Whether You Call Me a Guardian Dragon or Not, I’m Going to Sleep

"What should we do now?"

On the way back to the inn where we were staying, Maybelle asked with a worried expression.

It's natural for her to be anxious since the clues we found were not very helpful.

But... it's not that we didn't get any results.

"First, let's have a proper meal. And... hmm. Let's go to the bathhouse."

"Huh? Bathing? Didn't you say we'd go after finding my mom?"

"Un. But the situation has changed a bit, hasn't it?"

At my words, Maybelle puffed out her cheeks. Small child is just cute when doing that.

"I'm not going for myself, but for you. Don't argue and just come along. First, let's have a meal."

So Maybelle and I turned slightly off the path to the inn and went to find a restaurant.

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The restaurant was..., well, just average.

The meat dishes that could be eaten as side dishes with alcohol were decent, but the cooking of this era... Hmm, a bit lacking in seasoning.

There's a lack of spices, and salt is about the only thing available to adjust the flavor, and even that is incredibly rare.

Anyway, in this gradually improving world, cooking still has a long way to go.

But.

"I'm glad there's a lot of meat."

"Yeah, I suppose so."

For a rural girl, or rather, for people living in this era, this would have been more than enough.

Well, let's move on from the rather lacking meal.

"Is it really okay to go to the bathhouse when we need to find my mom?"

"I have a plan, so don't worry."

With that, Maybelle and I headed to the bathhouse.

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The bathhouse itself was quite ordinary for the time period.

It's more like a hot spring than a bathhouse. Water flows in from the aqueduct and is heated to fill the tub.

Well, it's a primitive bathhouse, so it can't be helped. It's just a matter of pouring hot water over oneself to wash.

But it should be fine. Yeah.

"I didn't know bathing in hot water could feel this nice."

"How have you been washing yourself up until now?"

"Well, I've been washing in cold water, It's even harder in the winter."

Hmm... I see, heating the water requires firewood, which isn't free.

And not everyone can use magic or control spirits.

So having a paid service to heat the water is a given.

"But why did you suddenly decide to bathe?"

"Hehe. It's like this."

I used magic to create a small soap bubble in the palm of my hand.

To be precise, it's a magic construct resembling a soap bubble, but let's skip the details.

"When the priest mentioned that your mother, who was suspected to be the one who sent the letter, had a strange smell, I had a hunch."

"A hunch?"

"Yes. Didn't you hear from the guards when you entered Armen? This place is very clean."

Maybelle nodded slightly at my words.

"With a well-developed water supply system and sewage treatment, this is a city where people with foul odors are rare, don't you think?"

"That's true, but..."

"And that's where I had a possibility in mind. Your mother may have been in a place with that kind of smell, which is why she had that odor."

"Huh?"

Maybelle didn't seem to catch on to what I was getting at.

"It's a simple idea. Your mother... is likely to be in the sewers or around there."

"The sewers...?"

I nodded slightly.

"The priest said that beastmen are rare in Armen, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did."

"It's not impossible that she came from somewhere else and sent the letter here, but the possibility is not high. So if we assume your mother is in Armen..."

I presented a few clues.

"Rare beastmen, a musty smell, and the sewers of Armen. Considering all these elements..."

"Are you saying my mom is in the sewers?"

"The possibility is high, I'd say. But if she came here just to send the letter and then left... then I may have guessed wrong."

But I have a feeling that Maybelle's mother is in Armen.

So...

"I don't want to just barge into the smelly sewers, so I'll use a little trick."

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"The trick... is that bubble?"

"Yes. It's a bubble that I can control remotely and share my vision and hearing with."

I casually floated the bubble into the water, and it flowed through the bathhouse drain.

"Ah, so that's why you brought me to the bathhouse!"

"More or less."

I also wanted to see bathing in this era, but the main reason was that.

As the bubble floated down the drain, I began to remotely observe the sewers.

"Alright, the preparation is done. Let's use this bubble to explore the sewers."

If we find Maybelle's mother down there... well, I don't want to go down, but I may have no choice.

So Maybelle and I finished bathing and returned to the inn.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Hmm..."

"What's wrong?"

I was remotely operating the magic bubble to examine the sewers from our inn room.

The dark, crude sewers were honestly a very difficult place for people to traverse. Slimes were stuck everywhere, and the filthy water swept things away.

I had imagined a somewhat more modern sewer system, but that was clearly off the mark.

Could anyone really live in this environment?

"Is that not the place?"

"Hm?"

"I've been searching the sewers for a while, but I don't see anything notable. Did I make the wrong guess?"

At my words, Maybelle's thin tail drooped. She was clearly disappointed.

If this isn't the place, then... I'll have to make something to help find what she's looking for.

What should I make? A compass-like item with a popular image? No, that's a bit plain. Hmm, finding what she's looking for, finding...

As I pondered, I glanced at Maybelle.

What she's searching for... suddenly, an image flashed through my mind.

A character from a famous bullet hell game, with mouse ears, who had the ability to find things.

That's it, dowsing would be perfect.

Just as I was lost in thought about what to create, a sound came from the sewers.

Unlike the dripping of water, this was the sound of something heavy entering the water.

I turned my gaze in that direction, and saw a small figure moving through the dark sewers.

"I found someone."

"Huh?"

"There's a person in the sewers."

I began to remotely control the bubble to chase after the figure's form.

The small figure moving through the complex, tangled sewers.

I followed behind the figure, gradually committing the structure of the sewers to memory.

The sewers did not seem to be just a simple structure for waste disposal.

The small human descending the complex path skillfully. Likely, a rat beastman.

It seems my guess was correct after all.

"Let's confirm the location and then descend."

"Understood!"

But really, a rat beastman in the underground sewers...

Hmm... It reminds me of a game where there is an underground city of rats beneath the human city. Ah, that's it.

Unlike the malicious rat people in that game, these rat beastmen may not be so evil.

There might just be various things happening, that's all.

I continued to follow the small figure.

"Hmm..."

The small figure emerged from the sewers and arrived at a small village deep underground.

"There's a small village underground."

"Huh? Underground?"

"There aren't many people wandering around, but they all seem to be rat beastmen. It's as if they've created this village to hide from the eyes of other humans."

"Eh?"

I ignored Maybelle's bewildered voice and surveyed the small village.

Hmm. If there is such a village, there's no need to go through the smelly sewers.

I erased the sewers' structure from my mind and remembered the coordinates of the village.

"Get ready to depart. We'll teleport there directly."

"Ah, yes!"

A village inhabited only by rat beastmen, how intriguing.

Why is there such a village beneath Armen? Why are the rat beastmen here?

I don't know for sure, but something feels off.

A suspicious, conspiratorial scent.