Episode 27: River in another world!

Taro woke up to the sight of Sidra and Nagye staring at him

Sidra: good morning Taro, the morning flute has already played

Taro: uh?, goomornin Sidra, Nagye

Nagye looked away as soon if she realized Taro was awake, his sleepy voice caught her by surprise

Nagye: f-food umm, w-we’re gonna eat soon…

Taro: yez (I really did sleep until morning, after all that I said yesterday… I feel like I opened up too much and now things will be awkward)

everyone sat down to wait for the soup to be ready, Taro just stared at the floor awkwardly

Shizuka: how did you sleep, faraway prince?, was it refreshing to share a bed with 4 beauties? hehehe

Taro: huh?, n-no! I gentleman, I, sleep, jus that

Ari: I think you’re the one most excited about that Shizuka

Shizuka: perhaps I am?, but that can't be, lest? ohohoh

Sidra: I do enjoy a good sleep like that, I think I had a better rest here last night than in the church

Nagye: I-I wouldn’t trust sleeping in fr-front of you though, you’re a serial hugger

Sidra: What's wrong with a little hugging? it helps us stay warm

Nagye: so it w-was on purpose

Taro: (in the end, I was the only one feeling awkward, everyone is just acting normal, that's a relief)

After eating breakfast and making sure the bonfire was completely quenched, the team continued their journey. Unlike the previous morning, this time they were all well rested, dressing appropriately for the coming warmth of the day, and were careful with suspicious-looking trees

Sidra: Taro, may you hear a request I have for you?

Taro: yez, what is?

Sidra: Would you teach me words from your world?

Taro: huh?, why?, no need

Sidra: knowledge is a blessing that doesn’t weigh; besides, I had a dream that made me curious

Shizuka: oh? I wanna learn too, perhaps it’ll help me recover my memories

Taro: ok, I teach, uhh, that, -Tree-

Shizuka: Drii!

Sidra: Trii?

Nagye mumbled the word in silence, trying to get it right on her first try, Ari was not confident she could say it right, so she abstained

The weather was much warmer than yesterday, the air was filled not only with the smells of drying leaves and bark, but it also had a freshness to it. A faint sound could be heard in the distance

Ari: Do you guys hear that?

Shizuka: a monster?

Sidra: not quite, it's different, could it be…?

Nagye: I-I see it! it's over there, we’re close!

The team ran excitedly to a lush green area of the forest, a clear contrast to the dry muted colors they have grown accustomed to. Trees still had green leaves and even flowers, the grass was green, and on its edge down a slope, a crystal-clear river flowing gently

Shizuka: we did it!, it’s the river!

Ari: it’s beautiful!, I’ve never seen anything like it!

Sidra: dear goddess I pray to you in gratitude for allowing us to be here

Nagye: I’ve read about rivers in books, but I didn’t think they were like this

Taro: very, very nice (even though I have been to a river and even the beach before, this is a beautiful sight, truly a river in another world)

Everyone left their backpacks on the ground and ran to the river, to wash their face, to drink from it, to see it from up close

Shizuka: haaaa this is amazing! now I wanna take a bath

Ari: me too, it's been 2 days since I last ba—-I don’t smell bad, do I?!

Nagye: look!, purple roots, dark green stem with long green leaves ending in a purple tip, it’s the Naro river plant!

Taro: oh! I, collect now! (we did it! sister Sunny will live!)

Sidra: I propose we collect the plants first and then take a bath, that way we don't undo our bath by sweating more, and we could wash our clothes as well while we’re here

Ari: good plan, let’s do it

The team took their shoes off, rolled their clothes up, and proceeded to collect the plants and fill their bags full. Despite how much they took, the plants were on every segment of the river, seemingly stretching on forever

Nagye: With this amount of stock, there will be no shortage of medicine, and I'll be ab-able to make so many other things. I c-could start making potions right now

Shizuka: tchi tchi tchi you’re forgetting something important; it's time to take a bath together!

Nagye: t-together?

Shizuka: it’s not like we can put a wall in the river so we don't see each other naked anyway, besides, we already slept together, this is nothing

Sidra: you’re already used to being seen naked; this is nothing indeed

Shizuka: Don't say it like that! It sounds like I was a pervert!. haaaa you’re really not gonna let me live that one down are you?

Sidra: most unfortunate “ohohoho”

Ari: get your mind out of the gutter, we’re not children anymore, we must take care of our hygiene if we want to properly survive and complete quests

Shizuka: that’s right, we’re like sisters now, there’s nothing weird about bathing together

Sidra: and if we take turns, we risk losing the light of day, thought I would like to stay here longer, we must return promptly to town

Taro: I uhh, I bath over there

for a moment they had forgotten Taro also had to take a bath

Ari: y-you don't have to go that far, what if a monster attacks you?, you can bath over here but… but don’t look this way, I know you sit on the rock to think lewd things you dirty brute

Sidra: in that case, Shizuka should also look away, she seems way too excited about us bathing together hehe

Nagye: t-then the s-serial h-hugger too…

Shizuka: no time to lose, it's time for our river party!

Sidra: let’s put rocks over our dirty clothes so they get soaked and ready for washing by the time we’re done

Ari: good thinking, let’s do it

Everyone took off their clothes and proceeded to bathe in the river, Taro and Nagye being the most embarrassed ones. The water where they were standing was belly deep, so it wasn’t hard to wash themselves thoroughly.

Shizuka: m’lady, allow me to wash your back

Ari: h-huh?! what are you doing?

Shizuka: fear not m’lady, for my intentions are pure

Ari: d-don’t do anything weird, I just heard you’re a pervert

Sidra: blessed be the sight, most delightful

Nagye: y-yeah, the river looks even prettier from here

Sidra: river?, Ah, I meant to say, can you give me some of that soap?

Nagye: h-here

Ari: Shi-zu-kaaa!

Shizuka: hehehe sorry, I just couldn’t resist, your back looked so irresistible hahaha!

Ari: you won’t go unpunished you dirty pervert, come back here!!

Taro: (what are they doing back there?, what did she do?!, no! don't think about it, you’re a gentleman!... but I'm also a man… no! this is not an anime!)

Shizuka and Ari running around tripped the rocks holding some clothes, making them drift away

Ari: the clothes!

Shizuka: worry not m’lady, I got this!

They quickly retrieved some clothes. Nagye also managed to catch some, but a lone piece of clothing drifted away from their reach, Taro just saw it drift past him

Ari: d-don’t grab that! I’ll get it!, close your eyes!

Ari ran past Taro to retrieve her clothing, but she stepped on a deeper part of the river, making her lose ground and sink. She tried to stand up, but couldn’t get her footing, she flapped her arms around, but didn’t know how to swim, water was invading her ears and nose. Taro heard that and moved by instinct to pull Ari out, coughing and panting

Ari: th-that was deeper than I thought, it scared me a little, thank you…

she stared at him with gratitude, and saw his worried gaze, more intense than she expected, then she realized his eyes were open, staring at her

Ari: c-close your eyes!!

Taro: ah! sorrri! (how I was supposed to pull you out with my eyes closed?, I can't believe I'm in a real awkward ecchi scene again!)

Ari: d-did you see something?

Taro: see?, what see? (I can’t say anything!!)

Sidra: goddess gracious, I had not realized how plump Taro was

Taro could feel the gazes of the girls behind him staring at his butt. He immediately crouched in the water to try to cover himself

Nagye: w-wow

Sidra: What has gotten into me? I was not supposed to say that out loud

Taro: d-don’t look!!

The team finished showering and washing their clothes, afterwards, they decided to eat there. They found a fruit tree nearby, which added a new ingredient to their soup

Nagye: such a nice place, I’d like to stay longer. Perhaps we could sleep here?

Sidra: the air is too fresh, it probably gets very cold here, we would be wise to return to where we last slept

Ari: I also don't wanna leave, but we’re in an important quest right now, we can’t stay much longer.

Shizuka: lets return together one day, not on a quest, just as a fun tri—

Ari: perverts are banned from speaking until further notice

Taro: (why am I also banned?, I just saw by accident, and I got my butt stared at on top of that. but what a day, I had almost forgotten how much I cried yesterday)

the team made their way back to the last checkpoint, prepared the sleeping environment, and set up 2 blanket hammocks instead of one, one for Ari and Nagye, and another one for Shizuka, Sidra, and Taro