It had been two days since Astra had joined the party.

  And having been through quite a bit up to this point, Domino decided it was a good time to take a break and the group stopped at a bathhouse not too far from their next battle.

  Arriving at said bathhouse, Quinta noticed it was run by an elf and demi-human couple. Making her think about her own situation with Rorio which caused her to smile while looking at said companion with hearts in her eyes.

  “That’s gonna be us one of these days Rorio!”.

  Those words resulted in a straight knock to the noggin as she crashed to the ground rubbing her head in withering pain.

  “Can you stop with your delusions already!? It’s really starting to piss me off.” Rorio grumbled angrily.

  Quinta just continued to rub her head. Not bothering to respond to Rorio.

  Once the group set up and checked into the bathhouse they went their separate ways.

  Quinta, Astra, and Risa walked over to their rooms and found odd looking things called Yukatas inside that somehow fit all of them perfectly. The elf woman at the counter said they made those for after the baths and the girls were welcome to wear them after they were done.

  After relaxing for a bit, the girls decided it was time for them to take a bath.

  They stepped out into the room labeled as “Outdoor Baths” and went into the women’s section.

  Quinta looked around confused for a moment.

  “What’s wrong Quinta?” Risa asked.

  Quinta turned to her with a disappointed look.

  “I keep looking around, but I can’t seem to locate the mixed bath section. Dang it! And here I was hoping to win over Rorio with my womanly charm!”

  Risa just chuckled awkwardly having no idea how to respond to that statement.

  The three entered the bath to find steamy warm water awaiting them.

  The bath looked similar to the kind of outdoor baths you see in Japan, with a floor that was textured to look like rocks and smooth stones that surrounded the bath.

  The three slipped into the bath and relaxed.

  After that, there was silence between them for a bit before Risa decided to speak up.

  “So....what do girls talk about in the bath?”

  Astra looked at her in surprise.

  “Wait! You don’t know what they talk about either!?”

  “Nope. I’ve been trained as a knight since I was a child. I never really had the chance to do stuff like this.”

  “Dang. I’m kinda in a similar boat. The other goddesses never invited me so I never got to experience it myself.”

  Both Risa and Astra tried chuckling off this awkward situation before sinking into the water. Quinta just laughed confidently.

  Risa turned to her.

  “Do you know what girls talk about in the bath?” She asked.

  Quinta smirked.

  “It’s simple. We talk about peeping into the boy's bath of course!”

  “......”

  There was silence between the three girls until both Risa and Astra gawked in surprise.

  “HUH!?!” both girls shouted in unison.

  “Heh. You guys just don’t get it. We’re currently at the peak of our youth right now! While you might be older than us Astra, we all have urges that need to be quenched. And the way to satisfy those urges is by getting to see a glimpse of the nude male body!” Quinta shouted proudly as her chest bounced with every hearty laugh.

  Astra didn’t seem to catch Quina’s words as she was too busy staring at each girl and comparing sizes.

  Risa, however, looked at Quinta as she blushed a deep red.

  “Uh...I may not know much about bath talk etiquette, b-but even I’m sure that’s not something that people would normally talk about in the bath!” she stuttered nervously.

  Quinta just zoomed over to the wall as her wet purple hair flowed in the wind and her ears perked up as two voices could be heard from the other side.

  “Huh...this place is kinda spacious. That’s a relief.”

  “Why do you make it sound like it’s such a big deal?”

  “Because it means I can stay a good distance away from you and still enjoy the bath.”

  “Wha-! I’ll have you know Rorio that my physique is actually quite nice!”

  “Don’t care.”

  The two voices continued to argue as Quinta listened in.

  Domino and Rorio were right behind the wall next to them.

  Watching what Quinta was doing, Risa started to feel her own curiosity grow.

  Finally giving in, Risa walked over to the wall next to Quinta and listened to the ongoing conversation.

  While she didn’t agree with anything Quinta had said, she was curious about what the boys were saying.

  Rorio and Domino didn’t know if there was a specific topic that needed to be brought up in the bath, so the two just talked about normal stuff for a little while.

  But then, Domino decided to make things interesting.

  “Hey, Rorio. What are your thoughts on our traveling partners?”

  “Hm? What do you mean?”

  “Well, we're traveling with three pretty cute girls. We may even meet more on the way. I just wanted to know your thoughts on them.”

  Rorio pondered the question for a moment. Even Astra found herself leaning against the wall as all three listened as best they could.

  “While I don’t really like talking about this stuff, I think Astra’s kinda annoying.”

  Astra froze in place, not sure whether to be angry or sad.

  “I see. Well, I guess I can kinda get where you're coming from.”

  Astra tensed up. Not ready to hear Domino say that.

  But then, Rorio continued.

  “However, she did cheer me up after my sister's death. So while she is annoying, I think she’s a good person.”

  Hearing that, Astra beamed confidently before sitting back down in the bath and sinking her head into the water with a stupid grin on her face.

  “As for Quinta, I find her kind of cute-”

  Quinta’s eyes started to sparkle.

  “-but she’s also kind of weird.”

  Quinta felt like an anvil rammed her in the head when he said that.

  “Well, the chick’s crazy for you man. She’s probably the first girl who’s ever shown any interest. Maybe you should give her a chance.”

  “Hm...maybe..”

  Hearing she might have a shot, Quinta’s spirit was immediately lifted and she jumped over the wall and tried to tackle Rorio.

  “Rorio!”

  She was immediately met with a punch that sent her flying back with a crash!

  “...not!”

  Apparently, Rorio knew they were listening now. This made Risa nervous as to how to approach the situation.

  But then, Rorio kept talking as if nothing had happened.

  “As for Risa, I think she’s a good person. She’s a good cook, she listens to me when we train, she’s someone I can trust to handle herself, and she’s really cute. I think she has a lot of potential as an adventurer, and I don’t regret saving her even a little bit from that stupid slave trader. I truly think that she’s one of the few people I can call a friend.”

  Risa could feel her face flush red.

  Quinta later described how she looked red as a tomato which embarrassed Risa even more.

  After a few minutes of steam rising out of Risa’s head, she could hear Rorio getting out.

  “Well, I’m gonna head back to my room now. I recommend not staying too long though. Those girls are probably still listening.”

  Domino chuckled.

  “You got it. Talk to you later.”

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  Rorio left the baths and Risa finally managed to calm herself.

  She sat back down in the bath with the other girls while an awkward silence hung over them.

  In the end, Astra suggested they go back to their room and the other two agreed.

  They went back and put on the yukatas they had been waiting to change into and made it back to their room.

  Unlike Rorio and Domino who had separate rooms, the girls all shared one room.

  The only reason Domino and Rorio had separate rooms was because Rorio didn’t like the idea of having to share a room with another guy.

  Thus, this compromise was created.

  The girls all sat in their square room that was designed to look like an inn you’d find in a normal Japanese bathhouse hotel with paper-thin walls, along with what felt like a cardboard wood floor.

  The girls were sitting in the middle of the empty room with only sleeping mats taking up any space when Astra pulled out something with a mischievous smile on her face.

  “So...You girls wanna play a game?”

  Rorio has just finished his bath and finished changing back into his normal clothes.

  The bathhouse offered yukatas to all the guests, but he just felt the best in his adventure outfit so he ended up washing it and putting it back on.

  Now he was just walking through the hall as he let out a yawn.

  Suddenly, he heard whispers from a room not too far from him.

  He remembered it being the girl's room, so he walked over to it and knocked.

  The whispers immediately grew silent and Rorio took that as a sign to leave.

  But just as he was about to step away, he felt himself being yanked back by multiple hands which made it impossible to regain his footing as he was dragged in with the door closing behind him.

  Rorio groaned and rubbed his head as his vision started to clear.

  He looked up to find two people standing in front of him.

  He didn’t know why, but he felt a chill run down his spine.

  “Risa?....Quinta?....You okay?” He asks nervously.

  Risa and Quinta just stared at him which didn’t help to calm his nerves.

  “Rorio...” Risa suddenly spoke up in an odd tone.

  “Y...Yeah?”

  “I need you to kiss me.”

  “.....Huh?

  Rorio felt the chill vanish as he looked up to see Risa and Quinta were wobbly and unstable.

  “Risa...are you drunk?”

  Risa hiccuped.

  “That’s not important right now! Astra said I’m not a big girl unless I’ve kissed a guy! I need to kiss one to prove I’m a big girl!” Risa mumbled on the verge of tears.

  Rorio just watched, confused.

  “Hey, Risa! No stealing my love! How dare you even consider doing that! Why would you be so cruel?!” Quinta started crying next to her as she muttered nonsense about her and Rorio’s future.

  A vein started to pulse on Rorio’s head.

  “The hell?” He muttered, annoyed.

  He turned to find Astra sitting nearby with a bottle of high-quality whisky in her hand.

  “Eh heh heh. Now this is a party!”

  Rorio felt another vein pulse on his head as he stood up.

  Risa and Quinta grabbed onto his feet.

  “No! Don’t leave me, my love!”

  “Waah! Hold me Rorio!”

  After many heavy steps, Rorio finally reached Astra who was still laughing to herself.

  “Dammit Astra! What were you thinking giving these girls alcohol!? They clearly weren’t ready for such a thing!!”

  Astra hiccuped.

  “Oh lighten up Rorio! Here, have some good booze.”

  Astra extended the bottle up to Rorio who growled in frustration.

  He then picked up a cup that one of the girls had drunk out of. Pouring a little alcohol into the cup, Rorio gulped it down.

  Astra smiled.

  “Do you feel better now Rorio?” She asked happily.

  Rorio was silent for a moment....then sent the booze flying out the room's open window.

  “MY BOOZE!”

  Astra tried running after the bottle but Rorio grabbed hold of her.

  “Will you just act your freaking age for once!? You're acting like a deadbeat without a job!”

  Astra continued to sob at the lost bottle of alcohol.

  Rorio let out a sigh before being yanked down by Quinta who hugged his arm to her chest.

  “Hey! Don’t ignore me! I need to show you how much I love you Rorio!”

  Rorio didn’t know what he was expecting, but of course, he knew the effects of the alcohol wouldn’t go away immediately.

  However, he really didn’t want to be here while the effects were still in play.

  He kept trying to get up, but Quinta was serious and continued to cling to him tightly.

  “No fair Quinta! Why are you basically forcing him into your boobs!” Risa shouted aloud.

  Rorio tried to keep his composure as Risa clung to him as well.

  “At least I have boobs! Unlike you Miss Flat Chest!”

  Risa pouted at Quinta’s comment.

  “Shut up!” she shouted back.

  Rorio was feeling extremely uncomfortable at this point.

  However, a moment later, he heard a door slide open and the girl's shouts of surprise could be heard as he was suddenly yanked away and the door closed up behind him before Domino plopped Rorio on the ground.

  “Phew. Looked like you were in quite the pickle there.”

  Rorio looked at Domino before sighing.

  “I’d like to make an excuse, but I'm too tired. Let’s just get back to our rooms.”

  Rorio got up and started walking back to his room as Domino stood in the hallway before letting out a chuckle.

  “You're one lucky guy Rorio. Never in a million years did I think you’d actually have women fighting for your attention. Even if it was due to drinks. You're almost making me jealous.”

  After that, Domino made his way back to his own room. Grinning over what he had just witnessed

  The next morning, Risa stood off to the side, embarrassed at what she’d said last night. Meanwhile, Rorio shouted at Astra for letting the girls try alcohol and Domino was trying to help Quinta who had an aching headache and was trying not to puke.

  After a little bit longer, the group left the strange bathhouse location and continued their journey. One thing was sure, no one would be forgetting that experience any time soon.

  Returning to their adventure, Domino and Rorio talked about different strategies to defeat the next Creator Knight.

  Nearby, Risa and Quinta were just talking about random topics and Astra just stood behind all of them.

  She pouted at being left out and tried to join in on Risa and Quinta’s conversation.

  She started to speed walk next to Risa and Quinta and spoke up.

  “Heya guys! Watcha talking about?” Astra asked using slang-like words to try and give herself attention.

  Risa turned to Astra and it took everything Astra had in her to not let out a yelp.

  Risa looked ready to pass out.

  She apparently had been listening to Quinta obsess over Rorio for almost two hours now.

  It almost astounded her how openly obsessed Quinta was with him at this point.

  “Uh...Are you okay?” Astra asked, concerned.

  “Yeah...I'm fine. Just tired.”

  Astra could tell Risa was lying as her eyes continued to droop over and over again.

  “Hang on for a moment.”

  Thinking of something, Astra lifted her hands up towards Risa and shut her eyes. Her hands started to glow green as small lime particles emanated from her hands onto Risa.

  Risa wasn't too sure what she was doing until she noticed something changed.

  It seemed her exhaustion from before was beginning to wash away.

  Risa looked at Astra surprised as said girl smiled brightly.

  “I may be the God of Dreams, but I'm pretty skilled in healing magic. Especially when it comes to dealing with exhaustion!” she exclaimed proudly.

  She patted her chest with pride before realizing the group was moving ahead without her.

  She grew slightly irritated but kept quiet as she followed behind them.

  However, Risa seemed to recognize she felt left out, so she walked over to her.

  “Wanna chat for a bit?”

  “Can I?!”

  "Yeah. After all the yammer Quinta's done, it'd be nice to have a normal conversation.

  Astra's eyes started to sparkle with excitement as Risa began talking with her.

  Things went on like this for about another two to three hours before their destination was in view.

  “There it is!” Domino shouted excitedly as he pointed at the town in front of them.

  What they saw was an extremely similar town to the last Creator Knight location.

  This one, however, had one major difference. That being that all the buildings were coated in different forms of blue paint and materials.

  Water seemed to flow through every street, and a giant fountain in the shape of an armored knight spewed water from its sword's edge.

  After about another half hour of walking, the group found themselves within the city.

  They eventually found what seemed like a church that was built from sturdy lapis bricks. Rorio looked to the opposite side of the building before making his way back to the others.

  “The place seems to be almost identical to the location where we fought the last Creator Knight.”

  Domino looked at the doors before taking a deep breath.

  “Well then, shall we do this?” he asked with excitement in his voice.

  Everyone but Rorio who was staring at the doors in front of them nodded.

  With that, Domino pushed the doors open and the group went inside.

  Upon entry, the place really did look just like a church. The only thing that seemed to be missing was the painted windows. There were even pews all around them that had the same blue color as the rest of the city.

  Astra looked around curiously as this was her first time entering a place like this.

  Suddenly, chains shot out of the walls.

  Risa turned to one of them and attempted to block, but was met by almost ten others as they all grabbed hold of her arms and legs and pulled her away.

  “Risa!” Rorio shouted as he dashed after her.

  Just then, Rorio felt something coming and jumped out of the way just in time to dodge an attack from a sword that lodged into the floor in front of him. Risa was dragged over to a wall and chained to it.

  Suddenly, the pews all vanished and turned into chains. They grabbed Astra who was still trying to understand what was going on.

  “Wah? Ahhh! Oof!” Astra crashed into the wall as she was tied up similarly to Risa.

  Rorio groaned in frustration.

  “Dammit,” he muttered.

  He pulled out Rolphin and prepared for the next attack.

  It was then that a man wearing what seemed to be knight armor, with slick bright blue hair, and a dark blue sword stepped in and stood before them.

  “I see. So you three shall be my opponents! Very well!”

  Rorio didn't fully get what he meant, but then looked over and found both Quinta and Domino had managed to evade the chains as well.

  Rorio glared at the strange man in the knight outfit as soldiers of water formed on both sides of him.

  Feeling his grip tighten on his blade, Rorio began to walk forward.

  It was then that Domino stepped in front of him.

  “I didn't get to do any fighting last time. Just leave this guy to me.”

  Looking at the serious expression on Domino’s face, Rorio nodded.

  “Got it.”

  He then stepped to the side to face one of the water knights that was created by the strange man in armor.

  Quinta moved over to face the other water knight and kept her weapon, her throwing knives in her hands.

  Raising his sword, Domino pointed at the man in armor.

  “Let's do this guys! Don’t let me down!” he shouted.

  “Right!” both Rorio and Quinta shouted in unison as they charged at their enemies.

  The battle against the second Creator Knight had officially begun.