With an odd look, he glanced at Aqua, who was enjoying herself beside him.
Whether it was because of her presence or not, Adam noticed the water quality in the bath had improved significantly. This idiot was the Goddess of Water, after all — when she soaked in water, she would unconsciously turn it into holy water.
But that wasn’t the main point. The real issue was...
Why was she so calm about coming in to take a bath?!
"W-what’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Sensing his gaze, Aqua instinctively became defensive, "I’ve been at the Adventurer’s Guild all day, I’m tired and cold too, so of course I want to take a bath early!"
She spoke urgently, as if trying to justify her hard work.
To recruit Familia members, she had indeed been spending her days from dawn till dusk at the Adventurer’s Guild, pestering passing Adventurers to join her.
But that wasn’t the real issue here!
Looking at this scene, Aqua, don’t you have anything to say about it?!
Everyone has their moments of awkward anxiety.
Just earlier, he had been terrified of her seeing him bathing with other beautiful girls, but now he felt disappointed by her completely normal, unbothered reaction.
The romantic comedy scenario he’d imagined hadn’t materialized. Was it because he had always acted too proper?
A proper young man would never turn into a hungry wolf without consent! Though even with his extraordinary self-control, he had barely resisted being surrounded by beauties.
Yet the moment Aqua appeared, his burning passion was immediately doused, forcing him into sage mode...
It wasn’t like being caught in the act and suddenly sobering up — rather, it was Aqua’s inherent divine effect as a Goddess, which even Adam, the "Agent of the Water Goddess", couldn’t resist.
This was a good chance to change the subject. Having a man among a group of lovely ladies was certainly awkward, both for Adam and the shy Yunyun.
After thinking for a moment, he asked Aqua, "By the way, Aqua."
"Hm? What is it?" She turned to look at him beside her, not understanding why he called her.
"Did you find anyone who wants to join the Aqua Familia?"
"Ah! About that, listen to this, Adam! I’m so angry...!" The topic immediately set her off.
Despite working diligently at the Adventurer’s Guild to recruit new Familia members, everyone who heard her name Aqua — plus the mandatory Axis Cult condition — rejected her without a second thought.
This frustrated her so much that she drank five glasses of bubble wine!
And ran up a tab of ξ30,000.
"So, please, Adam, could you... help me pay off my debt?" Aqua gazed at him with sparkling eyes.
It seemed her long story was merely setting up this final request about the ξ30,000 debt.
Such a roundabout way to ask!
The situation made Adam melancholic. This foolish Aqua had grown increasingly bold since his return, testing his limits by accumulating ever-larger debts.
Dancing on the edge between life and death — that described her perfectly.
"Aqua, I told you before there wouldn’t be a next time... remember?"
"Yet you dare do it again! Take this!"
Before she could escape, Adam grabbed her and mercilessly pinched her cheeks until she cried out apologies.
But he wouldn’t let her off easily. She always acted this way. Without a proper lesson, she’d surely repeat her mistakes.
"Hey, can’t you two bathe properly? You’re splashing hot water everywhere — what a waste!" Megumin, lying by the bath’s edge, scolded the roughhousing pair.
Though Adam was trying to discipline her, the stubborn Goddess wouldn’t accept punishment quietly. She fought back with hands and feet, splashing water everywhere in resistance.
Hot water sprayed in all directions, mostly hitting the others, with some spilling outside the bath.
"Megumin is right, it’s a shame to waste the hot water." Darkness remarked, unusually stern, "Even if you two are close, don’t forget there are others here."
Indeed. As Megumin and Darkness pointed out, it was wasteful, especially since any water Aqua touched would turn into holy water.
However... nobody would want to drink bath water, right?
No way, surely no one would want to be like that perverted Toad Sage from the ninja village next door and consider such a thought, right?
Realizing their roughhousing was disturbing others, Adam stopped punishing Aqua.
However, their intimate interaction surprised a certain newly joined and extremely shy beautiful girl. She stared at everyone with a blank expression.
"What is it now? Just take your bath quietly, okay?"
Megumin spoke harshly to her childhood friend, showing no joy or excitement at their reunion — making Adam realize she had no memories of Yunyun from before.
This confirmed they were indeed rivals.
"Sorry, Yunyun, did my quarrel with Aqua bother you?"
"No, no... it’s just..."
Yunyun’s face turned red as she struggled to voice her thoughts, but she finally managed to ask the question that troubled her.
"You... you all... have you always been ? Adventuring together, eating together, ba-bathing together... and such?"
"Yes, indeed." Darkness replied, completely misunderstanding her concern, "Not just that, Aqua often sleeps with Adam too."
"Hey, wait! I told you that’s a misunderstanding!" Adam quickly interjected, not wanting Yunyun to get the wrong idea.
"Hmm... it is because of Aqua, indeed." Darkness said. She hadn’t realized how her previous statement could have caused such trouble for him.
"Well, Yunyun always overthinks these little things." Megumin continued teasing her friend, "What was it Aqua called this... oh right, building bonds through openness?"
"That’s right — it’s how we deepen our relationships!" Aqua chimed in, misleading Yunyun with her questionable wisdom.
"Oh... was I wrong then?" Under their collective influence, the innocent girl’s common sense was quickly eroding.
"Uh..." Adam wanted to set things straight, but words failed him.
After all, he was responsible for this situation, and no explanation would help.
Better to stay quiet and keep a low profile. That was his only option.
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