This Is Treatment by Means of Bathing

Author: Iwashi-zukushi
Raw: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n3388fm/33/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

And so we went into the changing room at once.
…The Demon King as well.

“Or rather, why is the Demon King with us!?”
“Of course. I am the largest investor and the highest person responsible for this undertaking.
I have a duty to confirm the completeness and the feel of use.”

As she said it she threw out her chest.
A lie. Absolutely a lie.
She just wanted to enjoy this bathing facility, this!

I glanced at Dorothea, who had been following with a look of resignation since a while ago, and sent her a look of sympathy.
…A smile of inexpressible melancholy came back. I understand…

“No, I can understand that, somewhat.
But public order, or rather Your Majesty’s safety…”
“What a strange thing to say. There is no insolent wretch here who could wound me.
Still less with Gerda and Dorothea here.”
“…Th-that is, indeed, so, but…”

That was right. She was different from a VIP of the human world.
The Demon King herself was a being humans could not begin to match.
On top of that, Gerda, who was clearly off the scale. Dorothea probably was as well.

Even with nothing on at all, harm would not reach her.

“That aside, come, will you not show us at once. What do we do?”
“Ah, e-er, first we take off our clothes in this changing room and go to the washing area, but…”
“I see. Dorothea.”
“Yes. As you will.”

The Demon King nodded at my explanation and spoke to Dorothea.
By the time Dorothea’s voice of assent had ended, Her Majesty was already fully naked.

…Ha??

“Wha, eh, just now, what…??”
“Here, Asha. Even if it is the same sex, do not stare so.”
“Ah, I beg your pardon!”

Done so openly, I rather felt as if I were the one in the wrong.
…No, it is a changing room, so the Demon King is correct…?
No good. I was about to be completely carried along.

“Come, what is the point of me alone being undressed. Will you not undress as well?”
“Ah, y-yes!”

Yes. I was already completely under the Demon King’s rule.
As told, I took off the clothes I was wearing.
…I feel gazes, somehow.

“Kira, what’s wrong?”
“Ah, no, um… I just thought it was a little embarrassing.”
“Ah, well, that would be so.”

When we washed hair for the presentation before it had been only Gerda and me, but now there were many people.
Undressing in front of that might be a high hurdle for Kira.
I, incidentally, did not mind, and Gerda was already undressed. As expected of a soldier.

“Here, I’m taking mine off too, so together it’s fine, right?”
“Y-yes…”

To push Kira’s back, I took all my clothes off.
Seeing me, Kira began to undress, hesitantly.
…That she kept glancing at me an awful lot was my imagination, right?

Incidentally, the Demon King was, as expected, perfect in volume and shape and color. No, I don’t know what I mean.
Dorothea, too, had a capable-secretary sort of nice figure.
Nora the dwarf had a round body and yet not that much of a macho feel; she had a more girlish body than I had thought.

Gerda had a well-toned body and yet a solid sense of volume.
The surprise was Kira.
She had probably been hiding her figure in baggy clothes every day; she seemed second only to the Demon King in volume.

…To be honest, this me’s body has a reasonably good style.
I think I have quite a bit of chest as well. I have never measured, but I think it is around a C-cup or a D-cup.
And yet why am I the smallest in this group!?

Is that it? Do cheat people have cheat figures too!?

“Come, why are you sinking. What do we do next?”

And the Demon King exposed that body in front of me, as if to show it off.
I could not say it’s your fault if my mouth split.

“Ah, I’m sorry. Next, please come this way.”

And I showed them to the washing area.
There were stools to sit on here and there, and near them a small channel with hot water running through it.
From there you scoop hot water with a hand pail and each wash your body.

I really wanted to put on faucets, you know~… there’s no rubber, so we can’t make packing to stop leaks.
I think that will be something to consult Nora about going forward.
I did have them design it so faucets can be attached in the future.

“This is the washing area, so please sit on the stools.
Scoop hot water like this… wet the tenugui you have, or this sponge, and then rub soap on it.”

And I showed them by doing it.
…Everyone staring intently while I was naked was, somehow, embarrassing.
I knew they weren’t looking at my nakedness as such, though.

At any rate, I first showed them working up a lather with the tenugui.
This was a pile-fabric towel I had asked Stella for; several, including prototypes, had made it in time.
Of course I had had bath towels made as well.
With these, the absorbency was clearly different.
If you cannot wipe hair and body properly after a bath it becomes a source of colds. That would be putting the cart before the horse.

The Demon King and Dorothea, seeing lather raised for the first time, watched with deep interest.
Nora and Gerda were saying this and that about the feel of the sponge.
That everyone was interested in their own way made me a little glad.
I would have liked to have a back-scraper ready too, but that would be later.

“Once you’ve raised enough lather, you rub the body.
This part is no different from wiping the body… but a little stronger is probably better.
And the lather will probably go as you rub, so when it does, rinse the tenugui like this and put soap on again.”

…Embarrassingly, as I explained while rubbing my arm, the lather vanished.
Well, a considerable amount of grime had probably built up until now…
At any rate I showed them rinsing, and worked up a lather again.

“You wash like this, but the back is hard to wash, so having someone wash it for you is fine as well.”

I did introduce a way of stretching the tenugui and washing your own back, but in practice it does not rub the back that much.
If we were used to bathing it would be one thing, but with us as we are now, this would not wash us through.
To be honest, a considerable amount of grime had built up.

“I see. Then, Asha, I permit you to touch me.
Show me how to wash.”
“Y-yes!? Eh, e-er… is it all right…?”

As she said it the Demon King sat on the stool with ample composure.
Naked. On a wooden stool in the bath.
Very surreal… the charisma that does not vanish even in this situation is even more surreal.

While asking the Demon King’s leave, my gaze rather went toward Dorothea.
With a face as if she had understood something, she nodded, looking rather apologetic.
Ah… it is hard, in various ways…

“I say it is well, so there is no problem, I take it?”
“Y-yes. As you will. Then, if I may…”

As I said it I went behind the Demon King.
To be honest, I thought it quite an honor.

Long ago in Europe, barbers and tailors were apparently special work.
However important a person, they could not go without having their hair cut, and precisely because they were important they could not go without having clothes made.
That being so, barbers and tailors, professions that stood behind such people with scissors and razors and needles, would have been special work.
Incidentally, barbers were also a profession that could perform a surgical procedure called bloodletting.
That is why a barber’s sign pole is composed of red for arteries, blue for veins, and white for bandages.
To be precise, there are still various theories, apparently.

At any rate I had been entrusted with the Demon King’s back; I had to wash it with the utmost care, reverently.

“Then I shall take the liberty of your back.”
“Yes. You may be at ease.”

What was this, exchanging lines as if from a period drama, as I went behind the Demon King.
The back turned to me was white as snow, and the moist, soft skin was such that you wanted to keep touching it forever.
No, I am not touching it directly? Through the tenugui?

“Nn… I see. This is… a comfort that seems likely to become a habit.”
“Y-yes, thank you, I am honored.”

At the pleased-sounding voice my own threatened to go shrill.
No, no. Away, worldly desires, away.
I am a sansuke, a woman who only washes backs.
Telling myself that, I rubbed, emptying my mind.

Even so, I could not goshi goshi forever.
I enjoyed it thoroughly, and though the lingering regret would not end, I had no choice but to rinse the back.

“And the hair we wash here as well.
…Er.”
“Yes. I permit it. Wash.”

At the Demon King’s words I glanced at Dorothea again.
I was touching a vital organ like the head directly, so of course I would be careful.
She nodded, small; I nodded back and reached for the shampoo.

“The hair we wash with this soap thinned in water. We call it shampoo.
First I will rinse the hair with hot water, so may I have you close your eyes?”
“Yes. Like this?”

Seeing the Demon King close her eyes, I poured hot water, first gently, then more and more, and rinsed.
When I had rinsed to some extent I took the shampoo, worked up a lather, and applied it to the hair.
First the scalp, stroking as if massaging with the pads of my fingers.
With the image of working oil and dirt out of the scalp.

“Hoh… a most interesting sensation, this.”
“Yes. It feels as if the blood flow in the head improves, doesn’t it.”

Apparently it had pleased the Demon King.
Then I ran the lather through as if combing the hair with my fingers, worked it through the whole, and so on.
At the end I used hot water lavishly, zabaa zabaa, and rinsed again and again, carefully.
When I had finished rinsing I blotted the water from the hair lightly with a towel, wrung it, and gathered the hair up in the towel.

“Yes. That is the full sequence.”
“Yes. A truly pleasant sensation. I may rely on you from here on as well.”
“No, um, I am honored, but that is, how to put it…”

Being called every time the Demon King came here, to wash her back.
That was… I wondered. No, washing her back itself was truly an honor, and I would not begrudge it.

“Ah, Dorothea, you have your back washed as well.
It is truly pleasant, and you must learn the strength of hand.”
“Yes. As you will.
Then, Asha, please.”
“Um… understood. Then, if I may.”

And so I went behind Dorothea.

…Lewd.
The Demon King’s back had been a perfect work of art.
Dorothea’s back was of course beautiful as well… but there was a rawness, a fleshy softness.
The hips, sitting on the stool, with the plump texture emphasized, were especially something.

So calm down. Away, worldly desires, away.

And I was washing Dorothea’s back and hair when.

“Asha, may I ask as well?”
“May I as well?”
“M-me too…”

Voices came one after another.

“I-I understand. I’ll do it!”

Why is everyone trying to have me do it!?
You three can wash your own hair, surely!
I thought, even as I turned at full speed and washed everyone’s backs.