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Last Embryo Volume 3 Chapter 8 Part 3

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

「Well, yeah, I think so. I don’t remember him mentioning that his surname has any ominous meanings like that at least.」

Suzuka and Ayato looked at each other and exchanged quick affirmative nods. They were both pretty sure that Homura’s surname did not have the meaning You was talking about and as far as they knew Homura did not have any other living relatives outside of his “family” in the orphanage who might have altered that surname with a different reading. Ever since his father passed away, Homura was the last remaining member of the Saigo household alive. Kasukabe You couldn’t say that such an explanation was fully satisfactory to her and so she stood next to Ayato and Suzuka with her arms folded on her chest, until she remembered one bit from their previous conversations which made her clap her hands together.

「I see. I thought I would ask about that just in case it would turn out that Homura also has a surname that has the same meaning but different spelling, just like it probably is with Ayato and Asuka, because you know, while extremely unlikely, we are in a place where such rare coincidences do tend to happen, and quite often at that. Which is why I am glad that my guess was off the mark this time. No matter how long I looked at him, he does not look like a Demon Lord or someone who has the potential to become one at all.」

「D-Demon Lord?! You thought Homura-senpai might be someone dangerous like that?! He who barely has any physical strength to him and would not be able to harm a fly even if he wanted to?!」

「What the hell Miss You, that sounds so hilarious I might just start crying!!! If Homura really was a Demon Lord, my gut is telling me that he would end up immediately one-shotted by the weakest of the Hero’s attacks!」

「Really? Well, now I finally understand what you meant when you said that Homura and Izayoi are nothing alike.」

With a faint smile on her face, You turned her attention towards the baths.

「Now then… Let’s jump right in, shall we? From what I’m seeing there are several kinds of different baths here and I would definitely like to try them all, but let’s start with the standard one first. Let’s go, Ayato, Suzuka.」

「Aye aye, sir!」

「Suzuka. In this case, the correct word you should be using is not 「Sir」 but 「Ma’am」.」

The three of them made their way to the large public bath while Suzuka was still processing that rather off-hand remark Ayato left her behind with.

Meanwhile, in the men’s section of the public baths…

Homura quickly took off all of his clothes and made a beeline for the baths as soon as he could. Everyone around him, even those he would consider to be his family and closest friends considered him to be some kinda workaholic who spend all of his time devoting himself to nothing but his research and everything that might have been connected to it and didn’t have any normal hobbies as a result of that, but in truth it was the exact opposite of that. As a perfectly normal boy who was in the middle of his puberty phase, he could easily take an interest in just about anything as long as he would be able to enjoy it to the fullest. And if one of those potential points of interest was a bathhouse from a different world, then his fascination with it would be that much greater. However, more than the bath itself, he was actually more shocked with the fact that he was here, right now, in this very moment. And also…

(Wow… There are almost no humans in here…!)

Players participating in the 2^nd War for the Sun’s Authority weren’t the only ones to be visiting the public baths in the Panoramic Wagon in order to have a relaxing soak. The entire area was filled to the brim with Demi-humans, Demons, Dragonkin and so on, but the thing that made Homura open his eyes in surprise the most was the sight of Giants, beings who were almost as big as the wagon’s height from the floor to the ceiling, taking a dip along with the members of the smaller races like it was the most natural thing to do under the sun. There was so much for him to comment on that Homura had a legitimate difficulty deciding what he should be addressing in the first place.

According to the notice posted on the bulletin board next to the wagon’s entrance, there apparently was an entire bath reserved solely for the exclusive use of the members of the Eudemon races. As he was racking his brain trying to figure out which entrance to the proper bathing area he should be using, he suddenly felt someone lightly pushing on his back with something sharp, and when he turned around, he saw that a Unicorn was standing there, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, since Homura was sure that he was alone in here until just seconds ago.

「What the… h-hey…!? Oh, h-hello there. What business c-can a Unicorn possibly have with me?!」

「Business? Oh, I have no particular business with you, Cherry Boy. It’s just that there’s something about your presence that resembles someone whom I haven’t seen for a very long time, so I couldn’t help myself but to check it out. By any chance, are you perhaps related to the {No Name} Community?」

「I have no idea what you’re trying to say to me, but I am sure that at least part of it was something extremely rude!」

Not to mention that it would have been pretty problematic if a boy his age already had his cherry popped. Realizing that the boy honestly had no idea what the unicorn was talking about, it instead tapped the bulletin board next to them with the tip of its horn. When Homura came closer and examined the contents of that particular part of the board, he understood that the Unicorn was apparently recommending a specific area of the bathhouse to him.

「What? Are telling me to go use this specific bath?」

「Indeed, that is what I am suggesting. That area is the one where the humanoid guests are gathering, and it is the best place if you want to enjoy the beautiful view of the star-filled sky above. Normally you wouldn’t be able to enjoy it because of the female Spriggans who tend to occupy it most of the time, but today is your lucky day, Cherry Boy.」

「I see. Since you went out of your way to recommend it to me then I guess I will go and check it out… but seriously, just because I cannot understand a word of what you’re saying doesn’t give you the right to trash-talk me, okay?!」

Parting ways with the strange Unicorn, Homura proceeded to go to the panoramic bath with a spring in his steps, but it has to be said that walking side by side with various Demond and Eudemons, most of which could only be described as carnivorous beasts and apex predators required him to muster every last bit of his courage.

(Holy crap…If I knew things were going to turn out this way, I would have asked Tokuteru or Porol to come here with me. That way I could have been that much more at ease.)

Even among other humans, Saigo Homura could be easily called the weakest of the weak, so much so that, to borrow the words Suzuka and Ayato said to Kasukabe You, he would not hurt a fly even if he wanted to do so. That is why even though he honestly wanted to believe that the Eudemons who were civilized enough to get an invitation to watch the Gift Games of the 2^nd War for the Sun’s Authority aboard {Sun Thousand’s} deck would not outright attack any of the Game’s Players without any valid reason, but he would definitely feel much safer if he had someone else here with him. As a result he became more than a little bit paranoid, overly cautious and jumpy as he was on the lookout for the sources of potential danger at every step he took. Finally, one of the individuals who stood by and watched that cringy spectacle of his decided that enough is enough and approached Homura, giving him a gentle tap on his shoulder, which made him jump in place as if he was electrocuted.

「Hey, you. You are one of the Players who appeared in today’s Exhibition Matches, correct? Are you alone in here, by any chance?」

「Eh? Ah, w-well, yes, as a matter of fact, I am. What about it?」