As for Yae Miko, Bai Luo had always followed a strict policy: avoid her whenever possible, and never initiate contact.
As a fellow "chaos-seeker," Bai Luo understood perfectly well just how difficult someone like her was to deal with. If teasing a dog brought joy and teasing a fish brought caviar, then teasing a fox... that cost far too many brain cells.
But since she had come knocking on his door, there was no longer any point in hiding. In a high-stakes standoff like theirs, it wasn't just a battle of wits and methods anymore—it was a battle of intelligence and information.
Unlike Yae Miko, who believed she held all the cards regarding Bai Luo's background, Bai Luo actually knew everything about her.
For instance, he knew that this seemingly untouchable woman had once been coaxed into a drunken stupor, where she had rambled nonsense and wailed like a child.
He just wondered if he could push her to the point of making a fool of herself again.
And so, with both parties harboring their own hidden agendas, they walked out of Bai Luo's small courtyard and onto the streets of Inazuma City.
By modern standards, Inazuma's cobblestone paths would likely be deemed substandard. The stones were far from level, uneven in height, and mismatched in size—enough to give anyone with obsessive-compulsive tendencies a nightmare.
Walking on them required care, lest one trip and fall. But to the Inazumans of this era, such paths were a point of pride. Walking along the stones, feeling the rain of cherry blossoms drifting in the wind... was it not its own kind of luxury?
"I wonder, Mr. Kuroda, have you ever visited a hot spring?"
Bai Luo's voice rang out as he gestured toward the Aisa Bathhouse by the roadside. His words nearly made Yae Miko's fox ears pop out of her head. Not long ago, the two of them had just crossed paths at the Imperial Hot Spring. Could it be...?
Following Bai Luo's gaze, Yae Miko saw the Aisa Bathhouse and finally let out a breath of relief.
Oh, he just saw the bathhouse on the street.
"I've had the pleasure of soaking there once. It was quite pleasant, though the price was a bit steep."
In truth, Yae Miko's fondness for hot springs had actually started with this very bathhouse. She remembered the day she had helped Sayu secure a nap-time reprieve from Kano Nana, and the child had come to thank her.
"The afternoon sun is so cozy; it's the best time for a nap," Sayu had said.
That offhand comment had piqued Miko's interest. Soon after, on a day with perfect weather, Miko had transformed herself into an ordinary Inazuman woman and spent an entire day down the mountain.
Woodworking shops, Ogura Textiles, Uyuu Restaurant... she had visited every shop, famous or obscure, even the roadside stalls.
She had fallen in love with hot springs during that visit to the Aisa Bathhouse. However, she felt a bit sorry for the owner. Foreign-style springs were lovely, but she had accidentally shed quite a bit of fox fur after her soak, which couldn't have been easy to clean up.
This was one of the reasons she had a private room prepared at the Imperial Hot Spring—it made it much easier for the attendants there to deal with her shedding.
"Then... shall we go in for a soak together?"
"..."
At this point, Yae Miko was starting to suspect that Bai Luo might have seen through her disguise. But when he made the suggestion, he wasn't even looking at her.
Instead, he was staring at the bathhouse sign with a look of genuine curiosity, as if his interest was driven by the "foreign-style" spring itself rather than her presence. This left her feeling a bit uncertain.
"Let's not. The prices at Aisa Bathhouse are relatively affordable for some, but for us common folk, it's still a luxury," she replied, not entirely lying. The springs were comfortable, but it wasn't a place commoners visited every day. The shop primarily catered to "important people"—which mostly meant minor officials who weren't high-ranking enough to use the Imperial Hot Spring.
Bai Luo... seemed to fit that category. As a foreign envoy, he didn't have the status to bathe at the Imperial Spring.
"Come on, opportunities like this are rare. My treat."
Bai Luo didn't care about the cost. As long as he could trick this pink-haired fox into the bath, it would be worth it even if the bill went on his own tab. Besides, Scaramouche was paying anyway.
"Aisa Bathhouse, warms the heart! Experience the wonders of Natlan!"
As the two entered, the owner, Aikawa Susumu, habitually shouted his advertising slogan. But when he looked up, his eyes lit up.
"Oh! If it isn't Mr. Kuroda? You're back again? And you brought a friend this time?"
The owner, who looked quite amiable behind his glasses, adjusted his somewhat ill-fitting yukata and hurried over to greet them.
Editor-in-Chief Kuroda was one of his best customers, visiting six times a week—more consistent than a clock-in at work. However, the man in black standing next to him was a stranger.
"Boss, are you open for business?" Bai Luo asked, looking around the establishment with interest.
The owner seemed to use Natlan as his selling point, so many items in the room were styled after Natlan's aesthetics. There was even a model of a volcano on the counter.
"As long as there are customers, we are open! We also have souvenirs from Natlan. Would you like to buy some to take home?" The owner was a shrewd businessman; seeing Bai Luo's interest, he immediately led him to the souvenir counter and began a relentless sales pitch.
As for whether these things actually came from Natlan... Bai Luo was skeptical. With Inazuma currently under the Sakoku Decree, how could the man have sourced genuine goods from Natlan? These "souvenirs" were almost certainly made right here in Inazuma.
However, Bai Luo didn't call him out. He toyed with a souvenir for a moment before asking, "Is anyone else bathing inside right now?"
"Sir, you might not know this, but most of our regular patrons are the samurai of the Tenryou Commission. They haven't finished their shift yet, so Aisa Bathhouse has no other guests at the moment. You and Mr. Kuroda are the first to arrive."
"I'll give you a figure—three million Mora to book the entire bathhouse. How does that sound?"
"This..."
Three million Mora was a massive sum, essentially a windfall from the heavens. But for Aikawa Susumu, the issue wasn't the amount of money; it was the attitude of those Tenryou Commission samurai. To adventurers, those samurai might not be much, but to commoners like him, they were formidable.
When General Kujou Sara was around, the samurai wouldn't dare give him trouble. But that lady had been sent to the front lines, and the new General didn't seem to care about disciplining subordinates. If he offended them by turning them away... his bathhouse wouldn't last long.
"Two million Mora," Bai Luo said.
"I..."
"One million Mora."
Watching the numbers drop, Aikawa Susumu felt like he was suffocating. Usually, negotiations went up, didn't they? Why was this man lowering the price?
"Don't worry. I am an envoy from Snezhnaya. Those Tenryou Commission fellows won't dare cause trouble for you."
Only after driving the price down to five hundred thousand did Bai Luo finally reveal his identity.
Aikawa Susumu nearly burst into tears. Ifyou had said that earlier, I would have agreed at three million!
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