That disappointment no longer had a reason to exist, however. Those strong bonds she had built could keep growing stronger now. There was a possibility that all previous limits she had encountered in the past had been released now, as maybe they were only in place for the game.
Mira understood that there were still a lot of things that had changed from the game days which she had not noticed yet.
That reminded her of the copies she made of Soul Howl’s research notes, so she took them out and looked through them filled with excitement, ready to study to become stronger.
「That Soul Howl…he’s been getting ahead of me so much.」
Mira lay down within her wagon, flying to her destination while grumbling at the progress Soul Howl had made as she studied his notes.
It seemed like Soul Howl had arrived to this world even before Solomon, who had been checking his friends list on a daily basis and had noted the dates at which various Wisemen arrived. But Soul Howl was not listed there, meaning he came before Solomon began checking that.
Thirty years was an extremely long time, so Soul Howl’s research during that time far superseded what Mira had been able to find out. But Mira, in her usual attitude of never wanting to lose, read Soul Howl’s notes wanting to catch up as soon as possible.
Many hours passed in the blink of an eye, the sky turning dark and stars starting to peek through the edges of clouds.
「Oh, it’s already this late?」
It was already nine o’clock. Mira had not noticed the passage of time, entranced by the research notes, but now her hunger was made apparent as she looked outside. Either way, she had already gotten halfway to Haxthausen, so it was a good time to take a break for the night. And so Mira told Garuda to land next to a river.
There were no rivers nearby though, so Garuda spent some time circling the area until a river slightly in the distance came into view, so Garuda went there to land.
「Good job bringing me here. I’ll be counting on you again tomorrow, so rest well until then.」
Mira gently petted Garuda for a bit, getting ready to send the bird away. As Garuda’s body began to glow signaling its departure, it spread its wings confidently, wanting to show Mira she could count on it for the next day.
Next Mira summoned the spirit mansion, and going inside she took out a lunchbox to take care of her empty stomach.
「Mhm, I knew this was a good idea.」
Mira felt proud of herself as she ate, realizing how genius the idea of storing freshly made lunchboxes was. Now she could eat well whenever she wanted, without having to worry about cooking or preparing anything. Her grilled meat lunchbox tasted just the same as if it had just been served to her.
Once Mira’s stomach was full, she headed to the one place she had been reserving for last, the bathroom which she had expanded to include a bathtub. So far she had been limited to only a shower, which was already a luxury out in the wild, but now she even had a bath to go alongside it.
Mira did her best to contain her excitement as she slowly opened the door.
「Ohh…it’s a bathroom…and no corners were cut, this is a proper bathroom!」
While before there was only space for a shower, now the room had expanded to allow for a stone bathtub to be placed next to the shower. It was roughly the same size as the bathtub of a common household, but the shiny polished stone made it look like it belonged in some noble’s mansion.
The only downside, if it could be called that, was that it was not filled with hot water yet.
「I could’ve left it filling while I ate…」
Mira had avoided looking into the bathroom to make the moment a bit more special, but now she regretted that decision. Still, Mira would never let something like that topple her. She quickly opened the faucet wide open to let the bathtub fill. Seeing how much water came out, she calculated she would be inside the bath within ten minutes at most.
While the name spirit mansion suggested something magical, the way to fill the bath was no different from what anyone else did. Still, Mira watched the water level rising slowly, full of anticipation.
No matter what situation she was in, she would be able to take baths in the spirit mansion from now on, even if she was in a remote mountain within a blizzard. The possibilities seemed nearly endless, and Mira was looking forward to exploring all of them. The prospects of taking baths where no one else could were extremely alluring for her.
「Halfway there」
The wait was getting Mira restless, so she took all of her clothes off and continued waiting in the nude, the water level gradually rising higher as she fidgeted with anticipation.
「Hmm… I might as well do that while I wait.」
Unable to keep still any longer, Mira took out her magic washing bag that worked just by pouring water into it, stuffing it with the clothes she had just taken off. Next she took out her laundry basket from her Item Box, where she had placed all of her used underwear, and put those into the magic washing bag as well.
「That should be all of it.」
The washing bag was packed with laundry, but Mira believed it would work regardless, pouring water from the faucet into it and closing the bag.
「Now I just have to wait… It really is a nifty device.」
After pressing a button, the washing bag began making a rumbling and sloshing noise. Only that was enough to wash clothes showed just how impressive the technology from the Dinowal Store was. Then again, a proper manual washing would likely provide better results, but as Mira’s clothes were not too dirty, the bag would be more than enough.
「Just a little more…」
Once she was done putting everything to wash, Mira turned around to look at the bathtub again. Now it was mostly filled, the water level filling four out of five parts of the bathtub’s capacity. Mira would easily be able to enter the bathtub and have the water cover her up to her shoulders, but she resisted the impulse. Making the water overflow and splash on the floor was an important part of the experience of taking a bath for her.
「Oh, before I forget, that would also pair up perfectly with the occasion!」
As Mira imagined what that moment would feel like, she remembered something else that would enhance it even more. A drink to cool off after a bath. Feeling the refreshing liquid against her warm body was the only proper way to finish a bath.
And Mira had already bought everything she needed to prepare even before she was able to take a bath in the spirit mansion.
「I have to properly celebrate my first bath after all, I have to choose the perfect one…」
Mira opened her Item Box and carefully looked through everything she had gathered, trying to find the one that caught her eye the most.
After many minutes of consideration, she finally made her choice and took out one bottle. Then she also brought out one of the various magic devices sold by the Dinowal Store.
It was known as a simple chilling box, which was small enough to be carried by one hand, and as its name suggested, served to cool down items. Anything that was placed inside the box would quickly be cooled down. It also had a companion device called the simple heating box, which was self-explanatory enough.
Mira inserted a Magic Battery into the chilling box, then placed the bottle she chose within. Soon a sound similar to a fan spinning could be heard. It was only a matter of time before the bottle was cooled off.
Once she was done setting all of that up, she heard the sound of water spilling in the bathroom. Looking there, she saw that the bathtub was finally full of water.
「Finally!」
Mira ran inside the bathroom to close the faucet, then slowly put her hand in the bathtub. The water was Mira’s preferred temperature, around 40°C.
「Yes, this is everything I wanted!」
Seeing that everything was exactly the way she wanted, Mira excitedly submerged her right foot in the water. Soon she felt the warm embrace of water, and as the heat transmitted into her, a prickly sensation ran up her body. At the same time, she moved her left foot into the water, and finally began to sit down.
「Ahhhhh~ This is heaven.」
Mira let out a delighted voice as she relished that feeling. The water also began to spill onto the bathroom’s floor, filling the room with a sound similar to a waterfall. Though as her body was rather small now, the volume of displaced water was quite diminished compared to before. But the feeling it gave her remained the same. There was that pinch of guilt from wasting so much water that poked at her back, but mixed with the heat assaulting her entire body it instead turned into an exhilarating feeling.
All she had left to do was to leisurely stretch her legs out, feeling like she stood at the top of the world, and thoroughly enjoy her time in the bath.
