In a World Where Chastity is Reversed, I Ended Up Working as a Hot Spring Attendant - Chapter 120

“How to search…First, look over the whole beach like this.”

Following Misago’s instructions, I scanned the surroundings. A wide sandy beach, rough waves, and the atmosphere felt too cold for swimming.

It was indeed too early for swimming anyway.

We weren’t even dressed for it. Instead, we had on sturdy trekking boots.

We didn’t come to swim, either. When I asked if there was something fun to do while training, Misago suggested stone picking, and here we are.

If I push myself too hard, I’ll end up with severe muscle soreness in my lower abdomen, which is a problem for a guy, so I’ve got to work hard on training too.

“Most of the stones are white, but not all green ones are bad. It’s worth checking them out,” she said, picking up a white stone at her feet.

“Professionals have tools like handy grabbers, but since this is for training, we’re not using them. Squat down, pick up the stone, and jump up like this.”

She let the stone fall and instantly dropped into a push-up position on the sand, then picked up the stone and jumped back up. Amazingly, no sand stuck to her shirt, so she didn’t fully land on the ground.

There were moments when I got distracted by glimpses of her healthy belly button or the light bounce of her chest, but I tried not to dwell on those thoughts.

After a small extra hop to adjust her posture, she began inspecting the stone.

“This is called a burpee exercise. Since it’s not done continuously, it shouldn’t be that hard.”

She continued examining the stone.

“As for how to distinguish them, if it’s just plain white with no transparency, it’s white feldspar, basically garbage, so just toss it.”

She effortlessly threw the stone into the ocean with an overhand throw.

“Now, the next one. If it’s white and transparent, and you can see through it when held up to the light—”

She jumped back up from the push-up position, lightly dusted off the sand from the stone, and held it up to the sun.

“Look at this,” she motioned, so I obediently walked over and peered in. It was indeed half-transparent white.

“But the surface is rough, as if it’s broken. This kind of fracture is a feature of quartz, right?”

She concluded with a touch of disappointment.

She tossed this stone into the sea with considerable force too.

“If the transparency is high and the crystal structure is large and clear like glass, it could be valuable as crystal, but the ones found around here are just solid white. You can consider them trash.”

“Life is harsh.”

I chimed in, almost reflexively.

“Next up, this one’s green and looks pretty, but even when held up to the light, it has no transparency, right?”

It was indeed green, but it didn’t look transparent under the light.

“This is a ‘fox stone.’ When wet, it sparkles, so amateurs often mistake it for something valuable, as if they were tricked by a fox. Its official name is rhodonite, but just saying ‘fox stone’ is enough. So, toss it.”

She handed me the useless stone, and I mimicked her overhand throw, launching it toward the sea.

“Nice throw!”

She responded playfully.

“Next, this is a smooth green stone with black spots, like sesame seeds. This is a serpentinite, also known as a snake stone. Precious stones like jade, topaz, or aquamarine come up from magma with this as their host rock. Areas with this stone are sacred ground for rock hunting, but the stone itself isn’t valuable.”

“It’s like a precursor, like seeing a foreshadowing event in a pachinko game.”

“Since it’s a type of glass, if you make it thin enough, the green parts let light through, but the black sesame spots don’t. See, the light doesn’t pass through.”

Misago pulled out a flashlight from her pocket, turned it on, and shined it on the stone, showing that it was completely dark.

“So, the real prize is this. It’s more of a milky white than green. There are also purple, blue, and white varieties. When you shine light on it, the whole thing glows.”

This time, instead of picking one up, she pulled a stone from her pocket and held it under the flashlight. It shone beautifully.

“It has a dense crystal structure, no cleavage lines, so it feels smooth all over, and there are hardly any cracks.”

She handed me the sample jade for a closer look. There were indeed many differences, but whether I could actually find one was uncertain.

I handed the stone back to Misago after examining it from all angles.

“That’s pretty much all the basic knowledge. From here on, it’s about learning by seeing for yourself. Let’s go!”

More than stone picking, the burpee jumps were more brutal than I expected, and I quickly became exhausted.

Misago, however, showed no signs of fatigue, bouncing around energetically.

She would dash across the beach, squat, lie down, jump up, and repeat, with an unbelievable amount of energy.

What about my harvest?

I kept getting fooled by the transparency of quartz. It was harder to distinguish than I thought.

“You’ll get used to recognizing them at a glance. It’s just a matter of practice,” Misago said with a wry smile.

“When jade breaks off from its host rock, it often splits in flat, straight lines. The trick is noticing that subtle difference.”

“Also, this area has small and few stones, so it’s more of a training ground,” Hachikuma added with a chuckle.

Still, I didn’t want to lose to Misago, who was hopping around energetically, so I gave it my all. Within an hour, my legs and back were completely shot.

“So, we basically do this every day. As the day goes on, more people show up, so the key is to start at dawn, before breakfast.”

It made sense why Misago’s legs were so toned, given her disciplined routine.

I tried not to worry about the crowd of spectators watching us from afar.

~Postscript

This is just a glimpse of Misago’s daily exercise routine. She’s pretty much a monster.