The Elf Is a Freeloader Chapter 3

Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Is it a promise?

A sound echoed throughout the room all of a sudden, causing Eru to jump up in surprise.

「W-what is happening!? I-is that an alarm for a demonic beast attack or something……!?」

「W-wha?…… It’s just the chime of the clock though…?」

Yasutaka points at the radio controlled clock hanging on the wall.

It was around seven o’clock when he came back home, but before he realized, the clock was already pointing at eight o’clock.

「Oh man, it’s already this late? I need to take a bath and do my homework soon……ah, right. Eru will take a bath too, right? If you want, you can go first?」

「Eh? Ba……th…… you say?」

With a blank look, Eru tilted her neck.

「Huh? By any chance, is Eru’s planet like a primitive one that it doesn’t have baths? Baths are for cleansing the body of dirt and fatigue that acc.u.mulated throughout the day.」

「Cleansing the body……」

Muttering so, Eru remembers the events that transpired today.

Exploring the labyrinth early in the morning and only coming out just a bit before evening.

Perhaps because it was near a water vein, the labyrinth was unusually humid; With it being underground, naturally there was no wind blowing; The unknown environment inside raising the tension; All those causing her to become sweaty.

Although the monsters inhabiting the labyrinth were low cla.s.s, she still had to fight them and then from the labyrinth, walk to the campsite as she was.

With no reasonable place to bathe on the way back, unfortunately, she was never given a chance to wash off her sweat.

And then the ambush happened. Running through the forest with all her might, she was reasonably sweaty. Though the sweat has dried off completely, her whole body feels sticky and a bit smelly.

「Yes! I’d be glad to have my body cleansed!」

To cleanse the body, one must bathe[1]. Concluding so, Eru replied to Yasutaka while smiling.

「Then, I’ll prepare it right away. Wait for a bit.」

After saying so, Yasutaka left the living room and heads to the bathroom.

Because the water heater broke after this year’s New Year, it was replaced with a new one which could fill up the bathtub with hot water in just 10 minutes.

Manipulating the controls in a skillful manner then pus.h.i.+ng the switch of the exceptional water heater, it dispenses a fixed amount of hot water then automatically stops. The previous water heater was set to alarm when hot water reaches a certain point then you had to manually stop the flow of hot water, so the new water heater is extremely convenient.

Convinced that hot water had started to flow after he finished setting it up, Yasutaka saw the was.h.i.+ng machine in the dressing room and remembered something.

「Oh right…… how about a change of clothes……?」

For clothes, his jersey from middle school is still here, so that should be fine. The size might be a bit big but it’s not like she can’t wear it.

The problem is underwear.

「I wouldn’t lend my mother’s underwear …… maybe she brought a change of clothes…?」

When Yasutaka found Eru, she didn’t seem to have any sort of luggage with her, but she’s an alien from planet Elf. They might have technology that can make things smaller or can storing items in a different s.p.a.ce.

「…… At the worst, she would have to endure a night without underwear …… then, it’s not like i can buy new ones.……」

There’s no way a man can buy women’s underwear by himself. Having said that, it would be too unreasonable for Eru, an alien, to go shopping by herself. In the first place, he

doesn’t think she knows where it’s being sold.

「……I’ll explain the situation and ask her to cooperate.」

What came to Yasutaka’s mind was his childhood friend. He thought “If I explain the situation regarding Eru properly, she would agree. And if it’s her, she wouldn’t pointlessly spread rumors about Eru being an alien.”.

Well then, l should explain Eru to her. While thinking about the girl, his childhood friend, Yasutaka left the dressing room.

Before returning to the living room, Yasutaka heads into his room on the second floor and takes the jersey, which will be Eru’s change of clothes, from his cabinet, then heads back to the living room.

The anxious elf’s face clearly showed relief upon his return to the living room. It would seem that being alone in an unfamiliar place made her feel forlorn.

「Sorry. It took me a while to find a change of clothes for Eru.」

「A change of clothes? That would be a great help.」

In preparation for the trip into the labyrinth, she had brought several change of clothes but had left everything at the camp when they were ambushed.

Speaking of her belongings, she is wearing soft leather armour dyed white on top of colourful dark green clothes. Aside from that, when she ran, hanging from her waist were 10-odd silver coins inside a pouch that acts as a wallet, water sack and, a small knife used for both self-defense and daily necessities.

Eru took the clothes Yasutaka had given. Touching the clothes for the first time, internally she was tilting her head when suddenly a rhythmical melody and a woman’s voice resounded throughout the living room

〈The bath is hot. Please take a bath.〉

「Eh!? W, who are you!?」

Eru looks around hurriedly but, of course, there was no woman ーー no, there was no sign of anyone.

She thought that perhaps a maid who serves this house called out from the other side of a door.
However, the voice of the woman seemed like it came from this room, not the other side of the door.

As if it was nothing, Yasutaka calmly informs the bewildered Eru.

「Ah, this is the voice guide of the water heater. Seriously, water heaters these days are really convenient.」

「V, voisu gaido……?」

Yasutaka leads Eru, who was puzzled by the unknown words, to the bathroom.

From the living room to the hallway. Then to the bathroom at the end of the hallway.  Yasutaka will take Eru there.

It looks like Yasutaka is a steady and dependable person[2]. Because his principle is not to turn on lights pointlessly, when they came to the hallway, it was pitch black.

Eru, having night vision ability, had no trouble in the dark but Yasutaka, not knowing this, pressed the switch as soon as he entered the hallway, lighting it up.
In an instant, light enveloped the hallway. Seeing this, Eru was once again surprised.

「Eh, Eeeeeeh!? I, in an instant the light……!? Yasutaka-san is a magician …… a high-ranking magician at that!?」

Neither chanting a spell nor using some kind of magic item. In an instant, Yasutaka turned on the light. With Eru’s common sense, this was an impossible feat except for high-ranking magicians.

But, from Yasutaka’s point of view, it was nothing.

「I’m a magician? hahaha, I can’t do magic[3], you know?」

『Magician[4]』 does not equal to 『Person who can use magic』. 『Magician』 equals to 『Illusionist[5]』. That is how Yasutaka perceives it.

He turns his back to Eru, who has a surprised look on her face, and leads her to the bathroom.

「This is the dressing room and the bathroom. If you place the clothes you remove in the was.h.i.+ng machine, I will wash them together with the rest tomorrow morning.」

Yasutaka points at the was.h.i.+ng machine while he explained, and then he opens the bathroom door to show it to Eru.

The moment the steam overflowed from the bathroom, Eru is once again surprised.

「H, hot water!? All of this is hot water!?」

From her knowledge, preparing such a large amount of hot water is by no means, easy.

Speaking of boiling water, the amount of hot water that can be boiled at a time is limited because, by her common sense, water can only be heated up in pots and kettles.

The large amount of hot water ーー a bathtub’s worth ーー was prepared in a short amount of time. Looking at it from the girl’s perspective, it is unbelievable. Also, Yasutaka is young but there is no doubt that he’s an exceedingly high-ranking magician.
However, looking at it from Yasutaka’s perspective, why Eru has been surprised so many times, he has no idea. While he was tilting his head internally, he explains the bath’s facilities.

「If the hot water is too hot, twist the faucet to add water. Conversely, if it feels lukewarm, you can raise the temperature with this.」

Yasutaka points at the control panel installed in the bathroom. He explains while showing the arrow that would raise the temperature of the lukewarm water.

「Then, go in slowly, okay?」

Having said so, Yasutaka leaves the dressing room.
Having been left alone, Eru looks around while perplexed. And then she realised there was a large mirror at the back that she hadn’t noticed a while ago.

「A, mirror……? In addition to being big, it’s such a pretty mirror that doesn’t have a distorted reflection…… the cup of tea from a while ago was pleasant; The sugar was good; Now this mirror and a tub full of hot water…… As i thought, Yasutaka-san is a n.o.ble. That and since he’s a high-ranking magician,, he might even be a court magician of this country.」

Eru believes that only n.o.bles are able to bathe and soak in hot water.

As she had mentioned before, it takes too much time and effort to prepare a large amount of hot water so it was limited only to the aristocrats and some wealthy people among the commoners.

For her,  it was common knowledge that a commoner would use a wet towel to wipe their body or to bathe with river water.

And and this large mirror with excellent reflection was something she was sure would never come across even if she tried.

Speaking of mirrors in Eru’s sense, it is an iron plate or sheet copper that was polished till it reflected. That’s why commoners would never obtain something like that large mirror. The larger the mirror, the harder it is to polish because it gets cloudy and distorted.

The mirrors that commoners are able to get are no bigger than a hand mirror and even those cost a considerable amount.

Obviously, gla.s.s mirrors didn’t exist. Rather, gla.s.s itself didn’t exist.

Well that was the reason why when the girl first encountered the gla.s.s-made tea pot and window, she thought they were crystals.

However, if Yasutaka is a high-ranked magician and n.o.bleman, it’s a bit concerning that there’s no servants in his house, so it is likely this isn’t his main residence, but rather a detached house in his estate which he would use for magical research?

A laboratory of a high-ranking magician would have valuable magic materials and dangerous catalysts, it would be dangerous if an unskillful amateur touches them. Hence, not having servants here.

「Ehehe. Such a rare chance to take a hot bath. Uwaaー, I’m taking a hot bath for the first time since i was born.」

She feels uneasy about various things. Hurled into a different country, can she return home? Tears would likely overflow just by remembering her companions who were killed all of a sudden.

But.

Now. Just for now.

This is an opportunity that commoners would never have in their lifetime. Forgetting her worries for just a moment, Eru slowly removed her clothes.

•

From his room, Yasutaka came down to the living room with his school bag.

I usually do my homework in my room. The reason i expressly brought it to the living room was because Eru would be anxious if I’m not here by the time she comes back from the bath.

Taking out my textbook and notebook, I spread them on the dining table.

And so, deciding to finish Math first, but when I grabbed my mechanical pencil it didn’t move because my body froze.

「……R, right now…… e, Eru is taking …… a bath ……」

Although her ears are long and sharp, and her appearance is a bit unusual, without a doubt, she is still a very pretty girl.

We are probably be the same age too. I don’t know how long an alien’s lifespan is, but her appearance shouldn’t differ to such an extend.

Such a girl is currently naked in the bathroom of my house.

That fact is very stimulating for a young man in his first year of high school.

Unintentionally imagining Eru’s naked body, Yasutaka turned bright red and was shaking his head side to side.

「N, no good! That was no good!! I-I didn’t help with that kind of intention……」

Yasutaka focused on the numerical formulas on his notebook to drive away his delusions. While he was working on his homework with more than concentration than usual, suddenly the door of the living room was opened.

「Are? Done alrea………wa, UGYaAAAAAAAA!!!」

A flesh-coloured object leapt into the living room, aiming at Yasutaka who had turned it and fiercely thrusting into him.

「Ya,  Ya ya ya ya ya Yasutaka-san!! There was no one around but a, again…… a w, w w w w woman’s voice could suddenly be heard……」

The flesh-coloured object ーー Eru was holding the head of Yasutaka, who had turned to face her while sitting on a chair, tightly in her chest.

Right now, in front of Yasutaka’s eyes ーー right in front of his eyes ーー were two unbelievably soft and pleasantly smelling things crammed into his face.

Certainly they were not that big. But even so, the small cherry-blossom coloured fruits that were shaking right in front of him were undeniably the real deal.

Yasutaka is a healthy young man. He’s seen a woman’s this in magazines, DVDs and on the internet before. However, this is the first time he’s seen the real this.

Falling into complete panic, Eru did not release Yasutaka’s head which she was holding.

Before long, Yasutaka’s nose was overflowing with red liquid, dripping and staining the wooden flooring.

「Ya, Yasutaka-san!? Are you listening……wait, huh……?」

She was holding Yasutaka, who had lost his strength, in her arms. At this point, Eru finally realizes what state she’s in while she hugged Yasutaka.

「Kya…… KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!」

Yasutaka was finally released. Though he had blacked out completely at this time, his face was overflowing with bliss.

•

Incidentally, the 「Voice of a woman that was heard when there was no one around」 Eru mentioned was actually the voice guide that said 〈The set temperature has been changed〉 when she accidentally touched the control panel when she stretched her body in the bath.