The Meat of the Lowly
“Raina… I’m going on a mission. A harsh… very harsh mission.”
“Yeah.”
“So tonight… if I can return… may I come to your place, Raina?”
“Yeah Yeah.”
“Thank you, Raina… now I have no regrets left.”
Raina is staring at me with dead fish eyes.
“Why does Mongrel-senpai start talking like that just from taking a bath?”
Yes, after today’s mission ends, I was planning to use my second bath usage right at Artemis.
I heard that Nastasha will be at the clan house all day today. Then it would be a chance to have her prepare a bath.
“This is what you call a flag.”
“Furagu…”
“Well, it’s like a good luck charm.”
“What is that… Well, whatever… I’ll tell Nastasha-senpai and the others too.”
And so, my plan for today was decided.
Work hard, then take a bath. Perfect. It makes me motivated for work too.
“Alright, let’s work hard!”
“So damn loud…”
“What’s with this guy…”
“A guildsman…? And Bronze 3 at that? Why is he in a place like this…”
I’m currently at a construction site outside Legol’s east gate.
With the expansion of Legol’s outer walls, we’re developing this wide eastern area.
Since we’re expanding the city, it’s going to be a massive construction project.
We don’t go as far as drilling reinforced concrete into bedrock, but we do foundation work. Without heavy machinery. In that sense, it might be more back-breaking labor than construction work in my previous life.
And what’s being carried out today is the construction of the sewage system.
Some excavation work has already been done to a certain extent, and the rough structure of the sewers has become visible through stone and brick materials. That said, there are still many parts that aren’t finished yet. But since it would be problematic if mud flowed in every time it rained, the work is being rushed with a workforce mobilization strategy.
However, heavy labor in the summer is extremely tough. They don’t want to spend money on labor costs either.
So who do they mobilize in such situations? That’s right. Criminal slaves.
“The sewers are the lifeblood of the city. Nobody wants to live in a shit-smelling town. If you live in a constantly shit-smelling place, you’ll be more susceptible to nasty diseases too. So the work we’re doing is extremely important. You get that?”
“…You’re not even a soldier, yet you’re pretty motivated.”
“I don’t give a damn about doing it for the city or whatever.”
Well, morale at the site is low. For these guys, it’s like part of their punishment after all.
Still, I tried giving them a pep talk thinking maybe there’d be someone motivated among them, but I guess that’s difficult.
Can’t help it. I’ll do some physical labor myself then.
This is pretty shabby work equivalent to Iron-rank, but it’s a facility I’d personally appreciate if it were completed quickly. I’ll speed up the construction with my manpower.
“H-hey, you. You’re Mongrel-san, right? That’s right, isn’t it?”
“Oh? …Oh yeah, what is it? I do remember you. But sorry, I can’t quite recall your name.”
“It’s Rody. I’m the idiot who got caught by you and thrown into criminal slavery.”
What I thought was a stranger calling out to me turned out to be someone I knew.
He was an Iron-class guildman who had been setting illegal traps when I investigated Baroa Forest with Artemis members last autumn.
I had him arrested and handed over to the guards at that time… but in the time I haven’t seen him, he might have gotten a bit thinner.
“It’s kind of weird for the guy who caught you to say this, but how is it? Life as a criminal slave.”
“It’s the absolute worst. The bed is shabby and the food tastes terrible. I’m craving meat.”
When I tried to carry the excavated soil, Rody grabbed the wheelbarrow handle as if to take the job from me.
“What, you’re going to help me out?”
“This is work too. Of course I’ll help. …If I work seriously, my treatment gets better. Mongrel-san, you were right about that. Thanks to that advice, I’m able to do not-so-bad work, even if it’s just a little.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Even while working, can we talk? I’m starving for conversation with someone I know.”
“Of course that’s fine. Well then, let’s work together.”
“Hehe. It’s a weird feeling having a guildman mixed in with us doing labor. Makes me feel like I’m a free man or something.”
Rody is a young man around twenty years old.
Considering he was setting illegal traps originally, he was probably skilled and had real ability as a hunter.
But that was all crushed when he fell into criminal slavery. What a waste. If he had done things properly, he’d probably be Iron 3 by now.
“I can’t do the work I want to do here, so I’m really suffering. I’m separated from my companions too, and the guys in my cell have unpleasant personalities… Honestly, I regret the illegal trap thing many times over. Even now, every night before sleeping.”
“Is it tough?”
“Well, yeah. But like I said earlier, thanks to being liked by the guards, I’m not being treated horribly anymore. I haven’t been bullied or anything, not yet.”
“I see. You were fortunate.”
“I can get out soon, apparently. …Next time I’ll hunt with proper traps, not illegal ones. Then I’ll eat all the meat I want.”
“They hardly give you any meat, huh?”
“It doesn’t. Just oatmeal all the time. Occasionally there’s something like scrap meat floating in the soup… Phew, it’s hot today…”
“…Yeah.”
If you work seriously, even as a criminal slave, you get treated like a model prisoner.
At least it would speed up your release compared to being sulky and taking a rebellious attitude.
His crime was also a light one, so it probably won’t take much time.
“Hey Rody, over here, over here.”
“Eh? What is it, Mongrel-san…”
“Make sure the other guys don’t see you and eat this.”
“…”
What I held out to Rody was a piece of jerky.
It was completely ordinary jerky made from Crazy Boar. However, it was a fine piece with the best spices I could manage, seasoned to perfection.
Rody showed a slightly troubled expression before silently putting the jerky in his mouth.
Then, as if to hide the momentary guilt, he returned to the work of carrying soil.
“How is it? The taste?”
It’s just preserved food after all. It doesn’t have any of the juiciness of grilled fresh meat.
Even so, a single tear ran down Rody’s profile as he chewed the jerky over and over.
“…It’s delicious. Really delicious… I want to hunt boar again…”
“Let’s keep working seriously. You’ll be back to that kind of life soon enough.”
“Yeah…”
The work went well that day. Speaking of the whole project, there’s still a long way to go, but at least the progress in the section where we were wasn’t bad.
While making some sarcastic remarks to the soldier who had been slacking off on supervision for more than half the time, I did mention that Rody’s work had been good.
I don’t know whether that will have an effect or not, but I hope it rolls in a good direction.
“And now for a bath.”
The criminal slaves will probably just splash themselves with water at best after that, but I intend to enjoy a proper clean bath.
Sorry, Rody-kun. I’m the type who wants to take a bath after getting covered in dirt… I’ll get myself cleaned up alone…
“Excuse me~”
“Ah, Mongrel-senpai. Good work today. Taking a bath, huh… Wait, you’re pretty dirty.”
“Work got me a bit messy. Well, I came here intending to indulge in the bath. I won’t dirty the hallway, so forgive me.”
“No, I don’t mind at all. It’s just unusual seeing you dirty, that’s all. Nastasha-san is already preparing, so please wait in the lobby until the hot water is ready.”
“Nah, I can’t very well dirty things up dressed like this.”
While I was talking with Raina at the entrance, Nastasha walked out from the back with her sleeves wet.
“The bath is ready. Take your time and enjoy it, Mongrel.”
“Oh, sorry about that, Nastasha. I’ll gratefully savor it.”
“Don’t you have beer prepared like before today?”
“Ah, I wanted to bring some, but I forgot. Well, it’s not really necessary anyway. The important thing is the bath itself.”
“Call if you need anything.”
“Right.”
Into the clan house and to the changing room.
Man, this really is a beautiful building. “Sword of Harvest” should keep things this clean normally too…
Anyway, I quickly undressed and went straight to the bathroom.
I used a hand basin to wash the dirt off my body, washing and washing… really thoroughly washing…
At the minimum timing when I felt like I’d performed proper purification as a modern person, I got into the hot water.
Splash. …Aaahhh…
“It’s different from the lake… as expected…”
The lake I swam in before was decent enough for washing off dirt, but hot water is really the way to go.
There’s invisible dirt that absolutely won’t come off with just water, that can’t be wiped away even with ash… that kind of thing only dissolves when you soak in hot water for the first time…
I ended up saying it in a roundabout way, but in short, baths are the best…
“…Mongrel-san, are you in there?”
“Oh? Ulrika, huh. What is it?”
“…Excuse me…”
“Hey, wait now.”
Before I could stop him, Ulrika entered the bathroom.
“Ehehe, it’s my first time bathing with someone else… feels kind of strange…”
And he’s undressed too.
Ulrika’s waist was wrapped in cloth, leaving the chest and shoulders bare. And seeing Ulrika like that, I finally got the real feeling that, ah, this guy really was male after all.
But even though we’re both guys, this is still a personal bath. Having my solitary bath time interrupted is a bit…
“Ulrika, you see, I wanted a lonely, quiet, and luxurious bath…”
“Here, I brought this ale for you, Mongrel-san!”
“…Seriously?”
“And Nastasha-san chilled it for me too. How’s that? Aren’t I great?”
I took the ale for now and had a sip. …Ah, delicious… Cold ale while soaking in a hot bath is the best…
“Also… well, if you don’t like it that’s fine, but… should I wash your back or something? You know, it’s hard to reach, right? I’m always being helped by you, so… only if you really don’t mind though…”
“…I don’t remember doing anything for you guys to warrant that kind of gratitude.”
But the fact that he entered the bathroom like this, maybe Ulrika was also feeling lonely living in this all-female environment.
With a face like that, he’d probably be targeted by troublesome men if he went to a public bathhouse…
“Can’t help it. Then can I leave washing my back to you?”
“Eh, really? Is that okay?”
“We’re both men having a naked friendship. Of course, Ulrika, you should also wash your body thoroughly with hot water first. Anyone who doesn’t wash their body before entering the bath is the same as a goblin, regardless of gender. Got it?”
“Y-yeah. I’ll do that… I don’t want to be treated like a goblin…”
After warming up in the bath for a while, I had Ulrika wash my back.
I could wash it myself using a long cloth, but it would be like washing with a hand towel that could be found anywhere, and with weak cleaning agents. Having lived that kind of life for many years, maybe my back is terribly dirty.
“How is it, Ulrika? Isn’t my back dirty? What about the center of my back, around below my neck? Is it discolored or anything?”
“N-no, it’s perfectly normal…? Mongrel-san, you worry about strange things… like a girl…”
“I can’t see it myself, so it can’t be helped. …Ah, it feels like the dirt is coming off…”
Previously, I enjoyed a bath where I was literally washed by a super high-class prostitute, bbut she glared at me like she really didn’t want to be there… that I couldn’t relax…
I wonder what that girl is doing now…
“…There, finished. Next is the front, right?”
“I’ll do the front myself.”
“Ahaha, I guess so…”
“Should I wash Ulrika’s back too?”
“Eh, eh? N-no… yeah, if Mongrel-san doesn’t mind, could you please…?”
“Don’t worry about it. Come on, turn around.”
“…Yeah.”
While washing Ulrika’s back, what comes to mind are memories from my previous life.
The skin wasn’t this smooth, but I used to wash my grandfather like this often before he went into the nursing home…
“Nn, ah…”
“Oh, sorry. Did that hurt?”
“I’m fine, totally fine… i-it’s okay to stop now. Let’s rinse off.”
“You sure? Well, yeah.”
Enjoying the ale while soaking in the bath tub again. What a luxurious time.
It’s good to stretch out your legs and soak in the bathtub alone, but now I’m sitting side by side with Ulrika in the bath.
Since we used so much of the bathtub’s hot water for washing our bodies and the water level had dropped, in a way it was good to have two people.
This cramped feeling is somehow nostalgic too.
“Mongrel-san… have you taken baths like this before?”
“Ah, well, I’ve been in something similar before. It wasn’t as magnificent a bath as this one though.”
Actually, it was a seamless bathtub that you could enjoy at the push of a button, but talking honestly about that would just confuse him, so I’ll stop.
“When I had some leisure time… that’s right, I would heat up water in a container and get in. …It was a luxury I could afford because I had a certain amount of freedom in the pioneer village.”
“I see…”
“What about you, Ulrika? Haven’t you ever taken baths like this before?”
“Eh, my house didn’t have anything like that… I just bathed in the nearby spring. But even that felt good. I originally liked that kind of thing, so… I was really glad to be able to join Artemis.”
A spring, huh. He mentioned something like that before too.
A spring sounds nice. If there had been something that convenient, pioneering in Struve would have been a bit easier.
“Hey, I might be persistent, but won’t you come to Artemis, Mongrel-san? We have baths too, you know?”
“My heart is really wavering, but no.”
“…Raina is also getting promoted and becoming Silver. Mongrel-san could also rise to Silver with us.”
“I’ll refuse no matter how many times you ask. I’d suffocate in a place full of women…”
“Me too. If it were other men, but… with Mongrel-san, it would be fine, you know?”
Something about… that way of saying it is kind of sexy…
No, that’s an illusion. Calm down, calm down.
“It’s not like I hate Artemis. I want to do things that I can only do because I’m solo and Bronze-rank. …Well, avoiding the draft is more than half the reason too.”
Even Bronze-rank can be taken in parties for conscription.
That’s one thing I want to prevent. More than anything, well, it’s about freedom of action.
“Mmm… No matter how many times I invite you, you won’t be swayed, Mongrel-san…”
“I get invitations from ‘Sword of Harvest’ and ‘Earth Shield’ sometimes too, but I turn them all down. Artemis is the same.”
“Eh, really…? Other parties too…”
Well, the others aren’t particularly enthusiastic invitations anyway. I politely declined them.
“…Then, then maybe I should try seducing you, Mongrel-san, or something, ahaha…”
“…”
“…Please say something…”
I mean, you’re saying that with your face all red like a boiled octopus.
“If you think something is embarrassing yourself, don’t say it out loud…”
“…I’m getting out!”
“Ah, you’re angry.”
“I’m not angry! Hmph!”
With a splash, Ulrika got out of the bathtub and fled to the changing room.
…With one person gone, the water level gets shallow…
Stretching my legs in the bathtub that was mine alone again, I downed the remaining ale.
…Yeah. A full body bath with ale. Bad for you but the best combination.
I wonder if I could enjoy bath and alcohol together like this again on some other occasion.
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