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“What’s the good thing, nya?”
“This.”

What I showed to Noche and the others, who had finished cleaning the floor, was a marble bathtub filled with blue-tinted water. I’d neatly arranged the soaps and bottles on the rack too.

I chose a bath additive with a scent that even beastfolk wouldn’t find unpleasant.

“Blue water?”
“It’s a place where you wash your body and soak in a lot of warm water. It’s called a bath.”
“Nya?”

When I explained it, all of them tilted their heads in unison, looking even more confused.

Puzzled, I dug through my memories and realized—right, this world doesn’t really have the concept of baths. At least not in the Kingdom of Roud or nearby regions. No one washes themselves using such an abundance of hot water.

“You can wash your body with warm water?”
“Yeah.”

Sufi, always quick to understand, had her eyes sparkling. She’s quite fond of staying clean, so she must have been holding back all this time.

“Ahh…”

I probably shouldn’t have explained what a bath is—I should’ve just said, “Let’s wash up with warm water.”

I tossed the used towels into the fully automatic washing machine, hit the switch, and told everyone to take off their clothes.

“Feels like it’s been forever since I’ve bathed, nya.”
“It’s warm water, though.”

After all that running and fighting, our already ragged clothes were practically in tatters now. If we tried washing them, they might just fall apart—so I tossed them into a basket for now.

Judging by the kitchen and living room, I thought all the furniture had been taken away except for the built-ins, but it turns out some useful things were still left. I’m grateful, though we should probably check everything properly later.

“Alice, hurry up~”
“Ah, okay.”

Even after all that talk about my past life, Sufi didn’t seem bothered at all. When I nervously stepped into the bathroom, Noche noticed me and pointed at the tub.

“Do we scoop the water by hand, nya?”
“Ah, wait a sec.”

She didn’t seem particularly uneasy either, and that made me feel relieved. We’re all kids, so there’s no real reason to feel awkward bathing together—but still, being rejected or disliked would sting.

I slipped between the others, all covered in mud and grime, and approached the shower.

“You use this handle to adjust the temperature, and when you lift this lever… the water comes out from here.”

I took the showerhead hanging on the wall and raised the lever. The water started out cold but gradually warmed up.

“Is that a magic tool, nya?”
“Sort of.”

Leaving the water running, I hung the showerhead back up and demonstrated by stepping under it. I closed my eyes as the warm water soaked into my hair and ran down from my shoulders to my back.

“It’s warm.”
“It really is hot water, nya.”
“Wow.”

Peeking with one eye, I saw everyone reaching curiously toward the stream of water.

Looking down, I noticed the water around my feet turning brown. Just how dirty was I? I brushed back my bangs and started scrubbing away the grime with my hands and warm water.

“Alice, I’ll help.”
“Okay.”

Apparently, Sufi had gotten the idea. She stepped behind me and started wetting my hair, rinsing out the dirt.

Unlike rain, this didn’t chill my body—it actually felt nice. After several minutes of thorough washing, the water finally turned clear. Brown, muddy water flowed down the drain.

“…Once the dirt—geh—comes off, you take this bottle, press the top like this…”

I coughed a bit as some water got into my mouth, but managed to squeeze a white, milky liquid from the shampoo bottle onto my palm and spread it through my hair.

…No lather at all.

“When your hair’s really dirty, it won’t foam. So you have to do it a few times until it does.”

I massaged my scalp with my fingertips, rinsed, reapplied, and repeated. It finally started foaming on the fourth try.

There’s a lot of hair, so the amount of shampoo used was enormous. …I’ll have to think about how often I can afford to wash it until I can make more of this stuff.

“Haa… haa… once you’re done washing your hair, take this soap, lather it up—ugh—and wash your body.”
“I’ve never seen anyone get worn out just from shampooing, nya.”¹　

It’s because I still have a bit of a fever, okay? And stop giving me that “You’re always like that, even when you’re healthy” look, Sufi.

I used the solid soap from the blue boxes stacked under the sink. There were plenty of them, and they’re easier to handle than liquid soap.

“Pour water on it, make foam with your hands, and rub it on your—haa—body…”
“Give it here, I’ll do it for you.”

Sufi took the soap from me, looking a bit concerned, and began washing my back.

“…I know how to use soap at least, nya.”
“Ah, um, thank you for teaching us, Alice.”

Noche said that a little awkwardly, and Filia hurriedly added a kind follow-up, maybe to soften the mood.

Well, yeah—solid soap is expensive but not unheard of here. Grandpa had some too, come to think of it.

“Once your body’s clean, you turn off the shower and soak in the tub—haa—with everyone.”
“You sound like you’ve given up halfway through, nya.”

Well, there’s nothing else to explain… oh wait, there is.

“After washing your hair, take the rinse from this bottle, spread it through your hair, wait a bit, and rinse lightly.”

I’d almost forgotten something important. With this much hair, just shampooing would make tomorrow morning a nightmare.

While Sufi washed my back, I rubbed soap over myself too, and to my surprise, grime came off easily, revealing healthy-looking skin underneath.

Maybe it’s from the sun, but despite my white body hair, my skin’s actually quite dark.

“Okay, I washed your tail.”
“Thanks. I’ll wash your back now.”
“Mm-hm.”
“Noche, Filia—you two use the soap too.”
“Got it, nya.”
“Thank you, Alice.”

I handed them the soap and began washing Sufi’s back. Beneath the grime and dirt, bruises started to appear.

“…Sufi.”
“Hmm? Oh, this? It’s fine—it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Judging from the spot, it must’ve been from when that weasel hit her. She’d been acting fine, so I hadn’t noticed—it must have hurt a lot.

Of course she’d been injured back then. And yet I kept overthinking—timing, plans, whatever…

“Alice.”

Suddenly, Sufi turned around and hugged me. Her body was warm from the bathwater.

“I didn’t get to say it before, but thank you for saving me.”