After Retirement, Living a Stud Life in Another World - 145
Episode 145: What is the Valley of Death?
With the road to the mine now open, the men were diligently paving the cobblestone path. Engineers debated fervently within the rocky mountains about where to begin digging the tunnels.
Amidst this, a peculiar report came from the mining engineers.
“There’s a ‘Valley of Death’ in the mountains?”
“Yes, indeed. It’s always shrouded in mist-like fog with a strange smell lingering. It seems lost deer and boar carcasses can be found rolling about. No fish live in the flowing rivers… That’s the only way to describe it—Valley of Death.”
The dark-faced technician spoke with a fearful tone, but I somehow felt like I understood what he meant by “Valley of Death.”
“Could it possibly be something good?”
“Good?”
“Yeah, something that could heal a tired body.”
I immediately borrowed a high-ranking earth mage and a decent wind mage from Maximilian and headed to the location described as the Valley of Death. With over thirty thousand slaves under Max’s control, I had plenty of free time. Gretel was busy again today serving as the queen of lumberjacks and couldn’t join me.
“Here it is, quite something…”
Pointing ahead, the technician gestured toward the fog where animal skeletons lay scattered. Despite the strong odor… I recognized this scent.
“Lutz-sama, could this possibly…”
Ayaka, who accompanied us as a guard, seemed to have an idea too. She truly embodied the culture of the secretive clan from Japan… Alright, let’s try this out.
“Wind mages, keep sending wind into the valley!”
“Yes!”
About thirty mages chanted simultaneously, causing a strong wind to flow from the entrance of the valley upstream, clearing away the fog. It should be safe for a while now. We ventured into the valley alongside the earth magic unit.
“Alright, here. Everyone, start drilling holes in the cliff on one side!”
Following my command, earth magic users began carving into the rock wall simultaneously. They were only around C-class individually, not high-ranking nobles, but with dozens working together, a passage gradually extended… Eventually, we broke through to the other side. With a passage made, the stagnant air in the valley began to move naturally without relying on wind magic.
“Just as I thought. This should bring some relief for a while.”
“My lord, what have you done?”
“This valley was trapped between cliffs, accumulating poisonous air. By allowing the wind to flow through, we’ve prevented the poison from building up.”
“Where did such poison come from?”
“Look over there.”
I pointed ahead, where milky-white hot water gushed out vigorously, emitting steam. There are sulfur-based hot springs that emit hydrogen sulfide strongly… In closed terrains like this, it tends to accumulate.
“Oh my! So this is indeed a hot spring!”
Ayaka exclaimed with unexpected excitement.
“Yes. Did the secretive clan also enjoy hot springs?”
“It’s said they enjoyed hot springs greatly during their time in Akitsushima. However, during their wandering era, such luxuries were out of reach… Berzenbrück has no custom of enjoying hot springs either. This is my first time seeing a hot spring!”
Indeed, their homeland Akitsushima really feels like Japanese culture. Seeing Ayaka-san, who always exudes a calm demeanor, sparkling with excitement at the hot springs she had heard about and admired, even I start to feel uplifted.
“Alright, let’s create a hot spring resort!”
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In between the development work, I thought we could leisurely build the hot springs, but in reality, the imperial citizens went all out, and the construction progressed like a rush job. Initially, cliffs that were just holes for venting air were completely demolished with all earth mages mobilized. Various sizes of log houses were erected on leveled land, each equipped with stone or white wood bathtubs connected to hot springs.
Then, I casually mentioned wanting a large open-air bath like the ones in Kusatsu, and the imperial folks went wild, saying, “The lord has approved it!” or something, and ended up making a huge outdoor rock bath that can accommodate around a thousand people. Well, I’m happy about it, but…
“Hey Max, is everyone okay with their other tasks?”
“Well, you know… Once the imperial people hear ‘hot springs,’ they won’t listen to anything else. Actually, delaying the development a bit to quickly build the hot spring facilities will ultimately increase efficiency afterward…”
Listening carefully, in the cold and volcanic-rich empire, hot springs that warm the body are an indispensable necessity. However, there were none in Berzenbrück, so there was frustration until this discovery came along… It seems like excitement surged all at once.
It was surprising that the imperial people liked hot springs. They were enemies until recently, and we couldn’t bridge the gap easily, but somehow I feel like the distance has suddenly shortened.
Well, now that we’ve come this far, it’s only natural… I’ll have to enjoy mixed bathing with my wives!