"Sir Axel... what is that?"
Of course, given that all four weapons were on display, Eve couldn't help but notice them. Curiosity got her, especially toward the scary, big, black barrel in front of Axel...
The cannon.
"Oh, they're just weapons I just got, don't mind them," Axel answered back, stashing everything into his inventory quickly. "Rather, thanks for calling me. Let's head back. I'm getting hungry... and this stench is killing me."
The barricades weren't that far anyway, so it didn't take too long for them to reach them.
One of the barricades was moved aside, probably to let Eve pass through it easily. Of course, as soon as they passed through it, Axel fixed the barricade so that it would not have a single gap.
"Welcome back, Sir Axel, Lady Eve."
And as soon as they reached the bonfire, Arianne greeted them with a smile.
"We're back!" Eve answered, forcing a smile on her face.
However, shadows of mental and physical fatigue could be seen in her expression. Axel watched her and everyone else. Not a single one of them was "fine" in the truest sense of the word.
Well, it should be obvious, since they had just fended off a swarm of zombies with nothing but wooden spears.
Seeing their states, Axel quickly decided to splurge a bit for the girls.
He revisited the shop and bought an item he'd been eyeing since before—a large basin, enough to fit a whole person or two inside. He quickly withdrew the item from his inventory and placed it on the ground, gazing at its unprecedented size.
Considering its diameter, it wouldn't feel weird to call it...
"A bathtub?!" Eve gasped, seeing the item Axel took out. "Sir Axel, are you...!"
"Yes." Axel nodded. "Honestly, with all the zombie shit sticking on our bodies... I don't think we can rest well later. We should clean up properly."
At his words, everyone began inspecting their own bodies.
Although they were wearing the robes Axel gave them earlier, they were now covered with splashes of stinky, rotting green liquid. Honestly, they stank so much their noses were starting to get numbed to the smell!
That kind of "adaptation" not only felt sad but also extremely unhygienic.
Of course, Axel didn't stop at just that.
He moved the tub a short distance away from the fire, just enough that the shadows would hide whoever was using it for privacy. Then, he started to pour water from the gallons he had into it. After all, water was one thing he wasn't lacking.
Of course... his barely 10 gallons of water remaining from rewards were far from enough. Thus, he had to buy "barrels" of water from the shop instead. Though it was slightly more expensive, costing him 100 Colts for a single barrel, most of the cost could be attributed to the reusable wooden barrel.
With it, he only had to buy three barrels' worth before filling the bathtub about three-quarters full—roughly filled with 80 gallons of water.
Right after that, he placed two stakes on the ground and one on top of them, making a sort of wooden clothesline. Then, he carefully hung a long curtain (he also bought from the shop) over it. This way, nobody should be able to peek unless they went around!
"Good enough." He nodded. "Then, you five should use it first in turn."
"N-No, Sir Axel should go in first. We can go after you..." But Arianne quickly countered back. "We can't use such precious water and dirty it..."
Axel, however, waved his hands.
"Don't mind it. Anyway, when one or two get in, give all of their clothes to me, and I'll clean them. Then, after the first batch is done, call me to clean the water too."
All of Axel's expenses were "investments," after all. The barrels he could repurpose for later, like for his soap-making. The basin would definitely be useful in many ways. And with his inventory, he wouldn't have trouble "purifying" water that was dirtied by them washing their bodies.
After all, anything he put in the inventory got "cleansed!"
To not let the girls make him go ahead of them, he sat before the bonfire and took out the crossbow and bolts he had just gotten. It wasn't to threaten the girls, but rather, to study how to use it—acting as if he were "busy" with something.
"..."
Seeing that Axel was silently exuding a "do not disturb" vibe, the girls had no choice but to reluctantly use the bath first.
But as if not to waste time, beyond Axel's expectations, they tried going in all at once...
"Sir Axel, here are our clothes. If you would please..."
"Ah, ye—"
Just as Axel raised his gaze and reached to get the clothes Arianne carried over, his eyes couldn't help but lock onto her body.
"You..."
He did recall telling them to give their dirty clothes over, but he didn't expect the one delivering them to also remove all her clothes! But of course, he wasn't a fake gentleman either. Arianne delivered the clothes while naked, fully aware that Axel would see her body if she did.
That meant Axel had no reason to avert his gaze!
He carefully observed Arianne's body—from her beautiful face, her gently cascading hair, the twin melons dangling down from gravity, lit into an orange hue by the campfire, and the golden forest down below, hidden by faint, shifting shadows.
Her body was, if anything, too perfect. Almost as if the gods themselves decided to sculpt the perfect body, catering to Axel's tastes.
"Alright, I received it."
But of course, Axel wouldn't do anything further than just look.
First of all, there wasn't enough "trust" between them all for their relationship to suddenly go in that direction. Second, he couldn't help but feel as if he were being tested by Arianne right now.
Well, it's not like he had the intention or a hobby of forcing himself on a reluctant partner either.
As soon as he received the neatly folded clothes, he quickly placed the entire stack into his inventory. Then, a second later, he took them all out.
"And it's done. Here, take these back with you."
"...Huh?"
But Arianne was confused. After all, from her perspective, Axel only held the clothes for an instant. And as quickly as she could blink, the "cleaning" of their clothes was already over!
When she took the clothes back, she tried inspecting them...
"What?!"
And to her surprise, she could feel a faint trace of divinity from their clothes now. Rather than Axel "cleaning" their clothes, it was as if they were "purified" instead!
Axel, to Arianne's eyes, became even more mysterious than before!