Side Story 3. Hot Spring Trip (8)

8 PM. After packing their bags and getting their rooms, they gathered there as if by prior arrangement. Each of them plunged their bodies into the warm water to relieve the physical and mental hardships they had endured until now.

* * *

Men’s Bath.

“Why are you looking at this disgusting place?”

“Who are you talking to?”

At Deokbae’s irritation, Jihwa poured water over his head and asked. After undressing in the locker room and washing themselves in the bathhouse, they immediately opened the door leading outside and immersed themselves in the open-air bath. Deokbae pointed to the bushes far away.

“Those perverts over there.”

“What?”

Jihwa wiped the foam from his eyebrows and used his ability. With the eye attached to the back of his hand, his vision expanded, and his ability, looking down from the night sky-

Swaa-ck!

It was immediately dispelled by a green arrow that flew in from somewhere. Jihwa gulped, looking at the cut on the back of his hand.

“Th-this is definitely Yooishin, isn’t it?”

“That’s why I asked, why did you have to look over there?”

Ryu Cheon-seong wiggled his brawny chest muscles and entered through the door. At his blatant confidence, not even covering himself with a towel, Jihwa and Deokbae turned their heads away.

“Oh, you’re Haneulseong? We couldn’t meet during dinner, but we meet like this. Nice to meet you, I’m Jilpungek.”

Ryu Cheon-seong flinched and closed his legs at Hayate, who swept his silky black hair forward. However, seeing the manhood that emerged between his spread legs, he soon relaxed and immersed himself in the water.

“I’m the mayor now. I’ve received a pardon.”

“I was going to ask you to take good care of my kid if they went to Seoul, but it’s a shame.”

“Are you really thinking of sending Hikari-yang to the Azure Syndicate?”

At Jihwa’s words, Hayate exuded killing intent. As Ryu Cheon-seong and Deokbae subtly rose their massive bodies, Hayate flinched at the twitching muscle masses and withdrew his killing intent. However, he was fully entitled to it.

“It’s rude to just call her by her name. Of course, I don’t know if Hikari will naturalize to Korea, but for now, I’d prefer you call her ‘Himeji-yang’ or ‘Himeji-ssi’. Calling her by her name is…”

Hayate suppressed his killing intent as much as possible and smiled.

“Only after getting her permission.”

‘He’s a siscon,’ Deokbae signaled with his eyes.

‘It’s severe,’ Ryu Cheon-seong affirmed, closing his eyes.

“Your sibling love is truly profound,” Jihwa said, trying to gloss over it and package it appropriately. Hayate flicked the water with his finger and affirmed.

“There’s quite a big age gap, but she’s my only remaining blood relative now.”

“Ah.”

“My apologies.”

Jihwa was surprised, and Ryu Cheon-seong apologized. Hayate waved his hand. The smart device on his wrist smoothly translated the language above the water.

“Don’t worry about it. More importantly, this Azure Syndicate, it’s pretty good. First off, I like how incredibly strong the Oya is.”

“Oya?”

“Your leader. That monster controller cosplayer girl.”

“You… fought them?”

When Jihwa asked, turning pale, Hayate shook his head and pointed to his ribs. Ice that hadn’t melted even after he immersed himself in the hot spring was stuck to his waist.

“I had a match with Seolhwa Princess, and I lost without even being able to lift a finger. But Seolhwa Princess said that she’s stronger than her.”

“…She’s probably stronger than Sir Gawain.”

“You never know about that. Ability users have compatibility, you see. You have to try it to know who’s stronger.”

Hayate burst into hearty laughter and crossed his legs. At that, Jihwa leaned back and let out a chuckle.

“That’s right. There are some things that are obvious even without trying.”

“……You said you were a Beacon, didn’t you? Did you do a strip show for the old farts at the association or something? Is that why your alias became ‘Beacon’? Oh my, you must be happy it’s long. Looks like you’ve never even used it, though.”

As Hayate scoffed, Jihwa closed his legs. Hayate’s attack didn’t end.

“You’re diligently spreading light as a Beacon, but what good is it if there are no ships docked? Hey, to celebrate our meeting, should I introduce you to a nice girl? Huh?”

“……No, thank you. Who in the world would like someone like me?”

As Jihwa grumbled, Deokbae tilted his head. Ryu Cheon-seong subtly smiled and replied.

“Doesn’t a beacon usually not see what’s directly beneath it?”

“Indeed. You’re quite naive yourself.”

At the meaningful words of the two muscle masses, Jihwa turned thoughtful.

“Th-there’s someone who likes me?!”

“Oh. Is there someone? Wow, you’re blessed.”

Hayate straightened his posture with an excited expression. Although Hayate was the one who created all sorts of gossip wherever he went, other people’s love lives were always new and full of interest.

Of course, Jihwa, the person in question, was no different. Although he lacked the perceptiveness to notice his surroundings, his ability to grasp the flow of conversation and catch hidden meanings was outstanding.

“Wh-who is it? Is it perhaps someone within the Azure Syndicate?!”

“……Tell him to find out himself.”

“He’s trying to scan the entire forest rather than looking at a single tree.”

Ryu Cheon-seong and Deokbae simply shut their mouths. They had watched from the side and felt sorry, wanting to help, but at his frustrating lack of insight, they gave up on helping Jihwa. Hayate whistled and pointed beyond the bushes.

“Is she over there, perhaps? …It wouldn’t be my sister.”

“Even if it’s over there, aren’t there only five people?”

“Your sister, President Yuseong, Cheon Gaeul, Yooishin, and Seolhwa Princess. That’s five people.”

Hayate stroked his chin for a moment in thought, then nodded. He clicked his tongue, looking at the anxious Jihwa. If it was one of the executives, it was a binary choice, and there was one person hovering around Jihwa that even Hayate noticed, but he didn’t want to tell him.

Hayate looked at Ryu Cheon-seong and Deokbae, comparing them to the muscles on his own arm.

“Anyway, your bodies are really amazing. There wouldn’t be much difference even compared to our big guys.”

“Who? The Round Table?”

“Yeah. Geronimo and Kangaru. Compared to those guys, the mayor is…”

Ryu Cheon-seong flexed his chest muscles left and right. At an age well past forty, let alone fifty, he had much larger muscles than Deokbae, which made Jihwa’s shoulders shrink back.

“At the very least, he wouldn’t be pushed back. If he weren’t an ability user, he would’ve won a bodybuilding competition somewhere.”

“I struggled like hell to become S-rank. As a physical enhancement ability user, I believed that if I trained my body, I would awaken as S-rank someday. Khuhuhu! Deokbae-gun, isn’t that right for you too? Muscles, you see, once you start building them, you’ll want to build more.”

“Not me. I just ended up like this from doing manual labor. Don’t treat me the same.”

Ryu Cheon-seong felt disappointed at Deokbae’s blatant reluctance. Nevertheless, Ryu Cheon-seong’s gaze swept over Deokbae’s entire body. Especially, Ryu Cheon-seong was startled by ‘that place’.

“They say bald men have big ones.”

“That refers to the nose. …Jo Deokbae, why do you carry around something you don’t even use?”

“Didn’t I tell you? Why are you looking at something so disgusting? Do you want to see it that badly? Here!!”

Deokbae stood up. Hayate gasped and blushed.

“How indecent…”

“Hey. If you do that there, the situation will get really weird, you know?”

“P-please sit down, it’s embarrassing.”

“□□□□□□□□□□□□□!!!!”

Deokbae let out an unknown monstrous scream and plopped back down. At that immense presence, which was hard to even call a ‘giant dick’, Hayate unconsciously gulped.

“Hey, can I ask how big it gets?”

“Are you perhaps… that? That way? Right?”

Deokbae recoiled in disgust and moved away from Hayate. Hayate calmly wagged his index finger left and right and clicked his tongue.

“I’m genuinely curious. Huh? What if you use something like that carelessly and hurt your partner?”

“Hey. I’ll take care of my own son, so you take care of yourself. Don’t go around from house to house and accidentally make a baby. Aren’t you ashamed to face your sister?”

“People live as their hearts desire, so that can happen. Hey, I’ve never bought or sold it, though. That’s just a joyful exchange of love, isn’t it?”

“…….”

Deokbae squeezed his eyes shut and crossed his arms. At his clear refusal to converse, Hayate felt awkward and splashed the water. Jihwa made a fuss and changed the subject.

“So, Jilpungek, what are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’?”

“Assuming Himeji-yang joins the Azure Syndicate, I asked what you would do.”

“……I haven’t thought about it yet.”

Hayate changed his expression and replied with a serious face.

“I’m always a person who moves with the wind and my body, I don’t have any special plans. If I pass by a monster, I kill it, if there’s a strong person, I fight them, and if there’s a good woman and delicious alcohol, I enjoy them.”

“His mindset wouldn’t lose to any European playboy.”

“If the world is really going to be destroyed in 5 years, shouldn’t we enjoy ourselves to the fullest until then? In that sense, I’m all for my sister joining here. They said they’d let her research whatever she wants.”

Hayate fell into contemplation for a moment, as if a thought had occurred to him.

“No, wait. Should I just settle down in Seoul? Fighting Seok Harang is fun, and I might even get to fight that lady who’s the leader.”

“Is that your goal? You might die doing that.”

“If I die fighting someone stronger than me, that’s an honorable thing. Ah. It would be a bit regrettable if I die before fighting that Seongju guy, so if I die before that, I’ll have to ask them to revive me as a monstrous human or something.”

The Azure Syndicate executives instinctively realized. This man with a neutral appearance was no ordinary lunatic either. Deokbae lamented the dwindling proportion of normal people around him, looked up at the night sky, and then stood up.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“I’m leaving first.”

Deokbae strode away, opened the door, and went inside. Hayate, who was watching Deokbae’s retreating back, stretched his hand out long, making his span as wide as possible.

“How about it, it was much longer than this, right?”

“……Don’t be jealous. That guy’s bald.”

Ryu Cheon-seong clicked his tongue disapprovingly and stared at the spot where Deokbae had left.

“If you lose your hair and gain a giant dick, is that what they call ‘a gain’ these days?”

“You’d have to ask someone with a full head of hair and no hair loss about that.”

Where would such a person be? The three men decided to have a more constructive conversation rather than harboring vain thoughts about what they couldn’t have.

“So, they say a monstrous human’s bodily fluids are made of mana. Does that mean their semen is also made of mana?”

“Since he died once and came back to life, it’s possible all his sperm died too. Jihwa-gun, did it feel the same when you masturbated as before? Did the volume increase, or did the range get longer?”

Jihwa cleared his throat and subtly lowered his voice.

“Actually…”

The secrets of the monstrous human that Jihwa had researched began to spread one by one throughout the open-air bath.

* * *

“Cough, cough!”

“Honey? Are you okay? Did you catch a cold?”

“What’s a monstrous human got to do with it?”

Heo Yun-hwan fiddled with his throat and cleared his voice. He tried his best to change his voice, just in case the President might hear him. Anastasia urged Yun-hwan on with excited steps.

“Let’s go quickly. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone to the hot spring with my husband, and I can’t stand how much I’m aching for it.”

“…Where?”

“You know without me saying it, don’t you?”

Anastasia pressed her arm-linked body closer and smiled slyly. Yun-hwan took a step forward with a happy smile at the very small hill touching his elbow.

At that moment, a blue fireball fell in front of Yun-hwan and Anastasia. Both instinctively raised their mana to avoid the attack.

“…What are you doing, you trash?”

“This is unforgivable. What are you doing right now?”

Phoenix, who appeared spreading wings of flame in the air, gently landed on the ground. Despite it being early summer, Phoenix was fully prepared for the upcoming battle, as usual, in thick priestly robes.

“I felt familiar mana, so I came out for a short walk, but I never imagined you two would come here.”

Phoenix was fully intent on fighting the couple.

“I don’t care what you two do. Whether you elope, or make love outdoors. But…”

Phoenix pointed to the Hwangshindang sign behind them.

“You two, it’s obvious you’re going to go into the hot spring together and do ‘that thing’, so get out of here and go somewhere else. Don’t even think about making a semen hot spring.”

“…Ahem! Ahem-hem! W-we won’t go that far!”

“Crazy. Were you really planning to do it in the hot spring?”

“…….”

Gwanggeom, shot down.

“……What’s the problem? If you have a complaint, then you dig us a hot spring.”

“That’s troublesome. There is one mixed-gender bath here, though.”

“Then that’s fine. Now, move aside. Get out of our sight right now.”

“Instead, that’s an outdoor open-air bath, so other guests will hear your moans, you know? Seok Harang is here right now too.”

“…….”

Anastasia, shot down.

Phoenix, who had instantly subdued the couple with words, looked up at the night sky and sighed.

“…I’ll tell Eun Yuha, so go back to Busan right now. If need be, I’ll personally go and remove all the traces you’ve left for half a day. Don’t get caught doing ‘that thing’ here, do it somewhere else-“

“The fact that Harang is here means you’re planning to go in with him too, doesn’t it?”

“Sh-“

At Heo Yun-hwan’s words, Phoenix barely managed to hold back from spewing profanities.

“…I have no intention whatsoever of going in with him, so go back right now.”

“Oh my, dear. How do you plan to stop us? We’re just trying to use this place as guests, after all. If you’re really concerned, then…”

Anastasia smiled triumphantly and pointed at Phoenix.

“You put up a Barrier in the family bath and hide us.”

“You crazy bastards. Is ‘not having S@X’ not an option in your heads? Do you want to do it so badly that you have to show me?”

“…Right, there’s no need to do that to *him*-“

“No, honey. Let’s show them properly.”

Anastasia burned with fighting spirit.

“The crystallization of our love, to that poor little tattletale who doesn’t know the greatness of love.”

“…In the hot spring, should I use my Ultimate Skill too?”

Phoenix dispelled her wings and snorted.

“Why are you so obsessed with doing it in the hot spring? Were you kicked out for doing it before?”

“Yeah.”

“I was sorry to the President. If he’s still alive, I plan to apologize.”

“OMG.”

The couple looked at each other with embarrassed faces and laughed.

“I apologize, but we do not accept troublesome guests.”

President Haseontae had already been watching their struggle from the entrance. Phoenix was impressed by his decisive action to boldly refuse guests for the sake of the hot spring’s water quality, and the couple, embarrassed, fled far away.

“President, you’re truly amazing.”

“The same goes for you, guest. Please ensure I don’t have to report you to the police.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s my intuition based on many years of experience. It seems a great crisis might befall you today, guest.”

“…I don’t know what it is, but I’ll try my best.”

Phoenix tilted her head and went inside. President Haseontae looked at the distant mountains and smiled bitterly.

“Whenever the weather looks like it’s going to rain like this, an incident always happens.”

Soon, raindrops began to fall, wetting the ground. Haseontae quickly put on a yellow raincoat and began to tidy up the fixtures.