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Chapter 114 Part 2

「When the sun sets, the stone lanterns that have been placed are lit up. As such, we believe going for a walk after taking a hot bath would also give you a pleasant experience in its own way.」

The proprietress spoke to Elena and Martina, who were fascinated by the garden, with a smile.

Yuu also felt that it was indeed an atmospheric place.

At the same time, once night came, he thought it would be a nice place where you could flirt without having to worry about the public eye.

Moreover, the inn did employ security guards, but ultimately, they were stationed outside to prevent trespassers.

Inside, waitresses with a security personnel qualification patrolled the premises, so he was told to call them immediately if anything happened.

He believed that the solidly-built waitress who was following behind them while carrying their luggage was probably one of them.

「Now then, please make yourself at home until dinner time. If you need anything, please give us a call through the intercom.」

After leading them through the corridor to the farthest detached building on the right, the proprietress and the waitresses left.

It was a cozy two-story building, with the first floor guest room reserved for the Hirose family and the second floor used for the security personnel.

Moreover, there was even an indoor bath on the first floor.

When Yuu opened the sliding door and took a peek inside, the refreshing smell of wood immediately tickled his nostrils.

To his surprise, it was a cypress bath.

The bathtub was a little larger than the bath they used at home, and could probably accommodate about 4 people.

The main building was said to have a large public bath, but he would love to give this indoor bath a try as well.

「I cannot thank you enough for allowing us to stay at such a wonderful inn.」

As the representative of the security personnel, Kanako expressed her gratitude to Martina.

The extent to which the security personnel followed the family along on such family outings varied on a case-by-case basis.

In case they were staying at a well-guarded inn like Johokaku, the common practice was for them to stay at a different place and accompany the man when he went around the sightseeing spots.

「Don’t mind it. You’ve always been taking care of Yuu-chan, after all.」

「Indeed. It looks like we can be at ease as long as we stay inside the building, so you guys should enjoy yourselves in the hot spring, too.」

「「T, thank you very much.」」

Touko and the security personnel who served as the driver also bowed their heads with a broad smile on their faces.

In particular, on their way there, the security personnel who served as the driver did say that her hobby was visiting various hot springs, and that she would love to visit Manpou hot spring at least once, so he could tell that she was genuinely happy.

Though, once Kanako and the others went to the second floor, Martina revealed the true reason to them.

「You see, I got a discount coupon from the company. If we stay here in a group of at least four people, including a man, it’s free of charge for the man, and only half the price for the women!」

Seeing Martina giving him a peace sign, Yuu was convinced.

They might have been provided with a generous boy’s allowance, but it wasn’t like she had raised Yuu and Elena as a single mother in vain. Thinking that she was running a fairly tight ship, he saw her in a new light.

「There’s still time until dinner. After taking some break, would you like to explore the inn with big sis?」

「What are you, a child?」

「Isn’t it fine?」

「Don’t go outside, okay? If you want to go outside, be sure to take Kitamura-san and the others with you.」

「Hmm. Well, I guess it’s fine for today.」

As expected, having learned from past experience, Yuu had no intention of going out without permission.

In particular, at a tourist destination on holidays, there might be some women who would act without restraint as soon as they caught sight of a man.

Tomorrow, they planned to visit various famous places, so it should be fine to go on some exploration with his elder sister, like to the garden from earlier, until dinner time.

They had come there on a trip that doubly served as a relaxation time, so he did not intend to cause Martina as well as Kanako and the others any unnecessary worries.

◇ ◇ ◇

Leaving Martina, who said she would like to take some rest in their room, Yuu and Elena spent more than an hour looking around the area inside the traditional building and the atmospheric courtyard.

The last time they went around together like this was when Yuu was in elementary school.

Elena was in such high spirits that it felt like there were feathers on her feet as she held Yuu’s hand and dragged him around.

Perhaps the good-looking pair looked more like young lovers than siblings.

Naturally, they ended up attracting attention from both customers and employees, and as he sensed not only warm gazes, but also envious ones, Yuu felt a little embarrassed.

Even when they were done with their exploration, they still had some time until dinner, so this time, they decided to go to the bathing area together with everyone.

Their destination was the large public bath on the second floor of the main building, which was strictly separated by gender.

It being Saturday afternoon, he later learned that the women’s bath was quite crowded, but in contrast to that, by the time Yuu got there, the men’s bath was occupied by only two guests who appeared to be in their 20s or 30s.

Moreover, for some reason, both of them were covering their private parts.

Yuu, who boldly entered the bath naked, ended up getting avoided, and got to soak in the hot spring alone without engaging in any conversation.

Needless to say, he was able to enjoy the hot spring he had soaked in for the first time in a long time, even if we included the period prior to his rebirth.

◇ ◇ ◇

「Ooh! Incredible!」

「Wow, it looks tasty!」

When Yuu and the others returned from the public bath, the food had already been carried over and arranged on a large wooden table.

Insisting that on such an occasion it was better to eat with a large group, they made the three security personnel sit with them at the table, too.

Incidentally, the three members of the Hirose family changed into yukata after getting out of the bath, but the security personnel were wearing T-shirts and tracksuits.

According to them, this was because wearing a yukata would make it difficult to take action quickly in an emergency.

The miso-marinated grilled pork and small bowls of soba noodles on the table were famous specialties of the Chichibu region.

The small pot, which had been arranged for one person each, was filled with pork, mushrooms, tofu, green onions, and konnyaku.

And sure enough, when it came to a feast, it wouldn’t do without an assortment of sashimi. Even if it was a land-locked prefecture, it didn’t matter.

For some reason, there was even kabayaki eel lined up, and also baskets of edible wild plants and various kinds of vegetable tempura.

The soup was a shijimi clam soup. There was also roasted garlic in foil that gave off a savory aroma, and a salad with avocado and nuts. The whitish lump in the small bowl appeared to be grated yam.

It was such a large amount of food that even Yuu, who was in his growth period, didn’t think he could eat it all up.

「Huh?」

The rice buckets and alcoholic drinks had also arrived, and once the chopsticks and tableware for the number of people had been arranged, Yuu thought that was the end of it, but then he noticed that there was an open space in the middle of the table.

There is still something else coming? Don’t tell me, spiny lobster ikizukuri (fresh sashimi), or something like that? … Nah, it’s one thing if we’re in the coastal area, but I doubt you can get something like that around this area.

There, the proprietress carefully brought a plain box of some kind with both her hands.

Martina alone seemed to know what was coming, and she was staring at Yuu with a wide smile on her face.

Then, the box was opened and the content was brought out.

「Huh?!」

「Amazing!」

It was a large whole cake with fresh cream and strawberries arranged in a circle.

On the plate placed in the middle, 『Happy 16th birthday, Hirose Yuu-sama!』 was drawn in chocolate.

Incidentally, there were 6 candles. This was probably because putting 16 of it would be impossible, as expected.

「S, seriously….」

「Ufufu. I mean, it’s Yuu-chan’s birthday, after all.」

The proprietress went out of her way to light the candles using a lighter.

It seemed that the waitress, who had set the table, would also celebrate it with them.

Once all the candles were lit, they turned off the lights in the room.

In front of Yuu, faint, orange-colored lights were flickering.

The women, including Martina and Elena, started singing 『Happy Birthday』.

When they called out the name, it was a mix of 「Yuu-chan」, 「Yuu」, and 「Yuu-sama」.

On second thought, other than Yuu, this room was filled with nothing but beauties.

Even the driver, although in her 40s, was close to a beautiful mature woman.

「「「「「Happy birthday!!!」」」」」

At the end, everyone clapped their hands and gave him words of congratulations with radiant smiles on their faces.

Yuu felt something hot well up in his chest.

The last time his family celebrated his birthday was probably back when he was in elementary school prior to his rebirth.

As a single-parent household, they did not have much leeway in terms of finances, so not only did his mother always work late to provide for the children, when they entered high school, both his elder sister and Yuu didn’t join any club activities, and instead worked hard in their studies and at part-time jobs to earn their own pocket money.

It wasn’t like they were on bad terms or anything, but due to various reasons, they always did their own things at night.

As he grew up, his birthday turned into a day where he simply turned one year older, holding no special significance whatsoever.

He didn’t really put much stock into it.

After he was reborn in this world, he was perplexed by the excessive amount of love shown to him by his family, but there was no way he wouldn’t feel happy about it. Especially as the spirit of a middle-aged man who had gone through a divorce.

「Well… Y, you’re making me blush…Umm, t, thank you. It makes me so happy.」

Even as he felt his cheeks burn, Yuu looked around at everyone who had congratulated him there and thanked them.

The sight of Yuu getting embarrassed and turning red in the face must have struck their hearts.

「How cute」 and 「H, how precious」 The ones who ended up leaking out their inner voices as they put their hands on their own chests and desperately tried to hold themselves back were the two waitresses.

Even Kanako and Touko, who should have gotten accustomed to seeing Yuu, ended up getting charmed by it and sported a dazed look on their faces.

As expected, perhaps she was accustomed to men. The proprietress, like Martina, was watching over Yuu with a smile like that of a guardian.

Elena, who was sitting next to him, said things like 「Let me feed you」 as she took a quick peek at Yuu’s chest through the collar of his yukata, which he was wearing directly without men’s underwear.