Chapter 96: The Bath Culture Shock

That was the kind of physique Qiu Nuoya wanted to aim for.

Compared to Igor, Qiu Nuoya could not quite imagine himself developing such a powerful build, but this kind of physique seemed like a realistic goal.

"Nuoya, it is bad manners to stare so openly at someone else’s body."

A hand suddenly covered Qiu Nuoya’s eyes from behind as Viktor scolded him.

Oops. Viktor was right.

"I’m sorry. You’re right..."

Qiu Nuoya tilted his head upward, trying to remove Viktor’s hand from his eyes.

What appeared directly in front of him was flawless, snow white skin without even a trace of a tan.

Viktor had tied up his long hair so that it would not get wet in the bath, leaving his smooth skin completely exposed.

Qiu Nuoya could not take his eyes off him.

Viktor normally dressed very formally, leaving almost none of his skin exposed. But now he had removed his clothes and was standing behind Qiu Nuoya with his upper body bare.

What is this? Some kind of goddess?

"Nuoya? Huh?"

While Qiu Nuoya stared blankly up at Viktor, Igor reached out and traced a finger down Viktor’s back.

"Igor! What are you doing all of a sudden!? I’m reporting you for harassment!"

"I mean, when I look at you from behind, I honestly can’t tell whether you’re a man or a woman. I just couldn’t resist."

"That is no excuse to touch me without permission! This is exactly why I hate baths! Touching someone else’s body without permission is a crime!" Viktor was furious, loudly protesting Igor’s behavior.

Ah.

Qiu Nuoya thought he might finally understand why Viktor disliked baths so much.

Viktor’s appearance really did make him look almost like a topless woman. He clearly had no breasts, was tall, and had a decent amount of muscle, yet at first glance, he could still easily be mistaken for a woman.

With an appearance like that, it would be impossible to avoid curious looks from other men.

Still, Viktor’s nape was surprisingly beautiful.

It was normally completely hidden, so there was nothing particularly remarkable about that part of his body. Yet for some reason, looking at it made Qiu Nuoya’s heart beat a little faster.

"All right, all right. Enough with the anger. Let’s get into the bath."

At Igor’s urging, they headed into the bathing area.

Warren had already gone in ahead of them. He was sitting with only his feet submerged in the water, wearing an uneasy expression.

"What’s wrong, Warren?"

"I’ve really never taken a bath before, so I don’t know what I’m supposed to do..."

"I don’t think you need to be so tense about it. It’s just the four of us here, so don’t worry. Instead of only soaking your feet, try warming your whole body in the water."

"But the water is surprisingly hot..."

Qiu Nuoya wondered if that was really the case. He dipped his arm into the water, but since he did not find it particularly hot, he tilted his head in confusion. If anything, it felt slightly lukewarm to him.

"Isn’t this about normal?"

"Is it?"

Perhaps without the habit of soaking in a bath, someone naturally felt that way. Once again, Qiu Nuoya was reminded that different places had different cultures.

For the moment, Qiu Nuoya poured water over his head and vigorously washed his hair with the soap he had brought with him.

Ah, this familiar feeling. It felt so good after such a long time.

Not only were baths uncommon in this world, but people were so accustomed to using cleansing magic for everything that soap itself was considered a rare and valuable item.

The soap Qiu Nuoya had was primarily intended to add fragrance rather than actually clean the body, so it was treated more like perfume. He had gone through quite a bit of trouble to find it.

Finding one with a subtle scent had been especially difficult, and when he finally found one, he ended up buying several at once.

After washing his hair, Qiu Nuoya continued by washing his body as well, leaving himself feeling completely refreshed.

Yes, this was it.

That refreshing feeling that cleansing magic alone could never quite reproduce!

[ Mmm, Nuoya, bubbles! ]

"Do you want me to wash you too, Mochi?"

Qiu Nuoya tried rubbing his hands over Mochi’s body to work up some lather, but it did not produce any bubbles.

There was nothing he could do about it, so he simply took a clump of the foam already on his own body and gently placed it on Mochi’s head.

Mochi was absolutely delighted, so Qiu Nuoya decided that was good enough.

After washing himself thoroughly, Qiu Nuoya was about to get into the bath when he noticed that Igor was swimming around in it.

Sure, the bath was certainly large enough to swim in, but still!

"Why are you swimming!?"

"Isn’t that what baths are for?" Igor stated it with complete confidence.

Qiu Nuoya could not understand it at all!

"Well, it depends on the size, but quite a lot of people swim in baths. Since we have the place to ourselves this time, there’s plenty of room." Even Viktor was agreeing with Igor.

No way!

"Besides, if you don’t swim in a bath, what else are you supposed to do?"

"Huh? Well, this is an open air bath, so you’re supposed to relax and enjoy the scenery while letting the day’s fatigue melt away..."

"That sounds like something an old man would do."

Ouch.

"Hot springs where people enjoy themselves that way certainly do exist, but generally, large public baths attached to inns are pretty much like this. You didn’t know?"

Another culture shock.

This was nothing like the open air baths Qiu Nuoya had imagined!

This wasn’t a large public bath at all!

It was just a heated swimming pool!

Wait, maybe this was more like a spa resort than a traditional hot spring.

Qiu Nuoya had heard that places like that were more common overseas.

Perhaps his own preconceived notions were the ones that were wrong after all.