Hmph~ Even as an Escort Knight, Entering Such a Place is...

Normally, I'd hate being carried—it's a matter of pride for a manly man.

But after being carted around all day yesterday, my psychological resistance had crumbled, and more importantly, the place I wanted to reach now was a little too difficult to get to on my own.

"Hurry up and hold me, Chloe! And if you don't mind, this time, try not to strain my back!"

"...All of a sudden? I thought you disliked being carried, Young Master."

"A mark of a manly man: shamelessly giving up when there's no other choice!"

I signaled Chloe to pick me up without the slightest resistance.

After a brief hesitation, she scooped me into what's commonly known as a princess carry.

Squish.

'Come to think of it, Chloe's chest is really huge too. I told Nibuer a big chest was useless, but maybe bigger really is better after all?'

Perhaps because she felt guilty about jolting my back earlier, Chloe settled my waist right over her chest.

Thanks to that, my spine felt steady, as if resting against a cushion.

"Let me ask you something first. You can climb a mountain while carrying me, right?"

"Of course. You are naturally light, Young Master."

"Then... take us behind the Swordsmanship Hall."

"Pardon? To my knowledge, there's nothing back there but a mountain—let alone any shops..."

"I'm going to dig something up on that mountain."

Still cradled in Chloe's arms, I raised a finger.

The destination my finger pointed at was...

the mountain built within the Academy grounds for mountain-warfare training. It was a little too high for me to climb on foot.

If I tried to hike it myself, I'd definitely collapse within ten minutes.

And a mark of a manly man is not indulging in pointless bravado.

"Alright, Chloe! I'm counting on you! I'll let you pet me later!"

"...Understood."

* * * * * *

Chloe's claim that carrying me up a mountain was nothing turned out to be true, as she scaled the slope without the slightest hesitation.

Before long, we reached roughly the halfway point.

"Here. Put me down right here."

"Yes."

As the well-trodden path ahead split in two, I slipped out of Chloe's arms.

The moment my feet touched the packed earth—ground that had been visited countless times by students of the Department of Knight Studies—I moved away from Chloe's scent, which had been tickling my nose, and was immediately wrapped in the smell of grass and nature.

...Honestly, this was the first mountain visit for both Ryu Si-u and Yune, and I'm not entirely certain this is what nature really smells like, but whatever. Let's just call it mountain smell.

"Thanks, Chloe. Wasn't it hard?"

"Not at all. But what exactly are you intending to find here...?"

Curious about my purpose on the mountain, Chloe looked at me.

I casually glanced around to confirm no one else was nearby.

'It's still early in the semester, so I doubt there are any students training on the mountain, but you never know.'

Glance, glance.

"Chloe, there's no one else on the mountain right now, is there?"

"Indeed. I've maintained my Ki Sense ever since I began carrying you up, Young Master, and there was no sign of anyone."

Not satisfied with my own quick check, I double-confirmed with Chloe.

Then I picked up a fallen branch and started drawing a picture on the dirt—a map ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the paths here.

The drawing was simple: a 'Y' shape for the forked path and a circle in the empty space between the two forks.

"Look. The path splits in two ahead of us, right?"

"Yes."

"And... hidden right in the middle here is a treasure chest."

"...!!?"

When I revealed that a treasure chest—a hidden piece—was buried there, Chloe's eyes flew wide open.

She stared at me as if asking, 'Young Master, how on earth do you know that?', so I felt a little smug and placed a finger over my lips.

"You might get hurt if you try to learn a gentleman's secret, my lady."

"Pfft."

'...Why's she laughing? I thought that was a pretty cool line.'

Whether my words were funny or not, Chloe broke out of her serious expression and let out a soft laugh.

I almost sulked for a moment, but I decided to be a manly man and let it slide, then continued.

"Anyway, I'm going to find that and give the item inside to Kir as a gift."

"Ah... I see."

"You've got that 'I don't believe you' look on your face. In any case, we need to go through that grassy area."

I announced that we'd have to push through the unmarked bushes in the center instead of taking either of the forked paths.

In the game, if you kept tapping the space in between, a hidden path would appear, and following it would lead you to the spot where the chest was buried...

But in reality, there clearly wasn't such a hidden element. So we'd have to brute-force our way through.

"...Couldn't you just order me to do it? There's no need for you to personally tear through those brambles, Young Master."

"No, we both have to go anyway. Specifically, it requires a male-female pair."

"Understood. Then I'll take the lead and clear a path, so please follow right behind me."

"Yeah. Thanks~."

* * * * * *

And so Chloe and I began pushing through the brush to find the treasure chest.

Smack! Crack, rustle.

'Chloe's definitely gotten stronger, too. Maybe... about two percent of Maman's strength?'

Thanks to Chloe wrapping her hands in blue mana and slicing through the surrounding grass, we progressed smoothly, though we got a bit dusty. In less than ten minutes, we reached our destination.

The place we arrived at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was... a small clearing surrounded by bushes and trees.

Seeing the scene, which was almost identical to the game, I smiled brightly.

"We're here~! You really worked hard, Chloe! I don't know what I would've done without you!"

"...."

I complimented Chloe as a sort of reward.

But unlike usual, when she'd have been so happy her ears would twitch, Chloe actually frowned slightly.

She looked around the clearing—at the fairly magnificent marble statue of a goddess prominently placed there, and at a large bathtub that was clearly man-made.

After glancing down at the tub where clear spring water was bubbling up, Chloe turned to me with evident worry.

"...Young Master, could it be that you've been tricked by someone unsavory?"

"What, is that what you were worried about? You don't trust me?"

"It's not that I don't trust you, Young Master... but this place doesn't look nearly secret enough for something like that to be buried here."

Chloe expressed her concern that I might have been deceived.

It certainly wasn't the way an ordinary servant should speak to their master, but our relationship was more like that of friends.

Far from being offended, I grinned and answered.

"Well, that's because this place isn't really hidden."

And with that, I began to explain.

This was a spot used by students of the Swordsmanship Department to bathe—a place with some tradition, created for fun by someone in the Academy's early days, and it had become a landmark that was maintained to this day.

Of course, that was just the setting. The real reason this place was famous in the game was that, with good timing, you could catch a glimpse of characters bathing. Something about collecting event CGs.

'Well, I wasn't interested in that stuff and just grabbed the item and left.'

"Anyway, this place is basically a public bath used by the older girls from the Swordsmanship Department."

"I see. In that case, wouldn't it be even less likely for there to be a treasure chest?"

"Just hold on a sec."

Having finished my brief explanation, I promptly took off my cloak for the second time today, placed it in a corner, and slowly made my way toward the bathtub.

Slosh, slosh.

"Young Master?"

"Mm. The water temperature is good."

I dipped my fingers into the tub to test the water.

Confirming it was pleasantly cool, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠twisted my body and lightly dove into the bath.

Whoosh. Splash.

"...!!?"

The tub was filled with spring water, so naturally I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was submerged up to my lower body in an instant.

The feel of my wet clothes clinging to my body was better than I expected, so I simply sat down and planted my rear on the bottom of the tub.

The water rose right up to my neck.

Feeling all the dust that had clung to me while pushing through the bushes with Chloe being washed clean, I smiled happily.

"Phew, this feels really nice."

"Y-Y-Young Master? What are you suddenly doing!?"

Chloe, however, looked at me in shock.

...No, isn't she a little too surprised? Her cat ears aren't just perked up; they're trembling.

I continued my explanation while looking at Chloe, who had frozen in excessive shock.

"The treasure chest buried here isn't normally visible. The people who originally buried it cast a spell on it."

"Th-then, could it be..."

"Yeah. The condition to dispel that magic is for a man and a woman to bathe together in this very tub."

"...!!!?"

Right after I explained the condition for unlocking the hidden piece, Chloe's face turned bright red for whatever reason.

As if she was embarrassed to get into the same tub as me.

"Just so you know, you can get in with your clothes on. I've got mine on right now, see?"

"...I-I know that too! It's just, Young Master, your clothes are all wet..."

"It's fine. I might not look it, but I'm pretty good at fire element magic. I practiced Hot Wind Magic after spilling water on myself in front of Maman last time, so I can dry off quickly. I'll dry your clothes too, so hurry up."

Since we didn't actually have to strip down and bathe naked, I truly saw no reason for embarrassment.

My promise to dry her clothes well seemed to work, as Chloe hesitantly began to step closer, one step at a time.

Hesitant, hesitant.

'She's moving like a condemned woman marching to her execution. ...Ah, Chloe hates the cold, right? Heh, silly Chloe.'

It would have taken her only five steps if she hurried, but for some reason Chloe was moving her feet at a glacial pace.

Seeing that, I recalled how especially susceptible Chloe was to cold and chuckled.

'Can't be helped. Should I warm the water a little for Chloe?'

"Heating."

Ssssss...

As I secretly murmured the Activation Incantation and dipped my finger into the water, my mana gently flowed out and spread through the tub.

Soon the water began to warm little by little from the power of my fire element mana.

But maybe because I was limiting the output, the water didn't heat up right away.

To get it warm enough so Chloe wouldn't feel cold... it might take about a minute.

I could just tell her to wait, but since I wanted to surprise Chloe and buy time for the water to reach the right temperature, I decided to play a little prank.

"Hmph~."

"...Young Master?"

"Even for a guard knight, entering a place like this..."

"...!!?"

Resting my arms on the edge of the tub and looking at Chloe, I mimicked a line from one of those funny pictures Ryu Si-u had seen.

At that, Chloe became extremely flustered and even stepped backward.

"N-No. I'm telling you to come in, Young Master!"

"Wrong~ Chloe, you're supposed to say, 'I am merely carrying out my duty, young master'!"

"Wh-what!?"

"Now, hurry up!!"

"...I-I am merely carrying out my duty, young master...?"

"That's right! Pfft-hehe."

After making Chloe, who had hesitated for a good while, finally say 'that line,' I burst out laughing because it was just too funny.

"Alright, I'll stop teasing now, so hurry up and get in. At this rate I'm going to catch a chill."

"What on earth was that... Oh? The water is warm?"

"Ta-da~ Chloe, you hate the cold, right? So I secretly warmed it up for you. How's that for thoughtfulness?"

"...I wish you would show a little thoughtfulness for my heart as well."

"Huh? What was that? I can't hear you~."

"Really... it's nothing at all."