episode_0021

“I want you to put those two down before that. Those two won’t fight anymore.”

“…Next time, if those two do something like that, you too, stop them. Why are you being held prisoner by each owner?”

With those words, Lesala sighed and put down the tentacles that had grabbed Emma and Rubia, releasing them.

“Puhaa.. Master.. Ugh… It went into my mouth..”

“Uuuuk… My mouth feels slippery… Owner…”

“Why did you keep doing that…”

I approached the exhausted and stumbling girls, patted their heads, and gently comforted them, then spoke to Lesala again.

“Umm… Where should I start talking?”

“…Wait a minute. Even though I came here, I can’t let it go without taking a dip…

But if you play in the water again, I’ll really hit you in the water.”

When she snapped her fingers, Niella, who had stiffened, hurriedly approached us and held out white cloth clothes.

“Everyone, change your clothes and come in. Sigh… my head hurts. I want to take a dip too…”

She sighed, held her head, and twitched her tentacles to urge us to change quickly.

I had originally planned to just finish the conversation as quickly as possible and leave, but at her urging, I had no choice but to take off my armor.

‘…Still, looking at Lesala like that, it looks like there’s no urgent matter in the system right now.’

Thanks to this, I regained my composure and was able to change my clothes with relief.

——

“Phew…”

Although there were many twists and turns, it was still enjoyable to soak in warm water with the scent of flowers.

Especially after going through so many things in a row, I couldn’t help but welcome the opportunity to relieve my fatigue.

Linia and the blonde centaur, who were probably first time soaking in a bathtub like this, were also amazed, but their expressions seemed much more relaxed.

After leaving everyone to enjoy the comfort of Thermae for a while, Lesala asked slowly.

“So… Our gold-level adventurer, what adventures have you had as a hunter of the Empire? Who are those centaurs?”

“We were attacked while heading to the island.”

When I briefly told her about the people who attacked us, their exposed movements, the help Linia gave us in the process, and their circumstances, she nodded as if she understood.

“So you want to make those kids work here? Just like the other slaves you brought here.”

“Yes, please. Right now, this is the only place they can take shelter.”

“Well, okay… I was thinking of hiring more people for a job that would require quite a bit of energy… With Centaurs, two people would be able to handle more than 20 people.

Still, it is difficult to treat this place as a place for charity work. This time, they are accepting it especially because there is a job.”

“I will always keep this in mind.”

Of course, no matter what he said every time, Lesala never once turned away the slaves or other races that came here to seek refuge.

Because I always found something to do and left it to them.

“Well… thank you for your help, but… what if it’s work?”

Linia asked Lesala with a tense face as she straightened her body again, which had been trying to relax in the warm water.

“Huh? Ah… you don’t have to worry too much.

At least you will be able to live a much more comfortable life than the life of slavery you experienced outside. At most, you can carry firewood and fetch water?”

“Well… I’m a little less worried that you, the manager of this facility, are not human…

Is it really not necessary to worry about what other people think?”

As she said that, she still seemed half unable to believe all of this.

In fact, right now, it seemed like it was questionable how Lesala himself had managed to maintain his position as manager without being discovered.

A famous resort facility visited by the empire’s nobles, the construction of which was personally supervised by the emperor, is in fact a place where those who are being chased by the empire can take refuge safely.

Even if the manager’s identity was not human, how could he completely avoid the eyes of so many human visitors and employees?

Le Sala gave two answers to that question.

“The first reason is… The manager of this Thermai Solarinae is appointed directly by His Majesty the Emperor.”

Linia, understanding the meaning of the answer, froze for a moment.

The Empire’s Empress Solaria, the current nominal ruler of the Empire, appointed R’Sala, a member of the Scylla race, as the manager of a facility so important that it was named after her.

This meant that the Empress of Solaria was at least tolerating the slaves and other races who escaped here and was actually supporting them.

The leader of this empire where slavery is legal and those who control the business are the most powerful.

For Linia, who naturally hated its leader as much as she hated the empire that enslaved her and her people, it must have been a shock that completely shattered her common sense.

“Why… why?..”

“We can tell you that only after you prove that you will definitely be with us…And moving on to the second reason…”

As Lesala flicked one of the many tentacles, Niella, who was soaking next to her, smiled and took out a long jar from the back of the bathtub.

Lesala’s tentacles took it and immediately pulled the lid from the tightly closed jar, sprinkled it around her and Niella, then quickly closed it again and put it down.

Soon, purple bubbles, the same color as her hair, bubbled up onto the surface of the water where the unknown liquid had fallen, covering and even covering the bodies of Lesala and Niella under the water.

The bubbles disappeared again as quickly as they had appeared, but Linnea was even more surprised than before by the new appearance revealed between the disappearing bubbles, and even jumped up, splashing a lot of water without thinking.

‘Lubiana Emma had that reaction too.’

And maybe I did too.

I smiled as I watched Linia’s reaction. Not because of ridicule, but because it reminded me of memories from the past.

Lesala frowned slightly as he saw the water splashing again, but did not impose any restrictions this time.

Maybe it was because he understood Linia’s reaction to some extent, or maybe it was because he couldn’t tie her up with his tentacles like he did with Luvia and Emma earlier.

What remained beneath the surface were not dozens of tentacles, but the smooth legs of a beautiful woman.

On the other hand, Niella swam lightly to Linia, who was so surprised, and smiled, squeezing both of her hands.

Instead of the two legs that disappeared above the water, she slightly revealed her mermaid tail.

“…What is this?”

Linia looked back and forth between Lesala, whose tentacles had disappeared and transformed into a human, and Niella, who had changed from a human woman to a mermaid, unable to continue speaking.

“It wasn’t easy to make this.”

Lesala smiled and crossed her legs as if she were proud of her work.

“If you get caught even once, there will be real chaos.

The empire severely punished non-human races that resembled humans and pretended to be humans.

Common centaurs, some beastmen, and forest elves, who were not half-human and half-horse, were unable to hide their tails or ears that distinguished them from humans.

If they were caught doing so, the empire sometimes carried out terrible punishments such as literally physically cutting off the dividing points in the name of granting their wishes.

Just covering yourself with a hat or a cloak can result in such a punishment, but what kind of punishment will you receive if it is revealed that you have created a magic potion that can take on a completely human form?

A magic potion that allows you to change into human form at any time and then return to your original form at any time.

Still, all the risks were worth taking.

“Now is there an answer as to why the foreign races working in Thermae Solarinae were not discovered by humans?”

“How many people… how many races are working here?”

“Well… To be honest, I don’t remember much anymore. There are so many of them and they are hard to distinguish from ordinary human employees on the outside.

Still, the most numerous are mermaids like Niella.”

“If it weren’t for Lesala, we would never have dreamed of living in hiding among humans like this.”

Nyella happily swished her tail under the water and looked on as if she were proud of her mistress’s accomplishments.

Following her gaze, Linia’s eyes also moved back to the long jar that Lesala had placed down next to the bathtub.

The container containing the magic potion that melted her common sense like foam before her eyes.

“…Should we… apply that too?”

“You can feel the anxiety in your tone. You want to avoid the eyes of humans… but you don’t want to give up being a centaur, right?”

As Lesala spoke in a gentle tone, as if soothing her, Linia nodded somewhat timidly.

“Rest assured. This potion doesn’t work that way.”

Lesala answered with a smile.

‘If that were the case… I wouldn’t be where I am today.’

It seemed to me, who knew her past, that she was probably swallowing back her words.

Paradoxically, thanks to that failure, she seemed happier now.

“Okay… Now that I’ve explained this much… Would you like to experience it? ”

Lesala said, holding up the container containing the potion as if offering wine.