"Shit!"
"So we're going too, after all...."
Despite Akumo's curse and Bell's hollow voice, Miach and Naaza spoke as if they hadn't heard a thing.
"What! Bell and Akumo-san are helping too?"
"That is a welcome development!"
Clap-! Clap-! Clap-!
""Did you bring us here with this intention from the start?!""
Regardless of what Akumo and Bell said, their participation was a settled matter for the others. Now, it was time to solve the next problem.
"But how?"
"There wasn't even a gap for anyone other than authorized personnel to enter...."
""You didn't even think that far ahead....""
While everyone(?) was agonizing over the problem, Hermes spoke up.
"....Akumo could use a honey trap to seduce Amid—"
"No." "Absolutely not."
"Ehh.... That's the most certain way, though...?"
""We refuse.""
"Ahaha, Hermes-sama? You're going to get us both killed at this rate."
'I'm not joking, seriously~'
The first proposal was shot down by a triple-layered rejection from Naaza, Cassandra, and Akumo himself. Hermes swallowed his disappointment and offered the second proposal.
"This is where these discount coupons come into play."
Flutter-!
The three discount coupons in Hermes's hand led Akumo and Bell back to the hot springs once again.
"Wow, this is beyond imagination!"
Sizzle-!
"The quality of the water, the scent, the color—no matter how you look at it, it's a natural hot spring~"
"Yes, it doesn't seem like ordinary water."
"But as Naaza said, this basement is just a hollow space within the Dungeon's reach."
Slide-!
"Meaning there's no reason for a hot spring to exist here."
'And piping in hot spring water from elsewhere makes no sense either....'
Bell soaked in the bath alongside Hermes, investigating the water, the building's structure, and the staff's behavior to resolve the mystery, but he couldn't find any significant evidence.
Splash-!
"Where are you going, Hermes-sama?"
"It's part of the operation."
Hermes suddenly began moving somewhere, eventually approaching a decorative fixture where the hot spring water flowed out.
Gulp, gulp-!
"Is he... drinking it?"
"!! No, what are you do—"
Wipe-!
"Phew, the taste is decent enough."
"".....""
"I'm the type who drinks from the hot spring!"
'.....It's a good thing Mikoto isn't seeing this, or she would've drawn her sword.....'
Akumo watched the scene in shock, relieved that Mikoto wasn't there to witness the desecration. However, Hermes spoke as if to invite them as well.
"You guys take a sip too."
"Everything is an experience."
Grin-!
Akumo dismissed it as nonsense and looked away, but Bell, perhaps swayed by Hermes's refreshing smile, ended up drinking the bathwater.
"How should I put it... it's salty, yet sweet...."
"It's good, right? Bell."
Stare—
"Bullsh— Never mind.... Let's just get out of here before we get scolded...."
'Should I just flip this whole place over...?'
"And so, as a result of the enemy reconnaissance, I've confirmed that most of the facility was built according to Naaza-kun's designs."
"Except for a few places, they copied it almost exactly..."
"That's why it's so infuriating!!"
Leaving the fuming Naaza behind, Hermes continued his analysis of the hot spring.
"The pipes carrying the hot spring water were surrounding the interior of the walls, just as designed."
Slide-!
"If that's the case...."
"If they've pulled some kind of trick, it would be in the boiler room on the top floor."
"Exactly. The secret must lie there, in the primary water heating facility where it's easiest to make changes."
Looking at the blueprints, they reached the conclusion that they had to infiltrate the boiler room, the last suspicious location.
"We have no choice but to go. We have Hermes-sama, the [Little Rookie], and Akumo-san on our side."
"Yes. I've only seen a confusing prophetic dream about a woman bashfully brewing soup for this occasion."
"I wonder if that even counts as a prophetic dream.... Cassandra-san."
However, Akumo felt a sense of unease and strangeness as he listened to the contents of Cassandra's dream.
".....?"
'A woman.... brewing....?'
"Uh.... No way....?"
'It couldn't be what I'm thinking, right...?'
Sensing a potential catastrophe, Akumo finally spoke up to stop them.
"Let's stop this."
"""!?"""
"What are you saying all of a sudden! Akumo-san!"
When Daphne angrily demanded an explanation, Akumo laid out the reality of the hot spring situation pragmatically.
"I mean, it wasn't stolen in the first place. You handed it over in exchange for compensation, didn't you?"
"Even so...."
"If the Dian Cecht Familia really has a guilty conscience, I'll talk to Amid and tell her to share the profits—"
"Yes, let's stop after all."
""""!!""""
'Naaza....?'
"Naaza-san, why!"
As everyone else stood in shock, Bell questioned her, and Naaza spoke to them calmly.
"I tried to borrow your strength at first, but this is simply my own stubbornness."
"That hot spring has become a famous landmark in Orario by now."
"It would be a disaster if everyone infiltrated it and got caught."
Seeing Naaza speak of the realistic situation much like Akumo had, Bell felt a bitter sense of emptiness.
"Naaza-san...."
"I'll do the rest alone. I can't cause any more trouble for everyone."
"No, for now, I'll go and talk to Amid—"
BAM—!!!!
The moment Akumo tried to speak, the door suddenly burst open, and Welf appeared, shouting.
"Don't leave your comrades behind!!"
".....Welf?"
"Pant...! Pant...!"
Stomp, stomp-!
"I finally found you both!!!!"
Welf, who seemed to have been searching for them for quite a while, approached them full of anger and began to complain.
Thud-!
"Look at this! My body has completely cooled down!"
"Sorry 'bout that...."
"Bell, you too! Have some restraint!!!!"
"I'm sorry!!"
Furthermore, Welf, who seemed to have overheard some of the conversation from outside, expressed concern about Naaza trying to carry out the plan alone.
"I don't know the details, but a Familia is about supporting each other!"
"Isn't the whole point to cause trouble for one another?"
Resounding—!!
"Even if you say it's just your own stubbornness, that doesn't matter at all!"
"I get it, so calm down.... Welf."
'Did he get a buff from the hot spring.... Why is his voice so loud?'
Having shouted everything out of his system, Welf placed a hand on Bell's shoulder and smiled at Naaza, offering advice.
"Well, anyway, don't try to look cool and shoulder everything alone. Trust your comrades properly."
Grin-!
"Right?"
Moved by his words, Miach, Hermes, Daphne, and Cassandra approached Naaza and smiled with her.
"It's decided then, Naaza."
"Yeah, it looks like we've gained some new comrades too!"
Smirk-!
"The [God of Hot Springs, Kecht] Infiltration Plan! May we proceed, Naaza-kun?"
To her comrades who were worried about her and willing to lend a hand, Naaza also gave a thin smile and expressed her gratitude.
"Yes, thank you.... everyone!"
Slide-!
"We're in your care!"
Of course, there was one person who was still bewildered.
"No, I—"
"Alright then, let's go prepare!"
".....To hell with it~"
'It'll work out somehow~'
After a day or so of preparation(?), they gathered again in the middle of the following night.
"Sigh...."
'Is this really right....?'
Akumo stood atop a building overlooking the hot spring with his comrades, still wearing a reluctant expression.
-'So this is what they call a hot spring.... It's nice.'
-'Right?'
-'But an investigation... there are certainly some suspicious parts...'
-'That's why I'm participating.... but this is....'
For some reason, Akumo couldn't bring himself to tell Alfia about the suspicious parts, and he had no choice but to just enjoy the hot spring and come back out.
"Now, I'll explain the [God of Hot Springs, Kecht] Infiltration Operation once more!"
"First, myself, Bell-kun, and Welf-kun will act as the diversionary team and cause a commotion in the grand bath."
"There are only a few clerks inside, so it'll turn into chaos in no time."
Akumo was dumbfounded by how meticulously Hermes was explaining the plan, as if it were the Xenos incident all over again. He stopped thinking altogether when he saw Naaza, Daphne, and Miach actually wearing invisibility cloaks and adventurer gear.
"When the staff is stretched thin and reinforcements are sent into the bath area."
"I, having already infiltrated the first floor using this, will open the entrance door."
Whoosh-!
"Those of us who burst in through the entrance will rendezvous with Daphne, and use the emergency stairs—where security will be lax—to reach the 4th floor."
"The rest is a straight shot to the boiler room on the top floor."
"And the key point will be how Dian Cecht or Amid-chan move."
From Hermes to Daphne, to Naaza, to Miach, and back to Hermes, their explanation of the operation was filled with a sense of grim determination.
Whoosh-!
"Akumo-san, you should have brought that invisibility thing too!"
"I told you, I left it with Hephaestus-sama for maintenance...."
'Is it because of the Xenos thing last time... she won't give it back...?'
Akumo briefly thought about Gram and Balmung, which he had also left with Hephaestus, before Miach's voice reached him.
"Then, let's go!"
"To the [God of Hot Springs, Kecht]!!"
And so, the plan began.
"Is this really okay....?"
Akumo's head remained filled with nothing but doubts.
The quartet of Hermes, Bell, Welf, and Akumo headed toward the hot spring.
"Um, Hermes-sama. If we do this, will our identities really not be discovered?"
"I'm not hiding anything at all...."
"It's fine, it's fine~ No one even looks at faces, I tell you!"
There stood Welf and Hermes wearing bull and tiger masks, respectively, and Bell wearing a long pink wig. Akumo stood far apart from them, trying his best not to be associated with the group.
"Now, Akumo-kun too!"
Slide-!
"....Are you insane?"
"A-ha! Akumo-kun! You mustn't let your killing intent leak out here!"
Hermes had tried to give Akumo an outfit that would draw massive attention, but he immediately backed down when Akumo dropped his honorifics and radiated genuine bloodlust.
"No, in the first place, if we're just going to run wild in the men's bath and cause a commotion—"
"It's been changed to the women's bath, though?"
".....?"
""What!?""
"Think logically. What's the point of running wild in the men's bath?"
"....."
"Doing it in the women's bath makes things much more... high-stakes in many ways!"
At Hermes's nonchalant words, Akumo fell silent, and then his killing intent began to surge.
A killing intent directed at only one person.
Rumble—!!!
"Akumo... kun?"
Crack-! Crackle-!
"Eeeek!!??"
After the brief moment of shock at his terrifying aura, Akumo made a declaration to them, very quietly but with absolute certainty.
"From now on, we're playing tag."
Grip—!!!
"Out of the kindness of my heart, I'll give you a thirty-second head start."
Akumo, whose veins were bulging in his clenched fists, began to walk toward the counter.
"If I catch you....."
Chilling—!
"I will kill you."
"""We're dead...!!"""