Chastity-Reversed Hard Mode: Surviving as a Steel-Minded Adventurer in Another World - Chapter 24: Still Giving It My All for the Count’s House with a Steel Mentality

Chapter 24: Still Giving It My All for the Count’s House with a Steel Mentality

“It’s an honor to meet you. I am Janis, son of Count Rose. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Saint.”

The next day, Midra brought his son Janis along to boot camp. He was a slender boy, clearly taking after his mother’s build rather than Midra’s stocky frame. His features were sharp, almost delicate—honestly, he was quite the handsome kid. But he looked painfully shy, speaking in a small, timid voice.

Guess that meant it was on me to break the ice—by going all in with over-the-top friendliness.

“Nice to meet you! I’m Yuji Ojima. Right now I’m calling myself a Saint, but really, I’m just a traveler from the East. Feel free to call me ‘big brother’—heck, you can even drop the polite talk if you want!”

“Uh…”

I shot him a big thumbs-up, but Janis only glanced nervously at Midra. When Midra shook his head, Janis gave a serious bow.

“No. Even if I am part of the Count’s family, I am not yet anyone of worth. In such a state, I cannot speak to the benefactor of our house as if we were equals.”

Hmm… should I take this as him just parroting his father, or as proof he’s actually pretty level-headed? Best to wait and see how he turns out.

“Alright then. But at least call me ‘big brother.’ Your father does.”

“…Understood. I shall follow his example.”

With that, Janis quietly retreated behind the line of uncles. Just like Midra had said, he really did have that shy, withdrawn personality. But even from back there, he kept staring straight at me. That gaze was seriously distracting.

…Wait, is that it? Does he think I’m some kind of scam artist? Honestly, who could blame him? I did cure “incurable” syphilis overnight, then dragged his father into some shady-looking dance ritual in the garden. If I were him, I’d probably think, “Great, a sleazy foreign cult leader worming his way into the Count’s family.”

Yeah, I get it. If some sketchy guy walked up to my parents back home saying, “Trust me and I’ll cure any disease,” I’d call scam on the spot too.

Well, it’s fine if he stays suspicious of me for a while. Still, it’d be nice to actually befriend someone closer to my age. Guys are rare in this world—everywhere I go it’s women, women, women, with men shoved indoors and out of sight.

Ah well, no rush. We’ll get there eventually. For now—boot camp time!

“Alright, soulmates! Let’s get hyped for another round! Starting with stretches!”

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Since it was the second day, the guys who’d already joined yesterday were moving way more smoothly. Their stamina had noticeably improved too—enough that they survived today’s slightly longer session, even if they were huffing and puffing. Some even had enough energy left to cheer on the newbies. Honestly, I was quietly impressed.

As for Janis, he was doubled over, gasping for breath, but still managed to stick it out all the way to the end on his first try. Not bad at all. Kid’s definitely got the makings of a future muscle-head.

The soulmates gulped down water, snacking between sips on the steamed “Rabbit Salad” the maid (yep, a dude) had brought out.

“This has such a unique flavor. The meat’s so tender, and the more you chew, the more the taste seeps out.”

“Compared to beef, it does feel a little lacking… not as fatty.”

“True, but after exercise, this lighter meat goes down way easier than heavy, greasy beef.”

“I like it. Even the marinade is tasty. Wouldn’t mind if the cook turned this into a soup for dinner.”

Perfect. Looks like Rabbit Salad passed the test.

Back home, the convenience store version of chicken salad was loaded with additives and not for everyone. But this was homemade, pure and clean, so it’d be hard for anyone to turn it down. With a few variations—basil or other herbs, maybe smoked for flavor—it could easily be eaten day after day without getting boring. If we could get ginger or sesame oil, we could even make a “mouthwatering chicken” or bang-bang-ji style rabbit dish.

Yeah, I’ll definitely share some recipe variations with the chef later.

“Man, it’s hot…”

I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand.

This country sat at a high latitude, and since it was early autumn, the weather was usually on the chilly side. But today? It was blazing like midsummer.

“Days like this make me wanna jump in a pool…”

Midra, dripping sweat just like me, overheard my muttering and gave a nod.

“Indeed… perhaps we should prepare the pool?”

“Wait—you have a pool?”

“Yes, in the back garden. Janis, would you fetch the equipment?”

“Understood, Father.”

“Then, Big Brother, please come this way. Everyone, follow along.”

As Janis dashed off toward the manor, Midra led me and the rest of the soulmates through the estate.

I’d always heard water was incredibly precious in this country. And yet these nobles had a pool? Yeah, rich folks really lived on another level.

At the far end of the garden, tucked near a quiet stream, was the so-called pool. It was basically a wide pit dug in a bowl shape, the bottom lined neatly with stones.

But…

“…There’s no water. Do you pump it in from the stream?”

Well, yeah—this world doesn’t have plumbing. If you want water, you haul it straight from the river. But I didn’t see anything like a rubber hose lying around.

Oh, and here’s a weird tidbit: the rivers in this country are all brown. The first time I saw one, I nearly jumped. Turns out that’s normal. To the locals, “river water = brown water” is just common sense. There’s a layer of peat deep underground that acts like a natural filter for rainwater, and that tint carries over, giving the water its color.

Compared to Japan’s water, though? Pretty gross. It’s definitely hard water, loaded with minerals, with this bitter, tongue-prickling taste. Boil it in a kettle and you’ll see the minerals crystallize inside. Use the same kettle long enough, and the interior ends up looking like a mini limestone cave.

Still, add a squeeze of lemon and the flavor improves a lot, so I always splurge on lemons when I can. Even here in the Count’s mansion, their drinking water is lemon-infused. A camping how-to book I once read mentioned chilling it or mixing in carbonated water also helps, but refrigeration and soda-making tech clearly aren’t a thing in this world yet. Too bad.

Gross or not, though, water here is precious. People have been drinking this stuff their whole lives, so to them, this is what water tastes like. I’ve never heard anyone complain.

Anyway—back to the pool. When I asked if they were pulling water from the river, Midra just laughed and shook his head.

“No, no—it’s the opposite. The river is just for draining the pool. The water itself comes from… ah, here it is.”

At Midra’s words, I turned just in time to see Janis sprinting toward us, kicking up a trail of dust. He was moving at insane speed—so fast it looked like the air itself was wrapping around him. Wait… no, that wasn’t just an illusion. There was actually a tailwind pushing him forward.

He was using wind magic to boost himself, running at what had to be near car-level speed. Yesterday he could barely keep up with boot camp on foot, but with magic? Yeah, suddenly he was Usain Bolt on steroids. The mana of noble families really was no joke…

“I’ve brought it, Father.”

“Well done. Now, Big Brother, allow me to show you the secret of our household pool—the Springwater Orb.”

Taking the cloth bag from Janis, Midra pulled out a glowing blue jewel. Light shimmered constantly within it, swirling like a tiny storm trapped inside. It practically screamed powerful magic item.

Midra muttered a chant, and the orb floated up on its own, gliding to hover above the pool. Oh man, what a pure fantasy sight. Then, once it reached the center—WHOOSH! A massive gush of crystal-clear water erupted forth, nothing like the muddy river water I’d gotten used to. This was pristine, transparent water, just like back home. Amazing. Truly magical!

As I stood there practically bouncing with excitement, Midra narrowed his eyes proudly and began to explain.

“How about it? Fascinating, isn’t it? Just speak the keyword, and water gushes out like that.”

“Wait—can you actually drink that water?”

“Eh? Well, yes… though it’s meant for swimming in the pool…”

Driven by pure curiosity, I marched straight into the pool. Cupping my hands under the stream, I took a sip.

Oh… this wasn’t hard water. But it wasn’t soft water either. It didn’t taste good or bad—it didn’t taste like anything. Completely flavorless, scentless.

…Distilled water? Yeah, that had to be it. Back in elementary school science experiments, I remembered tasting something just like this. Since it had absolutely no impurities, it had no flavor at all. Turns out the “taste” of water is really just the minerals and other stuff dissolved in it.

Not exactly the best thing to drink long-term, but still…

“Uh, this is amazing! And you’re only using this magic item to fill a pool? Couldn’t it be used for way more useful stuff…?”

“Ah… yes, well. I suppose you’re wondering why it isn’t being used for farming.”

Midra scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“This orb was given to me as part of my dowry when I married. Just before our wedding, the Longfield domain suffered a terrible drought. At that time, the former Lord of Longfield begged my family to part with this orb as the condition for taking me in as a son-in-law. The old lord believed it would bring relief to the suffering villages—and indeed, she was overjoyed to have it.”

It did make sense, though. This island was constantly flirting with water shortages. Between the dry season and the giant rabbits devouring all the plants—stripping the soil of its ability to hold water—there was never enough to go around. If you used the orb to create rivers, whole villages could survive much more easily.

“…But then the villages started fighting over water rights. Everyone demanded the river flow through their land first. Nobody wanted to be downstream, forced to drink the cloudy runoff from others.”

“Ahh… yeah.”

Of course. Even in Japan, water rights had sparked conflict since ancient times. Whoever lived downstream always got saddled with agricultural runoff and waste from upstream. Water infrastructure is literally life-and-death—you can’t just compromise on that. And in this case, it wasn’t even a natural river—it was one the lord herself could redirect at will.

“If it’s a natural river, people can accept it as fate. But when it’s an artificial water source created by the lord, then naturally everyone tries to be placed at the top.”

“Exactly. It drove the domain to the brink of civil war. To make matters worse, neighboring nobles heard the rumors and even tried to invade us to steal the orb. In the end, we had no choice but to pretend the orb wasn’t that powerful and seal it away. These days, it’s only used privately, in summer, as a bath.”

What a waste of a convenient tool…

Maybe my disappointment showed on my face, because Midra gave me a wry smile.

“Neither I nor this orb ever fulfilled the role originally expected of us… but even so, the late Lord treated me warmly as her son-in-law. Because of that kindness, I resolved to dedicate myself fully to the Longfield family—and that brings us to today.”

“I see…”

The more I heard his story, the more I just wanted to be kind to this guy. There wasn’t much I could really do, but still…

“But it feels like such a waste to let this item sit unused. If we’re planning large-scale vegetable farming next year, we’ll need plenty of water. Isn’t there some way to make use of it? Like, if the initial cultivation was treated as a public project with subsidies, then officially decree that the orb’s water is only for that purpose…”

GLARE!

Whoa. The moment I said that, I felt a sharp stare drilling into me. Janis, standing way over there, was glaring like he wanted to burn a hole through my skull. What was that about? Did he think I was trying to trick Midra? Or was he just a hardcore meat-lover dead set against growing veggies?

Meanwhile, Midra stroked his beard thoughtfully, mulling over my suggestion.

“…We likely wouldn’t have the manpower to monitor how every drop of water is used. But public farming projects may indeed be the right approach. After all, our garden only grows a limited number of vegetables. If we used this water ourselves to expand stock and refine farming methods before distributing them to villages, that might work best. Big Brother, thank you for the idea—I’ll consider it carefully.”

“Uh… y-yeah.”

Janis still hadn’t stopped staring at me. Seriously, kid—you’re scaring me.

While we were talking, the pool had already filled up quite a bit. At this rate, using it for irrigation didn’t seem that far-fetched after all.

But then a new thought hit me…

“Rather than a pool, I kinda wanna take a bath. Could we heat this water up somehow?”

“A… bath? You mean turning this entire pool into a bathtub?”

Midra’s face twisted in confusion, like I’d just suggested something insane.

“That would be… difficult. We have no means to heat such a large volume of water. There’s no chamber beneath the pool to stoke a fire. And throwing fireballs directly into the water has long been forbidden. It tends to cause the water to explode, scalding everything nearby.”

“Ahh… a steam explosion.”

Classic. Web novels always loved throwing around steam explosions alongside dust explosions. Basically, when water instantly shifts from liquid to vapor, the volume expansion is so violent it blasts boiling water everywhere. No wonder it was banned. Clearly, enough mages in the past had tried it and ended up blowing themselves sky-high.

Still, wasn’t there a safer way to heat water without lighting a bonfire underneath? Something… oh!

“Right. A stone-heated bath!”

I snapped my fingers with a grin.

“A stone-heated bath…?”

“Not a thing here? Okay, so—you take stones, heat them until they’re scorching hot, then toss them into the water. The heat transfers gradually from the stones into the water, warming it up. Since the stones don’t release all their heat at once, it’s way less likely to cause an explosion than hurling a fireball directly in. Plus, the water stays hot for a long time.”

“Ohh…! So that’s another way to heat water. Big Brother, you really do know so much.”

“Nah, I just know about it. The people who actually came up with it are the real geniuses.”

I’d first heard of stone baths as a camping trick. My own introduction was on a family trip to Oarai, where we had monkfish hotpot made by tossing red-hot stones straight into the pot. Later I found out you could use the same principle to heat an actual bath, and I remember thinking, Whoa, people are clever. Who even comes up with stuff like that?

Granted, heating stones with firewood out in the wild takes ages, so I also heard it wasn’t very practical for camping. In overseas stone baths, they’d heat the rocks in a proper furnace until they glowed, which made the whole process far more efficient. But here in this world? With magic, getting stones piping hot should be a piece of cake.

“If we heat stones with magic, it’ll be far more efficient than burning firewood to heat a bath.”

“Exactly! Taking a bath to warm your body feels amazing, and it’s great for your health too. Back in my homeland, we even had a practice called toji—bathing in hot springs to cure illnesses.”

“Oh…? But doctors here say washing dirt off in hot water actually makes you more prone to sickness, so we’re told to avoid it.”

“That’s absolute nonsense—forget you ever heard it! You should bathe at least once every three days! Everyone, let’s take more baths, okay!?”

“…Well, if it comes from you, Saint, then it must be true. Very well, I’ll try to increase bathing opportunities from now on.”

Yes! Between a doctor who prescribes “don’t wash off grime if you’re sick” and a Saint who cures syphilis in an instant, who wouldn’t side with the Saint? Sure, I felt a little embarrassed flexing my “brand power” like some smug isekai protagonist, but this one was non-negotiable. If the people around me stink, I’m the one who suffers. This was as much for me as it was for them. Also… I just really wanted a bath.

“Alright then, let’s gather some stones. Look for big, solid, round ones. Avoid any with cracks or hollow insides—they could explode when heated.”

“Understood, Big Brother! You heard him, everyone—spread out and find those stones!”

“Yessir!”

At Midra’s command, the soulmates split up and scattered along the riverbank. For someone who usually came across as timid, he really knew how to step up when it counted. Kind of like how, back in Japan, samurai households could juggle multiple concubines as long as the main wife kept everything running smoothly—Midra was clearly doing his duty as a noble husband.

The soulmates looked oddly cheerful too. Maybe stone-hunting felt more like a fun orientation activity than actual work.

…Ugh, there it was again. That intense stare.

“…………”

Right behind me stood Janis, eyes fixed on me without a word. Was that hostility? Curiosity? Hard to tell—my empathy radar was totally useless here.

Ahh… whatever.

“Wanna go look for stones together?”

nod

…Okay, so he’s suddenly the quiet character now?

And that’s how the two of us ended up heading toward the riverbank together.

…He’s not gonna try to assassinate me over the whole veggie plan, right? I mean, one spell and I’d be toast. Please be gentle, kid.

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※Since it felt lonely without the women’s reactions, I added this as an afterword.

“All the husbands… bathing together!?”

At that moment, a shockwave ran through every woman in the mansion—!

“Anyone caught peeping will be executed. Don’t get any funny ideas.”

With that single warning from the guard captain, chills ran down their spines—!

“Why!? It’s not like anything’s gonna vanish! We just want one more dish for tonight’s side menu! The husbands are getting delicious snacks from the Saint, but we’re not even allowed to watch… not even a glimpse!?”

“Don’t try to spin it like that! The masters’ naked bodies belong to the Count alone. It’s our duty to protect them from the eyes of the lowborn!”

“Boo, tyrant! Nobles don’t care if the servants sneak a peek!”

“Yeah, yeah! Admit it, Captain—you wanna see too, don’t you?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to see… IT’S THAT I MUSTN’T!!”

A streak of crimson blood-tears traced down the captain’s cheek—!

“C-Captain…! Such struggle… such loyalty…!”

“She’s… she’s a true woman, that one…! Very well, Captain, we swear—we won’t peek even if it costs us our lives! We’ll uphold our duty!”

Meanwhile, in the Count’s reception room…

“…So then, if you could establish a trade route for specialty goods between our Thousand Leaves and your domain, I believe it would be mutually profitable. …Count? Why are you grabbing opera glasses? Where are you going?”

“Sorry, but this trivial money-making talk can wait. The greatest show is about to begin. Gather all your adventurers in the guest room and keep them there. Not one of them is allowed to slip out, understood?”

“Uh… y-yes?”

The Count dashed off toward the watchtower—!