Dragon Ball: Saiyan's Gourmet Journey

Chapter 703 The Justifiable Reason for Breaking into the Bathhouse to See the Light Elf
Lefia snapped out of her daze and saw Miss Ais's hand being held tightly by the Saiyan boy. She had never held Miss Ais's hand like that before.

Just as her eyes trembled and she was consumed by jealousy, Broly looked at her. Noticing the strange look in the elven girl's eyes, he asked, "Miss Lefia, would you like to shake hands with me too?"

"Ah, me...?!"

The elven girl paused for a moment, looking at the boy's small hand that had already separated from Miss Ais's. Suddenly, she thought of a word similar to "indirect kiss"—"indirect handshake." As if possessed, she nodded, blushing, and extended her hand to the boy as well.

Ryu watched from the sidelines as the boy and the thousand spirits of the Loki Familia shook hands in a different way. Unlike the enthusiastic handshake he showed to the swordswoman, he let the spirit girl shake his hand herself and then let her choose to separate. It was a more passive way of shaking hands.

"Ah, Brother Broly, I also want to shake your hand and become your best friend..."

Aside from the swordswoman and elf from Loki's Familia, the others seemed to be spreading the word, all wanting to shake hands with the boy, and Broly responded to each of their requests.

The little girl's grip was a gentle, intimate one, lightly pinching the girl's hand, while the white-haired boy's grip had a larger contact area, like the grip he would use with a trusted companion or friend.

As for Takemikazuchi and the other two, they were too embarrassed to ask if they wanted to shake hands because they weren't very familiar with each other. Broly didn't ask them if they wanted to shake hands like he did with Lefia.

Ryu observed that the Saiyan boy's different handshakes towards different people subtly revealed how much each person meant to him.

Based on her deduction, the order should be: Lilliputian girl > Sword Maiden girl > Elf girl > White-haired boy > herself > Takemikazuchi.

If Seele were to shake his hand, I wonder how he would do so?

Ryu suddenly had this strange idea, and after shaking hands with others, Broly said goodbye to Takemikazuchi and the other two, as well as the two sword princesses.

“Miss Ryu, we plan to pick up Lady Hestia and have her take a bath, then we’ll go to Mistress Bounti’s place for dinner. You’ve been sweating a lot all day, would you like to freshen up at our clan’s residence, maybe take a bath or something?”

Broly asked the elf lady a question, and the swordswoman, who was about to leave, slowed down.

"Oh, is that not necessary?"

Ryu instinctively refused; she wasn't a casual elf who would bathe in someone else's clan's territory.

"Miss Liu, we have a specially built artificial hot spring bath here. Soaking in it after a long day of training will really relieve the fatigue and stress that has accumulated throughout the day. Are you sure you don't want to try it?"

The little girl then tried to seduce her.

Upon hearing this, Yamato no Mikoto, one of the three Takemikazuchi members who had already reached the gate, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

She heard about the key hot spring pool, which, even if artificial, was incredibly appealing to someone like her who loved taking baths.

However, after a moment of change in expression, the girl in the kimono with black hair and a single ponytail left with some difficulty.

[If I get to know Mr. Broly better in the future, maybe I can borrow the hot spring pool at their family's residence...]

She thought to herself that she was still self-aware enough that if she asked to use the bathhouse without a good enough relationship, it might seem very presumptuous.

The girl kept turning back to look at the elf lady, who was also captivated by the hot spring, and saw the hesitant expression on her cool face.

As Ryu imagined the feeling of her body soaking in a warm artificial hot spring, her initial desire to refuse gradually diminished.

"But I didn't bring any change of clothes."

She tried to find reasons to resist the temptation of the hot spring.

"It's alright. If you don't have any change of clothes, I can lend you mine. Although I am a dwarf, Miss Ryu, your physique is actually quite slender. At most, the clothes might look a little short after you put them on, but you should be able to fit into them."

After assessing the female elf's physique, Lilyluka spoke enthusiastically.

"Isn't this not good?"

"Is Miss Ryu looking down on Lily?"

The little girl blinked her watery eyes and looked at her, asking a question.

"Oh, I didn't."

Liu quickly denied it.

"Then let's wash here."

The little girl made the decision for her.

"Uh, well, sorry to bother you."

Having said all that, Ryu felt it was inappropriate to continue refusing.

The little girl took her hand and led the elf to the Hearth Hall to prepare bath supplies for her.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, and by the third time, the other person might feel at home here. Lily Luca's idea of ​​helping Broly meet other women is serious.

Although she felt a little jealous, according to Lady Hestia, this was all about making Broly more outstanding and with more potential, since it involved skills.

"Miss Ais, what's wrong?"

After Broly and Lily Luca entered the Hearth Hall together, Lefia noticed that the Sword Maiden hadn't followed, so she turned around and asked.

"Lefia, why doesn't he invite us to bathe here?"

The naturally naive swordswoman had a somewhat puzzled expression on her face.

"Eh?!"

The elven girl was taken aback for a moment, then blurted out, "Miss Ais, would you like to soak in the hot spring too?"

Upon hearing this, Ais thought for a moment, then shook her head and replied, "No, it's just that even though we're both best friends, I feel like I'm being treated differently."

Just as Ryu felt closer to Broly, Ais also felt closer to the Saiyan boy.

She was the one who came to ask the Saiyan boy for swordsmanship instruction first, but now she felt like her own swordsmanship instructor had been stolen by someone else.

Despite her sixteen-year-old appearance, the Sword Maiden is actually much younger than she looks, like a little girl who hasn't grown up yet.

"Well, perhaps Mr. Broly just knew that our clan's residence also has a bathroom, which is why he didn't invite us."

Lefia felt somewhat speechless, but still managed to say something.

"Oh, is that so?"

"If Miss Ais doesn't think so, then how about we ask Mr. Broly to let us stay here and take a bath?"

"Ugh, never mind, this is too much trouble. I'll bring a change of clothes next time I have the chance to practice swordsmanship here."

Ais shook her head and chose to go back with the elven girl. After she left, Broly and Lilyluka soon came out of the Hearth Hall again.

Heading towards North Street, they went to pick up Hestia. As for Bell, he had already left to find his Miss Anna, as usual.

Only the Elf Lady remained in the Hearth Pavilion. After removing her clothes and washing herself, she stepped into the artificial hot spring bath filled with rising steam.

The 45℃ constant temperature pool water gradually made Liu's face flush red as she soaked in it. After a long day of training, taking a bath like this was really comfortable.

But more importantly, this reminded Ryu of the bathing facilities built for the Astrea Familia when it was still around, which were also temperature-controlled and expensive artificial hot spring pools.

"Haha, we're all women, yet you're still so secretive. You're such shy girls."

"Ah, even if you're all women, don't you feel ashamed to be naked in front of others?"

"Hmph, Ryu, you don't understand. As a righteous person, I have always been upright and aboveboard."

Now, prove to us your sense of justice!

"Hey, how do you prove that?"

"It's simple, take off the towel in front of you and let me see your naked strength!"

"Ugh, this is clearly harassment!"

"No need for further words, get down here."

The red-haired girl lunged at her and ripped off her towel.

"Hmm, you're even younger than me, which means you still have a lot to grow."

"Ugh, what exactly are you trying to make me grow up?!"

"Hey, you guys, stop bullying Ryu."

"Yes, Lady Astrid!"

……

The body of the female elf floated in the spacious bath.

The towel on her body had been spread out, and her beautiful, fair body was faintly visible in the mist that resembled holy light.

"Alicie, Kaguya, Laila, Lady Astraea..."

When Liu came to her senses, she found herself with tears streaming down her face without even realizing it.

Because the body is too relaxed, the mind is also relaxed.

The similar environment reminded her of some things from the past. All those days are now just fleeting memories.

She was soaking in the same artificial hot spring, but the group of companions who used to tease her, joke and banter with her, and whom she considered family, were no longer by her side.

Just as Ryu was lost in memories of the past and becoming a star-crossed couple with her former companions whom she could no longer see, Broly, who had just picked Hestia up from get off work, suddenly received a notification that her happiness level had dropped.

"Ah, Broly, what happened? Why are you rushing back?"

“Lady Hestia, I…” Broly originally wanted to talk about the Crystal Palace panel, but remembering what Lily Luca had said yesterday, that “if you want to meet many people, you should hide it appropriately,” he changed his words and said, “I can sense the mood of the people I want to meet. Just now, Miss Ryu was very happy and cheerful, but now she has suddenly become unhappy and sad. Something may have happened to her, so I need to go back and check on her as soon as possible.”

"Hey, you have this kind of strange ability?"

Hestia was somewhat surprised and couldn't help but ask.

"So how am I feeling right now?"

"I can only perceive happiness and sadness."

Broly looked at his god's stable happiness level and replied.

"Lord Hestia, Brother Broly is very anxious. Let's go back quickly."

The little girl leaned closer, interrupting the loli goddess who was about to ask more questions, and said...

“Well, that makes sense. But that elf lady should be in the Hearth Hall right now. What could have happened to make her sad?”

Hestia nodded and quickened her pace to catch up, but still raised a question.

"I don't know. Perhaps our clan's base was attacked by others and Miss Ryu got caught in the crossfire, or perhaps her old illness suddenly flared up and she's in pain right now..."

The Crystal Palace panel couldn't show the reason for the decline in happiness; the only thing Broly knew was that Ryurion was unhappy.

"There is another possibility."

"Lily Luca suddenly said."

"what?"

Both the human and the god looked at her.

"Miss Ryu may have fainted in the bath."

"Oh, that situation is very dangerous."

Upon hearing this, Hestia exclaimed in surprise.

It is not uncommon for people to faint while soaking in hot springs.

Even at the sacred bathhouse, some goddesses would faint while soaking in the hot tubs.

The family's own hot spring pool is one degree warmer, making it a high-temperature pool.

"Lady Hestia, Lily, I'm heading back now."

"Okay, Broly, the situation is urgent. You should head back to the Hearth House first."

Broly quickened his pace, instantly putting distance between himself and the man and god behind him.

Happiness levels don't drop for no reason; Lily's explanation makes perfect sense.

He didn't want to be too slow on his way back and end up seeing Miss Liu's floating corpse.

With all four abilities activated, and driven by an urgent desire to get back...

Suddenly, a spell appeared in Broly's mind.

【Tempest, Wind Spirit Dash!】

The wind-attribute super-short spell, a unique spell of the sword maiden, appeared on him at this moment. However, unlike the magical wind that simply wrapped around the sword maiden, the wind that appeared on Broly vaguely formed the shape of wings.

. . . . .

Oh dear, I really lost my composure.

I don't think I had a runny nose when I went into this bath, did I?

If it's just tears, does that mean the pool water has been polluted?

It's impossible to change the water in such a large, temperature-controlled hot spring pool every day.

Ryu was somewhat worried that she had polluted the pool water.

[Never mind, I'll still tell them that if they mind, I'll pay for the water change myself.]

Thinking this, the fairy got up and left the bath.

However, they had only taken one step out.

Rapid footsteps came from outside the bathhouse before Ryu could react.

The door to the bathhouse was suddenly pulled open from the outside.

"Miss Liu, are you alright?"

"Puff~"

The female elf swiftly withdrew her foot and collapsed back into the hot spring.

"Oh, Mr. Broly, what are you doing here? Why did you suddenly barge in? Could it be that you invited me to bathe here for this awful purpose?"

Liu pressed her hand tightly against the towel in front of her, her face flushed with embarrassment and anger. She was certain that the other person had seen part of her body, which made her angrily question him. If it had been a stranger, she would have killed him right now.

"Uh, I didn't mean to barge in. I'm so glad you're alright. Sorry, I thought you'd passed out in the bath."

Hearing the elf lady's spirited question, which didn't seem like anything had happened, Broly swiftly left the bath and closed the door behind him without hesitation.

The door slammed shut, startling Ryu, who had just sat back down in the bathtub. After a moment, she realized that she had probably been soaking in the bath for too long, long enough for the other person to return and notice that she hadn't left yet, which had caused her some worry.

[But there's no need to just barge in. They could have simply called out from outside and asked.]

The female elf was in the bath, blowing bubbles, and thinking to herself.

However, considering that the other party directly applied their own swordsmanship when instructing me yesterday, I decided to take a step back and practice.

Ryu immediately understood; it wasn't surprising at all that the other party would barge in for something like this.

In terms of being oblivious to everything, she's somewhat similar to Alexandra...

She thought about it and then left the bath again.

"Mr. Broly, you're not in the changing room, are you?"

Liu arrived at the door and called out a question to the outside.

"No, I'm outside. I've already closed the changing room door for you."

The elf lady's reaction didn't seem like she was currently willing to show him her naked body, so Broly wouldn't do anything that would easily lower his happiness level.

Broly waited outside for a while before the changing room door opened. Miss Ryu, dressed in the clothes of a dwarf girl, looked like she was wearing a tight-fitting crop top. Her hair was slightly damp and stuck to her pretty pink face.

"I'm sorry, it soaked for a bit too long, which caused you unnecessary misunderstanding and worry."

When they met again, the elf bowed very seriously and said these words. Her personality was such that she was very clear about right and wrong. After realizing that it might be her fault, she did not pursue the matter of the boy suddenly barging into the bathroom and seeing her naked body, but apologized instead.

"Are you really okay?"

Broly still had some doubts; the decrease in happiness couldn't have been without reason.

Why does Mr. Broly ask that?

Ryu felt something was off.

"Your eyes are red, as if you've been crying."

Hearing this, Liu pursed her lips.

"It was just soaking in your family's hot spring bath that reminded me of some things from the past, and I felt a little sad, so I cried."

Liu did not hide the fact that she had cried.

“Tears fell in, and maybe some snot too, I’m not sure. If you mind, Mr. Broly, I’m willing to pay for the water change myself.”

"That's alright. The water in our family's hot spring pool is changed every two days."

Broly has water magic, so changing the water is simple for him. The main problem is that reheating the water after changing it is more troublesome, which is why he doesn't change it every day.

Each heating session only consumes a few magic stones, amounting to tens of thousands of falies, which is a trivial matter compared to his earning speed in this world.

(End of this chapter)