“Ah... so comfortable.”
Ainz had the impression that children would swim in the pool, but Mare simply sat there maturely with a towel on his head. The way he talked like an adult even though he had the appearance of a kid surprised Ainz. The position of a Guardian was a tiring job.
“Indeed, I can feel the fatigue flowing out from my body.”
Demiurge took off his glasses and splashed his face as he breathed out, just like an old man.
“So. Hot…”
“Eh, you said you had resistance.”
“I. Didn’t. Expect. It. To. Be. So. Hot…”
“…Don’t release cold air because of that. And don’t come over here. A bath has to be hot.”
No wonder Cocytus was staying further away. The water around him was probably turning chilly.
“It. Feels. Nice. To. You. Because. You. Are. Resistant. To. Fire, Demiurge… Cold. Springs. Are.
Great. As. Well. Right?”
“I’m not interested. Also, you can enjoy it without resistance anyway. Can’t you endure this bit of discomfort, Cocytus?”
“Are. You. Taunting. Me. Demiurge— Interesting.”
“Take it easy, bathing is a leisure. Go to the sauna if you want to compete in endurance. Don’t push yourself if it gets too hard.”
“Phew.”
Mare’s forehead was sweating as he exhaled hotly.
“Look, that’s how a bath should be. Don’t push yourself too hard Mare, get out of the pool if you can’t take it anymore alright?”
“No, no problem Ainz-sama! I will use magic if I really can’t take it!”
That would be weird too, Ainz thought without saying it out loud. He shift his gaze towards Demiurge.
“…Is entering the pool with your resistance on the correct way?”
“That is one way of doing it, Ainz-sama. It is similar to Ainz-sama who is an undead creature that can’t get wet.”
“…That’s true.”
He could feel his body warming up a little, but it wasn’t as comfortable compared to his time as a human.
The drawbacks of being undead…
While Ainz was missing the joy he had lost—
“Hmm?”
—He lifted his head above the steam and looked at the surroundings.
“May I ask what is the problem?”
“I think someone is calling my name.”
“Did. It. Come. From. Next. Door?”
Cocytus gestured at the wall behind him.
“That side is— I see, the women’s bath.”
“I see, but… Are the walls that thin?”
“Maybe. They. Are. Just. Too. Loud.”
Ainz focused on his hearing. He didn’t have any ulterior motives, just a bit curious about what the girls were chatting about. He didn’t stick his ears to the wall. That would be an action ill befitting the ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Keeping some distance from the wall, he tried his best to eavesdrop on the sound from next door.
“Albedo is so bushy down there.”
The first thing he heard made Ainz frown.
“—Don’t put it so lewdly, Aura. Ah— Ainz-sama is probably beyond this wall. Are there any holes I can peek through?”
Ainz looked closely at the wall, wondering whether someone had built any strange mechanisms into it. There was a period of time when such devices were all the rage among the guild members, and some of them might have been installed here.
“—Shouldn’t it be the opposite? Boys should be the ones doing that.”
“—That is impossible. Ainz-sama just needs to command me to ‘show me the goods’, he doesn’t need to peek.”
“—Oh, Shalltear is actually making sense.”
“—How rude. Is that a toothbrush? Brushing your teeth in the pool… Could you not do that right now?”
“—It can’t be helped. It is hard for me to clean myself, so I have to do it in a large bath like this.”
Albedo’s voice seemed to be coming from a higher spot, and a loud brushing sound could be heard.
“—Hmm, that looks tedious. Alright, I will allow it.”
“—Thank you.”
“—Wahh, don’t look over here while grabbing your head. Disgusting. Shalltear, aren’t you going to brush your teeth?”
“—I can do that in my room, no need to do it here. Anyway, can we even get cavities?”
“—Even if you don’t have cavities, if you have bad breath while kissing, even a thousand year-old love will turn cold.”
The sound of the brush stopped and heavy footsteps could be heard.
“—Hmm, wait, are you going in like this? At least…”
After a loud splash, sound of water flowing down could be heard. Someone seemed to have boldly leaped into the pool.
“—Wah! Cough cough! If I were a vampire from the storybooks, I would have sunk and not gotten up!”
“—You are not a kid, don’t jump in!”
“—Fufufu. Ah...How relaxing. That’s why I came here.”
“—At least follow bathing etiquette… Oh?”
“—What? Hmm? The lion is moving?”
“—To not know the etiquette means you have no right to enter the bath! Exterminate!”
The sudden male voice made Ainz and the others looked at each other.
“Eh, that sounds like a man.”
“I. Never. Imagined. That. I. Would. Hear. This. In. Person. That. Is. The. Area. Guardian. Of. The.
Bath. Right? But. Is. There. A. Man. In. The. Female. Bath?”
“No, I’ve heard that voice before… It’s Luci★fer-san.”
When he heard the ominous voice of that man, Ainz recalled the various troubles that Luci★fer had caused. To be honest, he didn’t really like that man.
“One of the Supreme Beings!?”
“—So hard! This is not a simple steel golem! Albedo!”
“—Die! You scrap metal golem!”
With the loud sound of impact, something crashed hard onto the wall. Even the wall on the men’s side was shaking.
“…Basically, prepare yourselves to charge into the women’s bath in full gear should the need arise.”
Ainz issued his command to the reluctant Guardians.
The fiasco should end if they disarmed the attack mode set up by his comrades, but they should be having an all-out battle next door. With their gear off, the women’s combat potential would drop drastically, so they might need to help them if the situation called for it.
“…I want to bathe in peace next time.”
Ainz said after shaking the water on his body off while walking towards the changing room. The Guardians nodded their head as one in response to the casual remark.