only need less than a tenth of my mana to cast these spells, though it will sadly take longer to recover fully than ideal. Also, now that my core made them cheap enough to actually use, I should probably make them more efficient so I can use them regularly. Well, that’s something for later. Right now I need to find out what spell is affecting my robes.

Hmm, I still don’t know what that spell is doing. At least I’ve confirmed its coverage. As I thought, it was affecting the entirety of my robes without even the slightest gap. As expected of a divine artifact. And I thought my spells had good coverage.

As I was about to cast my spells for the fourth time, I noticed Rapunzel staring at me in confusion. “Hmm, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“That’s my question. Why do you keep casting spells on yourself? Are you okay?” She said, replying with her own questions.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just trying to figure out what sort of spell is affecting my robes.” I answered. “Wait! You could tell that I was casting spells!?” I exclaimed.

“Of course.” She smiled. “The dragon eye massively increased my mana perception, remember?”

“Ah, that’s right. So, did I just start glowing then?”

“You did. You didn’t know that?”

“No, I didn’t. While normal mana sight can see when spells are being cast outside of your body, spells are rarely noticeable when cast exclusively onto yourself, a.k,a, internally. Something to do with how your mana will visibly react when interacting with different manas that doesn’t happen when you are only affecting yourself.” I explained, probably a bit more than needed.

“I see. And your mana didn’t react with the world’s mana despite your spell seeming to be quite external?”

“Oddly enough. My spell, well, spells, are made to remove impurities and stuff from my body. While they technically do interact with the world’s mana at the end, it’s by throwing waste at it once my mana isn’t active anymore. Though I will admit, I don’t quite understand the whole process, so you’d have to ask Greg if you want details. And, well, I also don’t know why my mana isn’t reacting either. It just doesn’t seem to do that after I’ve used it for some reason.” I shrug.

“Understood. So, there’s some sort of spell affecting your robes? Is that bad?”

“It shouldn’t be, considering that the only ones that should be capable of casting such a perfect spell are the Gods. I just want to know what the spell does.”

“Fair enough. Just don’t take too long to get ready, it’s fairly late. And, considering the rather large amount of mana you just used, you should be experiencing some noticeable mana exhaustion. I think you should probably wait until tomorrow to continue.” She advised.

“Normally, I’d agree. But, between the core, and my robes doubling my mana capacity, I still have a ton of mana. Also, before I got distracted by the spell on my robes, I was testing whether I could use my pseudo-cleaning spells to clean my robes, as that would allow me to keep on wearing them, whether it was for sleep or long-distance travel.”

“You want to sleep in your robes despite being in a city?”

“Yeah, my robes are more comfortable than any mortal pajamas,” I bragged. “My primary reason, though, is that my robes keep losing a decent chunk of my mana every night, so I wanted to avoid that,” I explained. “And, you know, if I couldn’t clean them, I wouldn’t want to always wear them while we were traveling, which could be dangerous.”

“Ah, that is true. You and Gregory aren’t quite used to traveling, so I can see why you’d be concerned about that.” She laughed. “So, did it work?”

“Yeah, it was just delayed slightly. So, I’m currently trying to figure out why.”

“In that case, why don’t we return to Melly’s room? It’s not like you can’t practice there.” She suggested.

“Sounds good,” I say as I head towards Melly’s room.

Once there, a concerned Melly asked. “You took a while to get back, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just got distracted while testing out my cleaning spells.”

“Oh, you improved them!?”

“Sadly not. Instead, I found something that could interact with my spells, so I’m trying to see what exactly it is.”

“Oh, well make sure to be careful. Your spells do take a fifth of your mana after all.” Melly advised.

“A fifth!” Rapunzel exclaimed in shock.

Well, her shock is fair. I mean, even using a tenth of your mana in a single spell like I am is ridiculous. Yeah, I’m technically using multiple spells to do that, but that’s just because I haven’t actually gone through the effort to truly combine them yet. Regardless, such spells basically don’t exist, at least, ones that you would physically be capable of casting. I can only cast them because healing spells are soft and gentle, and that they were perfectly distributed throughout my entire body.

However, offensive spells would completely tear the user apart as mana veins just aren’t made to handle that much power at once.

“Yeah, it takes an entire fifth, well, tenth now, of my mana,” I confirmed.

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“Well, that explains why I’ve never seen you cast it before.”

“Yeah, using enough mana that it takes me around an hour to regenerate can be quite exhausting. Like, I can buff you guys for a while with that much mana. As such, it usually feels like a waste to cast.”

“Even if you just cast it before you sleep every day?”

“I’d thought about that when I first ‘created’ it, but in the end, it just felt too unfair to use.”

“How did it feel unfair?” Melly asked.

“Well, none of the other orphans could cast it, so constantly using it to get out of trouble would have annoyed people. In addition, it made it so I didn’t have to bathe, at least, not as often, as I’m still not certain how good it is at cleaning. The problem was everyone bonded quite a bit in the bath, so missing that, when I already spent a decent amount of time alone, would really start to make me feel alone.” I said sadly.

“Ah,” Melly said as she hugged me. Um, I’m not sad, it’s the idea that is sad.

“So that’s why you don’t use it,” Rapunzel commented.

“Yeah, it’s tiring, unfair, alienating, and, well, I really should get used to the difficulties of traveling. With so many reasons to not use it, I don’t.”

“Hmm, understandable. However, I do feel like you are looking at it overly negatively. You should feel free to use it whenever you want to.”

“Yeah, besides, if you really feel that it is unfair that only you can use it, why don’t you make it so you can use it on others,” Melly suggested hopefully.

“True, that would relieve some of your problems, especially with your increased mana capacity. We’d just have to be careful not to use it too often. With how we will likely also be stuck wearing one outfit as we travel, having some way to clean ourselves, even if it’s only once a week, would be comforting.” Rapunzel added.

“Ah, that’s true. Well, I guess I know what I’m working on next.” I agreed, trying not to laugh at how excited that made Melly.

Though, Melly’s reaction surprised Rapunzel so much that she couldn’t help but ask. “Why are you so excited? It’s not like you aren’t used to how dirty and difficult traveling can be.”

“Ah, well.” Melly hesitated, before reluctantly deciding to explain. “While I am used to being dirty, that doesn’t mean I enjoy it. I actually quite like being clean.”

“Ah, is that because of your fame-seeking?” I teased.

“Probably not. While I will admit that being admired while being clean is better than being dirty, I do enjoy being clean even when I’m on my own.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that.” I shrugged. Though, I feel that for Melly, being clean is more than just a preference. Well, I can always ask about that later, as it is getting late, and I do want to see what exactly is going on with my robes.

“Anyway, I want to figure out what exactly is interacting with my cleansing spells, so you guys can go to bed without me,” I say as I cast another set of spells. Hmm, what is going on?

“Do you know why the spells are interacting?” Rapunzel asked.

“Well, that usually only happens when the spells affect similar things, like how you can only have one of each type of buff at a time.”

“So the spell affecting your robes is similar to your cleaning spell!?” Melly exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

“Unlikely.” I denied, disappointing Melly. “As I said, my spells aren’t actually a cleaning spell. So, it’s far more likely that these robes have an anti-poison or infection spell active.” I explained.

“Oh, that does make sense.” Rapunzel agreed. “Well, good luck.”

“Thank you.” I accepted as I went to cast my fifth set of spells. I’ve started casting each part separately to see if there were any specific parts that the robes react to. And, well, there are. It’s just, it reacts to all of the cleansing parts. So, either the robes make me immune to all toxins and the like, probably even including most health potions, or I’m missing something. Well, that just means I need to keep trying!

Sadly, even after two more casts, I couldn’t figure anything out. So, as my mana was limited, and I was beginning to feel ‘out of breath,’ I decided to check if the robes were going to affect my spell in any way other than with a delay. So, I headed outside so that I could find some dirt to roll around in, hoping to clearly see if I was missing something.

However, it was only after I’d already started that I realized that if I couldn’t completely clean my robes, I’d have to change into my pajamas and suffer through my robes trying to steal all of my mana. Again.

However, as I was rolling around in the dirt, I noticed that I wasn’t getting nearly as dirty as usual. Um, does the central church have special dirt or something? Like, why isn’t it really sticking to me? I guess I should try a different patch of dirt?

Sadly, my wandering didn’t uncover any random ponds, but I did find another patch of dirt!

Haa, I didn’t think plain dirt would be so hard to find, though I guess not having any orphans living here negates the main reason why you’d have such a place.

Regardless, I hope this dirt wasn’t also weird. Well, there’s no time like the present, I think as I, once again, start rolling around on the ground. Haa, this is so stupid. At least there aren’t any people around to judge me… Anyway, I must be absolutely filthy now, right?

Apparently not. Like, I should have been covered in enough dirt that most places wouldn’t even allow me to enter. Should.

I was now almost completely clean. Well, my robes were, my skin wasn’t but it was far cleaner than earlier.

Okay, there’s no way walking here has somehow just blown away most of the dirt that was on me. But, the alternative is almost as ridiculous.

So, I obviously had to roll around in the dirt again. And, while I didn’t collect a satisfying amount, it seems that was the best I was going to get. So, I cast my cleansing spells and watched what was happening.

“No way…” I muttered in shock. The part of my spell that was being interfered with was the ‘cleaning’ part, judging from the fact that pushing the robe’s spell out of the way had weakened the actual dirt-removing part of my spells.

“Haa, Melly was right,” I said blankly. I… I really didn’t think the Gods would have added a cleaning spell to the robes, but apparently, they did. And, as expected of the Gods, it’s really high quality. Yeah, the rate at which it removes dirt and such is fairly slow, but it uses such an insignificant amount of mana it’s effectively a passive effect, so the fact that it couldn’t compete with me literally rolling around in the dirt can be excused. Especially since it not only affects me as well, but it reduces how dirty you can get from things, hence why I wasn’t getting absolutely filthy.

Well, at least that explains why the robes were so clean when I first got them. And that means I don’t need to actually worry about being dirty while I travel. Or that I won’t actually be cleaned properly, as I doubt even our best means of cleaning could compare to the Gods’.

Honestly, I just don’t know how to react. I was basically in a state of disbelief all the way until I returned to Melly’s room.

“Welcome back, Eli.” Rapunzel greeted.

“Yeah, hello.” I blankly responded.

“Are you okay?” Melly asked as she sat up.

I couldn’t help staring at her in disbelief before I eventually snapped out of it and responded. “Yeah. I’m just shocked.”

“Did you figure out what the spell was then?” Rapunzel asked.

“Yeah.”

“So… What was it?”

“Haa, somehow, Melly was right. It was a cleaning spell.”

“What!?” Rapunzel exclaimed in shock while Melly was frozen in surprise.

“Wait, really!?” Melly eventually shouted.

“Yeah, really. Not only that, but it also makes it more difficult to become dirty in the first place.” I sighed. “The Gods made the perfect cleaning spell of all things,” I said out of sheer bewilderment, still incapable of accepting it.

“Well, isn’t that good at least? You did just decide to improve your own spell after all, maybe that one could help you.” Melly suggested.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I responded with a slight smile. Yeah, let’s just look at the positives.

“Oh, what about the anti-poison effect that you discovered?” Rapunzel wondered.

“Well, they, should… Still be there!” I exclaimed. “That’s right! Not only did the robes react to the cleaning part, but they were also affected by the cleansing parts! The robes aren’t self-cleaning, but self-cleansing. It’s like a weaker mud slug bath! I knew the Gods wouldn’t be satisfied with just cleaning.” I shouted in joy.

Melly just laughed at my excitement. Yeah yeah, it’s not like I was the only one excited. I mean, even just learning the cleaning part would be fantastic, despite my disappointment when I thought that cleaning was all the spell did. I just, I felt that the Gods could do better than some cleaning spell.

And boy was I right! As I said, as expected of the Gods, it should be able to clean any and all filth, both internal and external. It’s really comforting to know that I shouldn’t have to worry about that stuff, like, at all. And, as if that wasn’t already enough, it should also make any healing spells I give myself more effective, as I no longer need to waste mana adding any anti-infection and the like to them.

Yawn… Haa, well, learning about the hidden spell can wait until tomorrow though, as it’s quite late. And, you know, I’m almost out of mana, so I couldn’t actually do any research even if I wanted to. Which I don’t, considering how empty having this little mana makes me feel.

“Well, I think that tonight was quite productive.” I declared. “So, I think that it’s time for us to go to sleep,” I suggested.

“I agree. So, good night Eli, Melly. I hope you both sleep well.”

“You too, good night.”

“Night.” I finished as I crawled into bed.