Volume 5 Chapter 227, Men’s Bath_2

Translator: Nonon

Proofreader: Silavin

 

“What are you talking about, you healthy fools?”

“Oh, good evening, Lord Ivory.”

 

As I recalled the distinctive choices and was talking to Silva, a doctor who was uninterested in anything other than injured patients, appeared. Hearing our conversation, he was looking at us with exasperation.

 

“It’s rare to see you at a hot spring, Ivory.”

“Even I have times when I want to relax and recover from fatigue. Besides, it’s finally separated by gender. I don’t have to be so careful anymore.”

 

Ivory answered my question while rinsing himself off first with hot water and wiping himself clean.

By ‘being careful’ he probably meant that he wasn’t so much embarrassed by the sight of naked women like Silva, but rather it would be troublesome if he met somebody who did make him feel the same way. As a doctor, he probably could not afford to get excited every time he saw a naked woman.

 

“If you have time to talk about such absurd things, you should talk about something else.”

 

As he soaked in the bath, Ivory let out a sign of satisfaction, as if his fatigue was melting and said with a look of exasperation. He was probably thinking that our prior conversation was akin to the youth saying nonsense based on simply their imagination. He wasn’t much older than us though.

 

“Something else?… my apologies, ignorant as I am, I have no knowledge of what people talk about in situations like this.”

“Oh… let me think.”

 

When Gray threw the topic back at him, Ivory thought a little. If it were me or Silva, he would probably tell us to think up something ourselves, but it seemed he couldn’t be so harsh with Gray.

Ivory was not much of a conversationalist, but he pondered over the past, trying to remember if there was anything to talk about, and then, as if having just thought of something, he asked us a question.

 

“We are all men here so we can talk about our preferences in women. For example, what kind of women do you guys like?”

“Lady Violet.”

“Ms. Mary.”

“Lady Apricot.”

“… I was a fool to ask.”

 

For some reason, Ivory was looking at us as if he was looking idiots. Why? I only stated the most obvious thing. Also, I feel like Gray’s ‘like’ has a different meaning. It’s probably more like ‘respect’.

 

“What about you? Is there anybody you have in mind?”

“A woman who will provide me with new injuries.”

“That’s not your type, is it?”

 

That was a preference that satisfies a different kind of excitement rather than sexual, and it’s kind of like saying he’s open to guys too, right?

 

“Look, I provided a topic. Next is you guys’ turn.”

 

Ivory lazily threw the responsibility for the next topic at. Knowing his usual self, who had little interest in anything other than injuries, this was a slightly different side of him.

Perhaps Ivory was being considerate in his own way, or maybe he just wanted to have a pointless conversation sometimes.

 

“Well then, let me go first. Let’s see… I suppose when men talk to each other, it’s best to talk about women?”

“A different topic is fine too, but there are some things we can only talk about without women around.  I often talked about it with my stupid classmates when I was a student.”

 

Ivory’s student days, huh?… No, the image of him panting over injuries is so deeply ingrained in me that I just can’t picture it. If we started talking about women, I bet the conversation would end up shifting to the injuries specific to women.

 

“I see… ah, everybody, I have no experience yet so I would like to ask you all, who was your first love? I’ve heard that this is the surefire way to spark a conversation when talking about relationships with the opposite sex.”

 

Kuh, what a difficult question to answer, asked with such innocent eyes.

 

“Lady Mary.”

“Silva, was it? Is that true? I heard that you met this so-called Mary at the academy. Are you saying that you haven’t had feelings for anybody until you came of age (15 y.o)?”

“No, until then, I was terrified of women… or more like everybody outside of my Family so my first love is unmistakably Ms. Mary. What about you?… surely you wouldn’t say it was some injured woman?”

“Even I wouldn’t say that… It was a female military doctor, about twenty years older than me, who happened to be in my hometown on a monster-slaying mission nearby. I did have some feelings of admiration for her, but I guess that was my first love… Well, it couldn’t be fulfilled because she was married.”

“Oh, how bittersweet…”

 

Let’s calm down. It’s not strange to have had a first love.

It’s actually rare for your first love to be your spouse or your first romantic partner. So it’s not like it’s hard to answer. We’re all men here so they probably wouldn’t start spreading the word about it.

Besides… Lady Violet’s first love was Prince Vermillion…  Calm down, that’s irrelevant right now. What good will it do to get jealous over something so trivial?

 

“So, what about you, Clo?”

 

Ivory asked me. His gaze seemed to say, ‘You’re not planning on being the only one who doesn’t say anything, are you?” At the same time, it was also saying, ‘Don’t tell any blatant lies’.

Basically, he wanted me not to use Lady Violet as cover unless it was the truth.

Of course, I had no intention of keeping anything secret, nor did I intend to lie.

So, just as I was going to say who my first love was…

 

“My first love was…”

 

I tried to say, but no words came out.

Wait, who was my first love? Should I also be including my past life in this case?

Even if I were to include it, who would be my first love?  I’ve heard that boys’ first love is often somebody like their Mother, but I’ve never held affection for my Mother, neither in my past life nor in the present.

When I first became interested in the opposite sex, I was busy taking care of my Younger Sister and learning fashion design, and I had no romantic feelings for my classmates or female friends.  My colleagues at work were all quite eccentric so I rarely saw them as potential romantic partners.

Even in this life, I could only feel close friendship with Maroon and Teracotta, and I couldn’t look at my childhood friends in that way…

 

“My first love… was…?”

“Lord Clo?”

 

Wait, don’t tell me I just skipped over my first love and everything and got married?

Calm down, Clo Heartfield. Or rather Isshiki Kuro.

If I think about it, I must have had some sweet experiences too.  Far from having no contact with women, I had quite a few opportunities to talk to them.  I talked to a lot of girls at fashion school. I’m sure I have one or two bittersweet memories of those conversations.

 

“My, first love, was…!!”

S-Sir Clo, what’s wrong?”

 

I can’t… think of anything…?! Dammit, why? Do I not have any bittersweet memories?

Wait, it doesn’t have to be a real person. I also liked manga, anime and games. Isn’t it fine if I just like a character from media or a voice actress? There’s nothing strange about being in love with an anime character. Besides, some women even married the Berlin wall. Love has nothing to do with being alive or being from a different dimension.

That’s right, isn’t it perfectly fine even if food was my first love? Haha, how could I have missed this? It’s not like this topic is limited to women. I feel like Gray asked ‘who’ it was, but surely I just misheard him.

If I had to name the first food I ever loved, it would be… chocolate? No, the first thing I found delicious and wanted to eat again was something else.

The food I found delicious when my Mother told me, “I’m going to dine with a kind man” and I went along. Later, I learned that the man (who was married) had mistakenly believed that I was his Biological Son, but that doesn’t matter.

I remember being deeply moved by the miso soup I ate. Or rather, the first miso soup I drank at a Japanese restaurant, a place where I had eaten at for the first time.

In other words, the first thing I ever fell in love with was miso.

Even after coming to this world, I still longed for its taste. The miso I had back then was not red, but rather…

 

“My first love was Shiro! I fell in love with Shiro (miso) first!”

“Pfft?!”

““Eh, wait, Mary?! Is your face okay?!”

 

As soon as I declared, I heard a strange cry, the sound of something hitting the water and Ms. Kriemhild’s panicked voice coming from the women’s bath.

It seems like loud noises would be clearly heard all the way to the women’s bath (on the other side), so I should be careful.

 

“… For now just calm down, Clo.”

 

Then Ivory calmed me down.

After a while, I recomposed myself and didn’t know why my thoughts went in a strange direction, so I apologized.

After apologizing, I reiterated that my first love was most likely Lady Violet, which made Gray happy.

However, Ivory gave me a strangely understanding look, while Silva looked like he was not going to unpack what he had heard. I think both of them were put off by what I said earlier.

… Hm? Come to think of it, I feel like I said something inappropriate, albeit in a way that was different from what made Ivory and Silva react this way. I wonder why.

 

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Author’s note:

In Chapter 197: After Transmigration_1

‘I really wish I could taste miso. I did find something similar here, but I could really go for some miso soup right now. Preferably the white kind.’

 

This was merely foreshadowing to make the statement in this chapter.

 

TL/N: If it’s not obvious, Clo’s talking about white miso here, but I decided to leave it as Shiro to make it seem more like a name.