Chapter 85 (1/2)

Volume 1

V4 Chapter 15

「New Home」

I was standing in front of the hot spring responsible for my seven-day coma .

The huge open-air bath spread out behind the decaying residence, so Hanzo, the previous resident, must’ve built and maintained this place .

A steam of hot water was endlessly flowing into the area from a slightly elevated rock formation . The water was flowing into a hollowed out groove and to prevent the water from overflowing, there was a cliff at the groove that allowed excess water to be drained off .

In this huge open-air bath, a four-meter-tall blue-scaled giant was relaxing in the water with his back against a nearby rock .

Apparently, ever since Hanzo’s time, Dragon King Williahsfim has regularly donned his humanoid form to visit the spring .

Honestly, as he sank deeper into the water and sighed, he reminded me of the Japanese macaques at the jigokudani hot springs .

Williahsfim turned his head in my direction and called out to me .

“Boy, how long are you going to sit there?”

I had been sitting at the edge of the hot spring repeatedly dipping my toes into the water and taking them out once they regained their flesh when he had called out to me .

The shock I experienced before made me hesitant about entering the spring .

While I couldn’t feel strong emotions as a skeleton, decision making was another matter .

I knew that I couldn’t sit here forever, looking at the water, and resolved myself to getting in .

However, the emotional backlash I felt the first time…… was something I didn’t want to experience again……

“Namusan!!”

With a final mantra to raise my spirits, I soaked my entire skeletal body into the water .

I closed my eyes and braced myself for the backlash when I resurfaced . However, I felt nothing like it raising up, so opened my eyes and took a look around .

Apart from a slight skin-crawling sensation, there was no sign of the overwhelming torrent swelling up .

Since my last trip into the hot spring took me out of commission for several days, I didn’t seem to have accumulated much emotional distress .

Meaning that the backlash from the entering the spring again was minuscule .

I breathed a relieved sigh and let the hot water embrace my body .

“Ahh〜〜”

From now on I was going to have to soak in this spring on a regular basis .

It was a mandatory precaution if I wanted to keep my emotional distress to a minimum .

Just like I bathed every day in my former life, I just had to come here every day . Maybe once in the morning and once at night .

I’d like to avoid being consumed by that torrent after all .

I splashed my face and sighed as I reflected on my life in this world .

As my body reverted by to flesh and blood, I recalled my past actions . While I certainly felt bad about all the people I killed, the hot spring’s warmth seeping into my core allowed me to cope somehow .

While I let the water drain away my regrets and worries, I began to look towards my future .

Though it was not the body I sought, I have achieved my main goal of restoring it .

I watched as the dark elf’s face reflected in the water changed expressions when I tugged at one of my long ears .

How about we start with measuring the duration of this hot spring’s effect .

I moved to the edge of the spring and left only my feet submerged .

This dark elf body was my previous avatar before I bought the skeletal skin, and its dark skinned muscles were splendidly toned .

I had a weird desire to flex my abs just for the heck of it .

However, there’d be no point in flaunting my muscles now .

Right now I need to observe the effect the spring had on my body .

After a few minutes of being out of the water, my upper body became slightly transparent before reverting back to bones .

Only my feet maintained their form . A skeleton looking like it was wearing flesh socks was a rather strange and unsettling sight to behold .

I raised one of my feet from the water and stared at the boundary between flesh and bone .

Apparently, I revert back to my skeletal form after ten minutes .

After a quick dunk back into the water, I made my way over to where the hot spring began, scooped some water in my hands and drank it .

While it didn’t have any particular taste, the water slid down my throat and warmed up my stomach .

Just like before, I made my way to the edge of the spring and stared down at my body .

The flesh remained even after the ten-minute mark passed, with no sign of disappearing .

“Williahsfim-dono, would you happen to know of a way to cure me completely?”

When I turned back to the Dragon King and asked him a question, I saw that his tail was floating on the water’s surface before he looked at me and answered,

“Boy, I don’t know the details of your particular curse and from what I’ve seen, it is dependent on your very being . How was that curse placed on you in the first place?”

Williahsfim snorted at me after he answered me and I gave up asking questions about it .

I received this skeletal body when I came to this world, therefore this curse was something beyond this reality .

The reason behind this was something only the gods knew .

It was my philosophy not to worry about such things .

Shaking my head, I asked Williahsfim about another important matter .

“Williahsfim-dono, would you mind if I set up a home in this area?”

“…… Do as you like . Originally, this place belonged to the first leader of that cat’s clan, as long as you don’t bother my tree, I don’t mind you staying here . ”

Williahsfim sunk his mouth under the water and began blowing bubbles with his eyes closed when he was done talking .

“Thank you……”

I left the hot spring after I bowed my head in gratitude .

There was a dressing room in the back of the residence that I was using to put my armor back on when I realized something .

“Hmm, there’s no need to wear the entire set in this place……”

After thinking aloud, I only put on the lower body section of my armor .

Besides, if I wore the whole suit of armor I wouldn’t be able to tell when the effect wore off .

With my upper body still exposed, I performed a side chest pose . The veins in my arms stood out as I fixed my muscles .

“I wish I had a full-body mirror here . ”

Adding a body-length mirror to the list of things I needed to buy for my new home, I headed towards the room Ariane was in .

The dressing room I left was connected to a large hall that looked like a small meadow, thanks to the grass that had been growing between the cracks in the floor .

When I found Ariane and Chiome, the two of them seemed to be in the middle of a long discussion .

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Ariane-dono . ”

When I called out to her, Ariane looked up at me with a shocked expression on her face .

“Arc, that appearance…… has the curse been broken? Is your body alright?”

“Again, I’m sorry for worrying the both of you, there’s nothing wrong with my body . According to Williahsfim-dono, the only way for me to maintain this form is to constantly drink the hot spring’s water, so now I’m testing the duration of its effects . ”

When I answered her question I tried to emphasize my trapezius muscles .