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“I was thinking of taking a bath, but… do you want to go in first?” I asked Rir.
“No, I’m fine if I go after you.”
“Alright, then I’ll go first…”
“S-Say, should I wash your back?”
“Huh?”

I didn’t expect her to ask somethin’ like that. That’s not what I’m after.

“I should be fine by myself.”
“Is that so? I heard that this is also the duty of a slave.”
“Nah, you don’t need to.”
“…I see.”

Feels like that made her a bit depressed. Was my refusal too forceful?

I went through the changing room into the bath, but… the baths in this world were fairly close to those in Japan. I washed up properly but kept it short. It was a so-called quick splash¹. I always got out right away. Or rather, I got out quickly no matter where I was.

“You can go next.”
“You were quite fast, weren’t you?”
“Well, I’m the type to do that.”
“I see.”
“Don’t mind me, you can take your time.
“…I’ll do that.”

While Rir was in the bath, I decided to think about how to allocate my STP.

I currently had 1150 points And there were seven stats I could allocate them to.
Stuff like that really gives me trouble, y’know.

Investing 100 in each stat for a balanced spread might work, or I could put in 575 points in each MP and W (Spellpower).

Hm~… What would Ayumu do in such a… Nah, he was terrible at this stuff, wasn’t he. In that case, what might Kanata do… Yep, if it was Kanata, he’d definitely allocate 50 in each stat and put the remainder all in one place, right? Then, he’d observe how it goes and once the next level-up happens, he’d judge what is needed.

Good, in that case… I’ll put 50 in each stat for now and then half of the remainder in W and MP each.

Somehow MP is standin’ out, ain’t it?
Well, that oughta do it for now. I ain’t got to buy no weapon if I fight with magic. Hm… I wonder if quickness will be important among those stats.

“Ah… I-I’m done…”

Rir had finished in the bath.
Looks like I worried about that stuff for about half an hour without noticin’.

“Right, should we go to sl-…” I started saying while turning towards Rir, but I ended up being lost for words. Then, I immediately closed my eyes and turned my head away.

Seriously, the hell is she doin’?
…For some reason, Rir was standing there buck naked without even trying to hide anything.

What’s the meanin’ of this³?

Is it a custom in this world that you gotta get out of the bath naked? Nah, on second thought, her voice was tremblin’ and she looked embarrassed, didn’t she? So why’d she… did she forget her underwear in the changing room…? Nah, that probably ain’t it, I saw holdin’ it.

At any rate… it was a glimpse… a mere glimpse, but I saw that her whole body was covered in scars and burns…
If that’s how her front looks, her back is probably… It was just a glance, y’know? I’m not lyin’!

“H-Hey, Rir… You have proper underwear, don’t you?”
“Yes… I-I do.”
“Then why aren’t you wearin’ it?”
“About that…” she choked on her words.

What’s her reason?

“Is it hard to explain?”
“No… uhm… that’s not it. Well… erm. What would you like me to do?”
“For now, wouldn’t it be best if you put on some underwear?”

I could hear something that sounded like a growl.
The hell does she want to tell me? Wasn’t she satisfied with the food?

That was what I wondered, but her next words took me by surprise.

“I… I want to do something for you, Master. But there is nothing I can do or give you.”
“No, you don’t need to force yourself to do anythin’, y’know? I’m not demandin’ any kind of compensation.”
“S-Still, it’s already been five hours since I’ve become your slave, Master. I can’t do anything… On the contrary, you’ve been constantly watching over me to cure my illness… This is no good.”

Even so, that doesn’t mean she needs to come outta the bath naked, y’know. Definitely.
And it seems like she still ain’t wearing nothin’. I didn’t look, y’know? I judged that by the sounds, alright?

“Gotcha, but…”

Before I could tell her, she started speaking again.

“So, use me. Uhm… that’s why I’m… naked… It’s the only thing I could think of right now.”
“Huh!?”

What’s this girl sayin’? And to a healthy high school boy on top. Hang on, I gotta stay calm in a situation like this. Rir is clearly actin’ rashly. That’s ’cause she got weakened mentally until earlier, ain’t it?

“My… body is covered in wounds… and my ear and tail are missing…” she continued talking, maybe because I hadn’t given her a reply, “so I am hideous, but… erm, if you turn off the light, it might…”

If I don’t stop her, she’ll totally hug me like this, won’t she? I’m scared she might really do that. I mean, I gotta refuse quickly.

“No, you don’t need to.”
“B-But…”

I refused, but… she’s a stubborn one, ain’t she? Well, so am I. I guess I gotta try tellin’ her in a way that’s a bit preachy.

“Rir, that’s somethin’ you only do with someone you really like, y’know?”
“Huh!? B-But I… oh, it’s like that… I am sorry.”

Huh, I didn’t scold her that hard or anythin’, but it feels like she’s gotten depressed now. Was there somethin’ wrong with what I told her⁴?

“For now, put on some clothes. If you wanna repay me or somethin’, we can talk about it one of these days.”

“…Understood,” she said, returned to the changing room, and apparently put on underwear and clothes. I carefully turned to look at her, but she was wearing them properly. Still, I couldn’t look at her face for some time.

…Let’s get to sleep already.

“So, you can sleep on the bed, Rir, and I’ll take the futon⁵.”
“No, I-I should…”
“I prefer it that way.”

This was half true. I usually slept on a futon. Moreover, it’d be preferable not to have her move too much. The bed was probably better.

“Then, good night.”
“Y-Yes. Good… night… Master.”

Finally, my first day in this strange world ended.

TL notes:
I guess we’re getting all these tropes that have been absent in Alim’s story now. Not that I can blame Shuu too much for how he handled that, I’m sure 17-year-old me would have fared worse. Telling her he’s from a place without slaves and that he won’t treat her like one might have mitigated some of this, but after (probably) six years of abuse, it’s likely not that easy to get her to let go of that mindset.

1. The original is 烏の行水 (lit. “bird’s bath”). I did find the expression “a lick and a promise”, but that implies that you only do a halfhearted job at cleaning up. Thanks to Kemm for the suggestion.
2. The original is 10, but he used up all the 1150 points he had, so that’s probably a typo.
3. You’d think today’s youth would be more genre savvy.
4. Sure, you pretty much told her that you don’t want to do it with her since you don’t like her (at least from how she understood it).
5. The original is 布団 (“Futon”). I use “futon” if it’s a character from Japan using the word and “mattress” for those from Anazumu.