On the evening, Jin had the Royal Secret Maid Laila guide him to the bathhouse.
“Oh, Jin?”
“Ah, Earl Kuzuma.”
There, Earl Kuzuma had also come to take a bath just then.
Jin was about to leave and come back later, when,
“Just the right time, I wanted to have a little talk with you. Won’t you get in with me?”
The Earl said to Jin. Having been explicitly invited, Jin couldn’t refuse. They would go in together.
“Oh, you don’t have to come with us.”
The Earl ordered the maids to wait outside the bathhouse.
Could the talk be about something important, Jin thought and put himself on guard a bit. Although, in truth, Reiko was invisible with [Stealth] and had secretly followed them in.
“Ahh, taking a hot bath is so comfortable.”
Earl Kuzuma stretched out and relaxed in the bathtub. The tub was fairly large, enough that the 180-centimeter tall Earl wasn’t a bit cramped in it.
The Earl was a thin person but still had some muscle, and Jin felt a bit bitter about his meager build. Because no matter how much he trained, he couldn’t gain muscle.
“What was it you wanted to talk about, Earl?”
Jin couldn’t relax so he asked about the topic.
“Oh, that’s right. The talk.”
The Earl looked up and down and again up and down over and over as if he was thinking about what to say.
He repeated that several times, until finally it seemed he had come to a decision.
“Jin, what’s the relationship between you and Beana like?”
“Huh?”
Jin reflexively let out a silly voice. All the more because he had been wondering about what kind of a complicated thing the Earl wanted consulation with.
“It seems like you’ve given Beana a lot of support, and the other day you invited her to your place. It also looks like Beana is very open with you.”
Once he opened his mouth, the Earl kept on talking.
“She’s… Brave, that’s right, bravehearted. Despite not being by any means blessed with a good environment she studied to be a Magi Craftsman, brought up her brother and sister, and no matter how many hardships she went through she remained pure.”
“Uh, huh.”
That was the only thing Jin say under the Earl’s zeal.
“And I think it’s praiseworthy how she uses her skill for the sake of the masses. She’s also beautiful and…”
After firing all those words out in a single breath, the Earl finally came back to his senses, blushed, and held his tongue.
“Earl…”
No matter how dense Jin was, after hearing that much even he could make the connection.
“Ha ha ha, cheer up. Ever since I first saw her, she’s held a place in my heart.”
＊ ＊ ＊
While giving a sideways glance at Earl Kuzuma who had left the bath and was pouring water on his head, Jin thought about how to answer.
For a short while afterwards, he had been made to listen to more of Earl’s love-talk.
It seemed like he was serious. He wasn’t thinking about social status or anything like that at all. Surely he could make Beana happy.
“Sigh.”
While drying his dripping hair with a towel, the Earl took a glance at Jin as if urging him to answer. Jince sensed that and opened his mouth to answer.
“Beana is something like a troublesome young sister.”
It was the same answer he had given to Reinhardt. When he heard it, Earl Kuzuma’s expression immediately turned cheerful.
“Is, that, so! She’s, like a, sister, to you!”
And then, keeping that expression,
“In that case, could your sweetheart be Miss Elsa?”,
He asked. Since he now knew Jin wouldn’t be on the way of his love, he had regained his cheerful mood.
“N- No, Elsa’s a… slightly unreliable younger sister.”
Hearing that, Earl Kuzuma said,
“Hmm, so both of them are like sisters to you. Could it be, you like more mature women like that Rianna from the Royal Secret Maids?”
The moment the Earl said that, from somewhere a sound like a crash could be heard.
“Hm? Is someone…No, there’s no way. So, how is it, Jin?”
When asked, Jin muttered that’s a good question and shaked his head.
“The type of woman I like is the type the woman I like is.”
It was almost like Zen dialogue.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
As one would expect, the Earl didn’t quite understand and raised his eyebrows.
“Well, I’ve got no one like that right now.”
Jin said, to which the Earl said,
“While you think that, for example suddenly the destined one for you may appear. Just like for me!”,
And left the bathhouse.
＊ ＊ ＊
Jin was left alone lying in the bathtub. There,
“…Father.”
“Oh, Reiko.”
Reiko cancelled [Stealth] and appeared. And then, out of the blue,
“Father, do you prefer mature women with large breasts?”
Jin, who was leaning on on the bathtub slipped and slid down.
“Wha- What are you talking about?”
Jin, now half-sunken in the hot water, was flustered and got out of the bathtub.
“I want to become bigger.”
Reiko’s sudden request baffled Jin.
“He- Hey, Reiko, what’s gotten into you?”
“If Father prefers larger women, then I…”
Jin gave a flick to Reiko’s forehead,
“You dummy. There’s no way I’d come to like just anyone only because they had large breasts, don’t you know?”
Jin soothed Reiko’s worries, and she said,
“But, Elsa-san said that Reinhardt-san prefers women with large breasts.”
Oh, that time, Jin thought. She did say that ‘Rai-nii has always been soft with women who have large breasts’, if he remembered correctly.
From that you could read between the lines that ‘he prefers women with large breasts’, but why did it become about me and have you gone blind, Jin thought.
“As I keep saying, Elsa, and Beana are my friends. And you’re my precious daughter. I love your face and your appearance very much.”
“Are you sure!?”
Looking at Reiko who was about to, no, who was actually jumping for joy, Jin said,
“And that’s why you shouldn’t worry so much about other girls.”
“…Understood.”
The remaining problem was whether she really understood it or not, but it was bad to monopolize the bathhouse so much, so Jin got out of the water.
In the passageway outside the dressing room, Laila was…sitting down on the floor while dozing off.
“…”
Jin was troubled with what to do with her for a while, but he decided to wake her up after all, and he tried prodding her head.
“Huh!? An enemy raid!?”
Laila sprung up and flipped her skirt, and unsheathed the knife she was carrying on her thigh.
She also completely cut apart her skirt.
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!”
Laila screamed as her short bloomers and thighs became exposed.
Precisely then Elsa and Beana arrived to take a bath.
“Jin! What are you doing!”
“…Jin-kun, is a beast?”
Utterly misunderstood,
“I’m innoceeeeent!”
The shout from the bottom of Jin’s heart echoed through the aisle.