The Flower of the Onsen is Scrubbing
Wintervalt Ducal Castle, Duke's Office.
The scratch of quill on paper filled the room once more today.
[Request for Approval of Magical Waterway Facilities for Hot Spring Resort Development]
[Review of Tariff Reduction for Southern Mountain Fruit Import Caravans]
Kailan glared at the mountain of documents piled high, screaming internally.
'Aaaargh! When the hell do I get to clock out?!'
He'd gotten drunk on the sweet temptations of capitalism and stamped approval on the spa resort project without a second thought, but the price was brutal. From blueprint approvals to material procurement, manpower allocation, budget distribution—there was no end to the things the lord had to handle personally.
"Haa…."
Kailan pressed his throbbing temples and let out a deep sigh. His fingers gripping the quill were on the verge of cramping.
Right then.
"Your Grace, wouldn't it be wise to rest your eyes for a bit?"
A fragrant aroma of black tea wafted in, accompanied by the most beautiful voice in the world. Kailan looked up to see Eleanor, her dazzling platinum blonde hair neatly tied back, approaching with a steaming teacup.
"How could I rest and leave you out?"
Kailan hid his exhaustion and smiled softly. Eleanor placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, her eyes full of concern, and began a massage infused with solar magic. The fatigue in his body melted away like it had been washed clean. Mental exhaustion was another story, though.
"If Your Grace devotes himself so to the territory's people, then as the lady of Wintervalt, I must redouble my efforts as well."
She pressed her lips to his cheek.
Mwah.
It was a light kiss, but in the quiet office, the sound echoed loudly. She was dressed comfortably here in the office, so leaning over the armrest now revealed… a rather defenseless view.
"……!!"
The three baby bears that had been weighing on his shoulders moments ago suddenly jetted off on vacation somewhere.
'Right! This is why I do the lord gig! Screw it, a few hundred documents? I'll blaze through 'em in a day!'
The Northern Duke, melted to butter by a single kiss, snatched up his quill again and started scrawling signatures at a ferocious pace.
Sign one. Sip of tea. Another approval signature. And occasionally stealing glances at Eleanor reviewing ledgers beside him was a bonus.
Even the Ghost of the Battlefield, the Northern Duke, was just a pushover husband before his alluring wife.
A short while later.
Kailan and Eleanor headed to the orc residential district, accompanied by their retainers. They were there to inspect the hot spring resort construction site.
It wasn't far from the new city, making it perfect for merchants and adventurers to visit as a day trip.
"Hup-cha! Heave-ho!"
"Gruk! Fly faster! We gotta raise the frame before sunset!"
The construction site was a cauldron of passion. The combo of skilled artisans and orc muscle had progress flying at unimaginable speeds. The massive communal bath and open-air tubs—what he'd figured would take months—were already showing their grand scale after just a few weeks.
Using steel trees for pillars and filling gaps with slime cement was now routine for the orcs.
"Everyone, drop what you're doing and grab some special grub!"
A bit away from the site, servants lifted the lid on a huge cauldron, unleashing a thick garlic soup aroma that shook the air. Eleanor's special on-site snack had become indispensable for construction.
She was so busy these days that she just infused a bit of magic into the finished dish, but still.
"Groooar! Food made by Her Grace the Duchess!!"
"Gruk…! This taste… makes us… work!"
The orcs swarmed the cauldron, slurping it down greedily. Packed with garlic and meat, Eleanor's special cleansed their once demon-corrupted bodies and fueled them with explosive energy.
"Power surging! Blood boiling!"
"Gruk! Dig for Her Grace! Dig harder!!"
"Kek. One more full-month overtime sprint, and I'll be a homeowner orc!!"
No one ordered them, but the orcs bolted back to work right after eating. Homeownership was a distant dream, but Eleanor's "Good job!" stamp? That was right there for the taking.
Kailan smiled in satisfaction at the muscle monsters fully brainwashed by capitalism's sweet taste and garlic soup.
They left the site and entered one of the completed hot spring inns.
"Excellent. It's coming together perfectly, just as I envisioned."
The grand outdoor rock bath carved from granite. The communal bath interior preserving the rustic steel tree texture. Kailan nodded approvingly as he toured slowly.
But genius finance minister Eleanor's expression beside him was grave. She tapped her notebook and spoke up.
"Your Grace, the facilities are perfect… but I have one concern."
"What is it?"
"Letting guests who enter these grand baths just splash around and leave feels like a waste from a finance minister's perspective."
"A waste?"
"Yes. They've already opened their wallets to come in. It'd be great to encourage… ahem, additional spending while they stay at the inn!"
Kailan chuckled.
'In short, raise the per-guest spend.'
She's my wife, alright, he thought, nodding. She was right. Just having hot springs at the inn wouldn't sustain the business long-term.
"Heh. I figured as much and came prepared."
Kailan held out a smooth brown-shelled egg to Eleanor.
"Is this… an egg?"
"An onsen egg, steamed in the hot springs."
Parts of the northern new city maintained balmy weather year-round thanks to Eleanor's artificial sun, enabling poultry farms and ranches even in the harsh north.
"Once people step into a lodging, they're too lazy to go back out."
Kailan peeled the shell and popped it into Eleanor's mouth, grinning wickedly.
"……!"
Eleanor's eyes went wide. The slow steam from the onsen heat made the yolk melt silkily, with a sprinkle of salt elevating the flavor.
"Delicio—!"
As she started to exclaim, she gave a small cough, like the thick yolk had clogged her throat.
"Eggs make you thirsty, right?"
Kailan offered a canteen. The legendary combo that conquered Korean jjimjilbangs and bathhouses: boiled eggs and banana milk.
He grabbed another and chugged refreshingly. Goat milk from northern goats blended with special southern bananas. Winter goat milk was richer and nuttier despite lower yields, and the sweet, fragrant southern bananas created a heavenly harmony in the mouth.
A fantastical north-south collab.
"……!!"
Eleanor clutched the canteen with both hands and downed it in one go. Her little ears peeking through platinum blonde hair flushed pink.
"We can sell food that costs 1 silver elsewhere for 2 silver here, and it'll fly off the shelves."
Eleanor was speechless, her eyes darting as she calculated furiously. Finally, after draining the last drop, she pulled away and declared:
"Your Grace is right! As Wintervalt exclusives, we could charge 2 silver for the egg-and-drink set! No—3 silver wouldn't be too much for this taste!"
Kailan marveled inwardly.
She's my wife, but… she's sometimes more ruthless with money than me.
He skipped mentioning he'd planned to sell at 1 silver 50 copper. Eleanor had the sharper instincts here.
"Brilliant, Your Grace! A splendid strategy!"
Kailan grinned as she jotted projected earnings excitedly.
"……And that's not all."
"Pardon? There's more?"
Kailan shrugged.
"Of course. The true flower of the onsen is scrubbing!"
"Scrub… bing?"
The unfamiliar word left Eleanor and the trailing retainers baffled.
"It's removing the grime built up on your body. After sufficiently soaking in the bath, a professional strips away dead skin with expert technique, leaving your skin baby-smooth."
Kailan snapped his fingers lightly, and two hulking figures emerged solemnly from the onsen interior: former Red Fang chieftain Crok and Twin Axe chieftain Karak.
"Guh… guh-hoo…!"
Tears cascaded from Crok's eyes.
"Thank you, Your Grace…! A brute orc like me never dreamed I'd learn such a proper skill…!"
In his massive hand was an enormous Italian towel, specially crafted from treant roots and fibers.
Karak, too, panted with far more seriousness than when swinging twin axes.
"Gruk… Don't know what… scrubber is… but I'll do… no, I will do as taught. With Twin Axe tribe's aura… won't hurt weak human skin… just slice off the filthy grime…! Er, scrub it off…!"
Truth be told, turning orcs into scrubbers hadn't been smooth sailing. Kailan had selected orc warriors skilled in aura control, especially those with fine strength adjustment, for special training.
The issue? They needed practice dummies for that control. In the end, sturdy knights from the northern defense force volunteered, and for days, the baths echoed with their screams as skin turned beet red.
Of course, Kailan silenced them with generous bonuses and compensatory leave for enduring the flaying pain.
'Can't let a slip-up tank the business after all that orc training…'
After bone-grinding practice, Crok, Karak, and the orc scrubbers mastered the ultimate aura scrubbing technique: peeling off only human grime, paper-thin.
"Seeing is believing. Before debuting to the public, we'll do a soft opening with our first practice session today."
Kailan's gaze shifted to the retainers at the back. Sedric, Arzen Viscount, and Walter Knight—rumpled from all-nighters and site oversight—shuddered.
"M-My lord…?"
"You've worked hard. Time for a reward— you lot go first for the orc service."
Sedric paled and backed away.
"F-For my lord, this old knight's life means nothing… b-but let go!!"
Unlike Sedric, the others didn't utter a peep. At Kailan's sharp glance, they stripped frantically and were dragged off by the orcs.