Chapter 6
That bathhouse was even bigger than Yomi had imagined.
When he went in, the attendants did not even notice that a new guest had arrived.
Yomi walked through the main entrance and quickly found the front desk by following the signs on the wall.
When he stood on tiptoe and desperately waved his bathhouse voucher, the girl at the front desk was so startled that she jumped.
Still, her professional manners were excellent. She quickly smoothed over her expression, took the bathhouse voucher with a smile, and then used her fungal tendrils to place him onto a high stool. “Please wait a moment, sir. Your voucher needs to be activated first.”
Yomi sat upright on the chair in a very proper manner. Following her instructions, he tapped his light-brain to activate it.
“All right. Please go this way. Up ahead are the baths and hot springs. Over there is the massage area and beauty area, and further right is the lounge…”
“Okay, thank you.”
After getting down from the stool, Yomi followed the front desk girl’s directions and went to the bathing area first.
After washing up and coming back out, an attendant outside brought him a drink. “Would you like a massage? If needed, we can arrange a specific masseur for you.”
They were afraid an ordinary masseur’s strength would be too much for someone this tiny.
Yomi shook his head. He fastened his bathrobe and went straight to the beauty section. After finding the hair-cutting room, he pushed the door open and walked in.
The salon’s decor looked a lot like the chain hair salons Yomi had seen in the human world before transmigrating—bright lights everywhere, and the air full of the scent of all kinds of hair gel. Customers sat in rows before mirrors, snacking, while hairstylists with all sorts of hair colors chatted with them and snipped away with their tools.
The only difference was the enormous body sizes, and the unsettling monster traits they revealed.
Yomi was too small, so there would naturally be many inconveniences for him here. Fortunately, while he had been bathing, the front desk girl had already informed the attendants of his situation through the internal light-brain system. So the moment he entered the salon, a monster hairstylist who had long been prepared used his tentacles to gently circle him and place him onto a rotating salon chair. “Little sir, what kind of hairstyle would you like?”
“Um… just cut it a bit shorter,” Yomi said, trying his best to stay calm. “I start work tomorrow.”
“Got it. Leave it to me!”
The hairstylist quickly draped a cape over him, picked up the smallest scissors and comb, studied the full shape of his head for a moment, held his breath slightly, and then began snip-snip-snipping.
In the VIP section of the bathhouse—
Inside a hot spring deep in the bamboo grove, a red-haired man sat with his eyes half-closed. He was tall and broad, with firm muscles. But when he turned, a frightening shark fin was revealed on his back…
“Young Master, how much longer are you planning to stay here? The Marshal and Madam have been looking for you the whole time,” the attendant standing in the distance said helplessly.
“At least for today, I’m not going back. If you let them know where I am…”
“How would I dare say anything? But please don’t make things too hard for me either…”
The man gave a low snort. “Relax. I already told them I left the main city district. This bathhouse cuts off light-brain tracking. As long as you cooperate with me, they won’t find out. Enough. Stop bothering me.”
The attendant could only agree and withdraw. Before leaving, he looked once more at the figure in the water and still could not help adding, “Young Master Jinwen, running away is useless. Sooner or later, you’ll have to make a choice.”
The man in the hot spring froze, then blackened his face. “…Get lost!”
In truth, he understood that better than anyone.
As the Marshal’s only son, not only his father, but even the Emperor himself was now beginning to lean toward Prince Joseph.
People inside the royal family all knew very well that Crown Prince Ansius would have an extremely difficult time inheriting the throne in the future. His disability was only one aspect of it. What was even more terrifying was that after that grave injury, Ansius seemed to have entered a violent state he could no longer control. A person like that simply could not become the future Emperor of the Empire.
Of course Jinwen understood that logic.
But he had been on the battlefield himself. He had personally seen how formidable Ansius was as a commander, as well as the terrifying power with which he could shatter warships. In Jinwen’s eyes, even if he despised Ansius’s dead-man face, he still had to admit objectively that in every way, Ansius was a hundred times stronger than Joseph.
Deep down, he simply looked down on Joseph. How could he be willing to submit to him?
Jinwen’s goal was to become a Marshal even stronger than his father, but his family had already become entangled in the struggle for imperial power. It was difficult for him to stay out of it.
Over the past few days, his father had kept pressuring him to attend the banquets arranged by Prince Joseph. But Jinwen could not bring himself to put on a false front and exchange empty pleasantries with those people. At the same time, the many tangled interests involved left him deeply conflicted and torn.
His father had pushed him to the point he could no longer bear it, so he simply ran off to find peace somewhere they would never expect.
All he wanted was for this brief calm not to be disturbed again.
Half an hour later, in the hair salon—
At that moment, everyone turned to look at that tiny figure in amazement.
“I completely didn’t notice there was a person there before…”
“I’ve been secretly watching for ages.”
“It’s alive!”
“Ahhh, so cute!”
“It looks like he stepped right out of a comic…”
In the mirror, the boy’s slightly long black hair had now been trimmed to just the right length, making him look exceptionally fresh and neat. His ink-black short hair fell over his forehead, sharply contrasting with his porcelain-white skin.
Looking at the beautiful young boy with such smooth, graceful features, even the hairstylist himself froze for a moment. “This hairstyle suits you way too well!” No—at this point, even if that face were shaved bald, he would still be the best-looking bald head alive!
After getting his haircut smoothly, Yomi saw there was still plenty of time left, so he decided to soak in the hot spring.
This bathhouse had many outdoor hot springs. Business seemed bad at the moment, and there were very few customers. Along the way, Yomi hardly saw anyone at all. Following the direction the hairstylist had told him earlier, he kept walking forward, then turned right, entered a small door, walked a few more steps, and finally saw the steps the attendant had mentioned.
He continued onward, went down the steps, and saw the mist-covered hot springs.
The surrounding environment was much nicer than he had expected. There were even all kinds of entertainment rooms nearby. But there were fewer hot spring pools than he had imagined—only three in total.
One of them was enclosed by bamboo, and someone was soaking inside.
The other two were empty.
Because there were so few people, the place was very quiet.
Satisfied, Yomi walked into the smallest blue pool. Once he sat down, his body was wrapped in a warm, melting comfort. Narrowing his eyes, he began soaking contentedly.
Elsewhere, an attendant was heading toward the public bath. Halfway there, he suddenly noticed that the soundproof window beside the VIP passage had been left open. He paused, then casually shut it.
Mist curled through the bamboo grove.
Jinwen, tired, stepped out of the pool. In the next instant, his expression changed sharply.
In the small blue pool not far away, there was a tiny little thing soaking there—with lamb horns on its head!
?!
This was the VIP area he had reserved privately, and there were guards posted at the entrance. Apart from his own people, no one else should possibly have been able to get in.
Jinwen’s shock did not even last three seconds before the little one over there opened his eyes, noticed that he was being watched, and even gave him a light nod in greeting.
Jinwen: “……”
Instead of immediately questioning his men, he strode over in big steps, squatted right at the edge of the pool, and lowered his head to curiously observe this tiny little creature.
The moment Yomi saw his shark fin, he swam to the far side of the pool and kept his distance.
With his back to Jinwen, he lay both hands on the pool edge and played with his light-brain to pass the time.
His skin had been steamed faintly red by the hot spring, and there was not the slightest visible pore—making him look like a truly exquisite lifelike doll.
His hair was very black, fluffy, and soft, and the swirl at the crown of his head was especially neat and standard, the kind that made people want to reach out and press on it.
…So tiny. Was this really a person?
Jinwen scratched his head and could not help speaking. “Hey, can you talk?”
The little figure turned around, his gaze wary. “Do you need something?”
…It really can talk!
Jinwen got excited. “How did you get in here?”
The little one immediately raised up the bathhouse voucher attached to his light-brain for him to see, his cheeks flushed red, clearly mistaking him for a ticket-checking staff member.
Jinwen nearly burst out laughing. He glanced at the bathhouse voucher, then opened his own light-brain surveillance… This little guy had actually come in through that tiny little window!
He confirmed that the little guy had simply taken a wrong turn, but he did not point it out. Instead, after a few more curious glances, he let him continue soaking in the hot spring in his area and turned back indoors to rest.
The moment he left, Yomi relaxed a great deal.
He sank everything from the neck down into the water, projected his light-brain in midair, and lazily watched a documentary about Snaran.
Standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, Jinwen took a sip of coffee and stared straight ahead at the “little doll” swimming around in the water not far away.
…This was way too fun!
He could watch all day!
After finishing the documentary, Yomi climbed out of the hot spring in a daze. Wrapped in a bath towel, yawning, he started heading back.
As he passed that room, the door inside suddenly opened. The red-haired man walked over with a cool expression and handed him a cup of fruit juice.
Heaven knew how long Jinwen had spent trying to find a cup that small!
By now, Yomi had already taken him to be a staff member or manager of this area. He had just been about to go out and find something to drink, so when the other party brought him juice, he gratefully said thank you, found a stone platform to sit on, and gulped it down.
After a few sips, he even smiled at him.
Jinwen froze, and his heart suddenly began pounding wildly. Acting on instinct, he sat down beside him. “Do you come to this bathhouse often?”
Yomi shook his head. “This is my first time here today.”
Jinwen: No wonder you got lost…
Yomi continued, “When I was working before, my boss gave me a bathhouse voucher. Since I start work tomorrow, I came to get a haircut and soak in the hot spring while I was at it.” He took another sip of juice, set the cup on the table, and waited for him to speak.
…This was clearly the posture of someone ready to chat with him!
Jinwen immediately said, “Same as you. My boss gave me a voucher too.”
Yomi looked surprised. “I thought you worked here…”
Jinwen began talking nonsense without changing expression. “There weren’t many people here, and no attendants around. I was worried you might faint in the hot spring, so I went to check.”
Yomi said, “So that’s how it was.”
Jinwen slowed his breathing, then let out a deep breath.
Too cute!!!
Yomi continued chatting with him, mostly talking about how good the bathhouse service was here, and how skilled the hairstylist was too. Jinwen could not take any of it in at all. He only stared at the little swirl of hair on Yomi’s head and his horns as they swayed.
In the end, it was the message notification from his light-brain that finally snapped him back to himself.
It was a message from his father, telling him he absolutely had to attend the banquet hosted by Prince Joseph this week.
Jinwen directly shut off the light-brain, and the irritation in his eyes showed at once.
Yomi looked up and saw it, then immediately asked, “What’s wrong?”
Not wanting to frighten him, Jinwen tilted his head back and said, “Nothing. Just some trouble at work.”
Yomi looked like he was listening very seriously. “Can’t it be solved?”
Jinwen said, “It’s troublesome. I’m a private driver. My boss has two sons. One is capable, but because something happened, he probably won’t be able to inherit the boss’s property. The other one is ordinary, but a lot of people support him… and the two of them don’t get along. The boss keeps making me drive his younger son around, but the older son also looks like someone not easy to deal with… honestly, I don’t want anything to do with either of them.”
“Isn’t your job to drive your boss around?” Yomi asked in confusion. “You can just not drive them.”
Jinwen laughed. “Really? It would be great if it could be that simple.”
Of course he was not actually a driver. How could the situation in the royal family possibly be so simple?
Yomi said, “You could change jobs.”
Jinwen lowered his head and looked at him without speaking.
Yomi went on, still thinking it over. “If this employer is very generous, then changing jobs might not be a good idea… Right, you could modify the car seat into your boss’s exclusive seat! Make it so that no one except your boss can sit in it.”
Even when Snaran took human form, they all had tells. Like the person in front of him, for example—the seat would need enough room to accommodate the shark fin on his back.
Jinwen suddenly froze.
His expression changed several times. Just when Yomi was looking confused, he suddenly threw back his head and laughed. “So that’s it… Thank you!”
If he truly made up his mind, then this matter actually was not that complicated. He only needed to break away from his family.
It was not that he had never thought of it before. He had simply never dared to think of it seriously.
But seeing this tiny little thing say it so lightly, he unconsciously followed that train of thought and faced his own problem head-on.
He had to make a choice.
As long as he was ruthless enough and willing to pay a certain price, he could establish his own household independently!
…Even if he lost a great deal, it would still be better than hiding and avoiding things like this!
Jinwen quickly went back inside to change clothes. But by the time he came out joyfully dressed in military uniform, that tiny figure outside had already disappeared.
Only a tiny glass cup was left on the table.
On the tree-lined path outside the bathhouse, Yomi, looking refreshed and clean, carried a basket full of changed clothes and went home.
In the underground chambers of the Sacred Palace, the atmosphere was tense.
Numerous attendants in armor were desperately trying to stop the Crown Prince, who had once again entered a berserk state.
Karl stood at the front of the crowd and called out loudly, “Your Highness Ansius, please calm down!”
The enormous monster shook its wings and flung aside the dozens of attendants blocking him. His golden pupils were bloodshot, and in an instant, the palace wall he stared at collapsed with a thunderous crash, reduced to powder all over the ground.
Karl’s eyes widened in panic. Seeing Ansius’s rampage growing more and more out of control, he had no choice but to pick up the lifelike doll behind him and step forward to test the waters. “Your Highness, l-look what this is?”
The monster froze. Just as Karl was feeling relieved, it suddenly charged forward and slapped the doll into dust with one claw.
Karl was so frightened he was about to cry. “…Your Highness!”
In just a few more days, there was still an important event in the capital requiring the Crown Prince to show his face. But with the prince in his current state, let alone speaking calmly, he probably could not even cooperate with wearing a human-skin suit!
Seeing that figure about to head outside again, everyone’s faces turned deathly pale.
“Your Highness Ansius!” Karl’s mind raced as he hurriedly went up to soothe him. “We are doing our utmost to find that person named Yomi. Just now, we have already made some progress!”
The monster stopped and quietly looked at him.
“…B-but that person is very timid, and he has come from far away. He has definitely never seen Your Highness in this form. If Your Highness looks like this, you will surely frighten him…” Karl panted as he said it. “Please rest assured. The designer is already rushing to make you a new human-skin suit. It will be ready soon.”
Ansius’s human-skin suit had been made by the designer based on the human form he used to transform into. Once worn, it looked exactly like his former appearance. That was why the outside world still did not know the secret of the Crown Prince’s disability.
Snaran’s body remained in a growth stage until the age of twenty-five. Only after twenty-five did the body fully settle into its final shape. That meant that twenty-year-old Ansius was still in the middle of his growth period… which also meant he had to replace his human-skin suit every so often.
And Ansius’s previous suit had already been torn to pieces by his own hands.
Karl’s words really did work. Ansius stared at him coldly and stopped going mad… but in the very next second, he was about to go get his suit right then and there!
Everyone panicked. Seeing that they could not stop him, they had no choice but to scramble around in chaos and bring over a starship to take him there…
Meanwhile, in the lifelike doll shop, the photographer kept snapping away at the little ram-horned model in front of him.
“Yes, smile a little. That pose is good!”
“Put on a beret and cover the ram horns too—very good! Just like that!”
“Once the horns are covered, it completely looks like a doll with a perfect human body!”
“Wow, these photos are turning out amazing! Good, good, good!”
After posing for photos all morning, Yomi wiped his sweat and climbed down from the platform. Taking off his hat, he asked, “Are today’s pictures okay?”
“More than okay!” Vera, unable to bear it, reached out and poked the tips of his ram horns. “Little Mimi, you photograph even better than real dolls! Do you know how popular the outfits you modeled this week have been? Ahhh, choosing you as a model was seriously the best decision I’ve ever made!”
Yomi smiled shyly, and a growing sense of accomplishment slowly rose in his heart.
The studio was rather messy. He took a sip of water and sat down on the sofa beside one of the lifelike dolls.
Not long after, Vera finished retouching the photos and uploaded them all at once to the online customer group.
[Vera: New arrivals! Autumn outfit detail display…]
The group chat instantly exploded:
[!!!]
[This set is way too cute!]
[Honestly, is the recent model even real? I seriously suspect the shop made life-sized clothes, had a good-looking model wear them, and then used effects to enlarge all the surroundings by comparison… If you do that, you can’t even see the real clothing details on the doll properly, okay?]
[…Are you new here? I’ve visited this shop in person. The model really is only that tiny! Super cute!]
[Uh, aren’t you just the boss’s plant?]
[I’ve seen it too. Does that make me a plant as well? I heard he came from outside the main city district, so don’t act like it’s such a huge shock…]
[I’ve traveled outside the main city district before. Why didn’t I ever see a Snaran this small?!]
[Just because you haven’t seen one means they don’t exist???]
[Hey hey hey! Don’t get off topic. The new outfits are seriously gorgeous. I already placed orders for both me and my friend’s dolls! Hurry up and ship them!]
[Boss, does this outfit set include the model too? So cute. I really want to buy him and keep him. I’ll take very good care of him [shy]]
[…]
Yomi was drinking water when he suddenly heard Vera burst out laughing at her light-brain. He turned his head and happened to see that message about wanting to buy him and keep him, and he froze.
Vera teased him, “Little Mimi, you really are popular!”
“……”
All of a sudden, a thunderous rumble came from overhead.
“What’s going on?!”
Everyone in the room was startled.
Vera immediately pulled open the window and stuck her head out to look—it was a starship descending slowly.
Her expression instantly relaxed. Closing the window, she turned back to continue working, only to see that Yomi had followed her over and was now looking at her nervously.
Vera froze for a moment, then smiled and explained, “Don’t be scared. It’s probably just some big shot coming over to have fun… Anyway, it has nothing to do with us!”
Yomi had never seen a scene like this before and had nearly thought some kind of interstellar war had broken out. Hearing that, he wiped away his sweat and said, “That’s a relief.”
“……”
