The bathing room in Danton’s mansion was quite large .
All of the male chiefs were able to fit in quite comfortably .
I took off my clothes and went inside . Grulf was patiently sitting down and waiting by the area used to wash yourself .
“Groof . ”
“Good . You waited for me . ”
He was waiting to be washed . It was a good thing he didn’t dive into the bath first .
On the other hand, Lord Gerberga was following close behind me .
He rode on my shoulder while I was still clothed, but I had him walk once I took them off in order to avoid being pierced by his claws .
“Thank you for understanding, Lord Gerberga . ”
“Cluck-cluck . ”
I started by washing Lord Gerberga first .
Danton watched us with a worried expression .
“Should you really be washing Lord Gerberga?”
“You’re right that usually, you must be careful about washing chickens . ”
Chickens took sand baths and did not need to be washed .
If anything, it was better if you didn’t .
“But Lord Gerberga is not an ordinary chicken . And he likes to bathe in order to relax more than to be cleaned . ”
“I see . He is a God Fowl after all . ”
“Grulf also likes to bathe every day, even though there really isn’t a need for it . ”
“Groof?”
Grulf tilted his head as he sat there quietly .
After a while, I finished washing Lord Gerberga .
He wasn’t actually dirty, to begin with, so it didn’t take long .
“Lord Gerberga . You’re good to go now . You can enjoy the bath . ”
“Cluck-cluck . ”
Lord Gerberga ran off to the bath .
“How’s the water, Lord Gerberga?”
“Cluck-cluck . ”
The other chiefs seemed quite happy that Lord Gerberga had joined them .
I started to wash Grulf then .
“Grrr . ”
He growled pleasantly .
I finished washing him and sent him off to the baths so I could wash myself .
Then I went and joined the others in the hot water . Danton said,
“You must be tired . ”
“Yeah . But I’m used to having to wash them . ”
“Groof . ”
Grulf looked very relaxed inside of the water .
And so did Lord Gerberga .
I myself felt very good .
As we took our time soaking in the water, one of the chiefs talked to me .
“Mister Locke . What are your thoughts on recent vampire activity?”
“They are certainly growing bolder . ”
“Yes . Do you suppose they are mass-producing Fool’s Stones…”
“That seems like a safe bet to me . ”
The other chiefs nodded .
There was a strong sense of danger .
Then one of the younger chiefs said,
“The barrier of the god of the dark ones is most terrifying . Is there anything we can do to fight it?”
The beastkin wolves traded information with Eric .
And so they knew about the barrier .
“Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do now . ”
“…I see . ”
“Currently, we are always one step behind them . If only there was something we could do to change that . ”
I said and they all agreed .
Generally, the vampires attacked us and we struck back .
There was one time that we attacked their main base .
However, it was the same pattern . We only attacked them after being attacked and searching for their base .
“If only we could find the place they are making the Fool’s Stone . ”
“We are searching for it…”
“It is their lifeline, so they will make it as hard as possible for us to find it . ”
The oldest chief said sadly .
“In any case, it seems we will have to continue to search for it while also defending our own lands . ”
“Locke is right . ”
As we discussed this, Grulf swam quietly in the water .
Lord Gerberga rode on his back . They seemed to be having fun .
I watched them as I made a suggestion .
“Um…If you don’t mind, I could go to all of your mansions and reinforce them with magic?”
“You would do that?”
The young chief looked at me with glimmering eyes .
“Yes . Of course . ”
“But we can’t bother Mister Locke…”
One of the chiefs said .
“I see . I understand that you might not want an outsider to cast magic onto your houses, but…”
“Oh, no! That is completely fine . But we don’t want to take advantage of your generosity . ”
“But this would be for us all . ”
“What do you mean?”
“You beastkin are the strongest force that is fighting the vampires . ”
“Even though you are just flattering us, it is good to hear such a thing from a great hero . ”
“I’m not flattering you . Also, I am worried, that since you are the main force opposing them, that you will be targeted . ”
“I see…”
They groaned as I continued gravely .
“Many of their plans would have succeeded had it not been for you all . ”
“Yes, and things are quite dangerous now . And there are children in the mansions . We would be grateful if you could reinforce the houses . ”
“Leave it to me . ”
And so they all agreed to allow me to reinforce their houses with magic .