In a World Where Chastity is Reversed, I Ended Up Working as a Hot Spring Attendant - Chapter 181

Chapter 181: Aoba’s Strategy Meeting After Falling Behind

And so, Misago seemed to have successfully caught the attention of that man, Hisui, and became the first official wife.

Hachikuma, who had been summoned as a bodyguard, became the second wife.

Following the flow, Yata Granny took the third spot.

Things progressed smoothly like that.

Before they knew it, even Toki Granny, Hakuto, and Ojiro had joined the official wives…

“What, I fell behind?!”

“Clearly, yeah?”

“What day is it now?”

When Aoba suddenly shouted in a corner of the dining hall, Misago and Hachikuma, who were sitting at the same table, gave her exasperated looks.

Feeling completely defeated by this fundamental misstep, Aoba slumped onto the table.

Currently, it was late-night snack time, or more like a casual drinking hour—when there were no customers around, they had a habit of enjoying alcohol and light meals.

The ingredients were whatever was left over from the day’s cooking, so they could whip up anything. Crispy chicken skin crackers were particularly popular.

By the way, today was the day Hisui was monopolized by Tsumugi-nee and Suzume, so there was no need for Hachikuma to stick close to him. Plus, there were two other people serving as his bodyguard decoys. On top of that, Hakuto and Ojiro had brought back an entire unit of bodyguards, so there were now attendants acting as guards constantly patrolling inside and outside the inn. With this setup, having one or two people missing wouldn’t make a difference, and they could finally have proper breaks and a shift system.

For general male bodyguards, they rarely had anything to do unless their charge went out, and since they didn’t like attracting attention from the opposite sex outside, they tended to stay indoors. One person was usually enough.

However, since this was an inn, outsiders were always present, meaning they had to be on duty constantly. Internally, it had been an extremely grueling workload.

Being able to take breaks now was a huge relief.

“You want in, don’t you?”

Misago asked directly.

Caught off guard, Aoba flailed her hands uselessly before responding.

“Of course.”

She admitted it, hanging her head in defeat.

“You mean as an official wife, right?”

“There’s no way I’d be satisfied with just fooling around…”

“Yeah, I figured…”

At this point, there was no point in hiding it.

“We could probably push you in using our authority…”

“We can at least recommend you?”

“Please do!”

“But, you know… confessing, getting accepted, and then being held… that’s like a once-in-a-lifetime event, right?”

“Wouldn’t it be a waste to skip that?”

Just as Aoba was about to jump at the easier route, it was snatched away from her.

“So, Aoba, what do you like about Hisui?”

Misago suddenly asked, her expression serious.

Up until recently, she had been a bit self-deprecating about her lack of experience, but now she seemed to have gained a whole new level of confidence.

The difference from just yesterday was staggering…

“…He eats the food I make with such delight, politely, beautifully, and in large amounts.”

If Aoba had to sum it up, that was it.

“Oh yeah, he always says ‘Itadakimasu’ properly, right?”

Misago nodded.

“And he also says ‘Gochisousama’ afterward.”

Hachikuma agreed.

“He eats everything, too. Like shrimp heads, shells, and tails, or grilled fish—yamame, iwana, ayu—he finishes everything, from head to bones to tail.”

“Oh yeah, he never leaves anything behind.”

“He’s sincere about his meals.”

The two of them nodded.

“I mean, I make sure everything is prepared to be fully edible, but the fact that he understands that and eats everything neatly—it feels like love, you know?”

“For us, it’s just normal, so we eat everything from the start.”

Hachikuma tilted her head. Since she was always hungry, she probably never thought about it from a regular customer’s perspective.

“No, it’s actually rare for customers to immediately get what we’re doing and not leave anything behind.”

Misago picked up on Aoba’s point and agreed.

“Even if we explain it when serving, some still leave stuff behind.”

Aoba added. In reality, there were quite a few people like that.

“There were even those who sneered, saying it looked poor and miserly.”

Misago groaned, sinking into the table as she recalled it.

“There are people like that?”

Hachikuma muttered in disbelief.

“Yeah, but we put those kinds of customers on the blacklist and ban them from coming back.”

“We don’t tolerate food waste here.”

“That’s actually pretty strict… But did we ever have enough customers to be picky?”

“It’s a matter of pride. Even if our clothes are ragged, our hearts should shine like brocade, you know?”

“The business is financially stable enough, so we can afford to kick out bad customers.”

“Makes sense.”

Since Hachikuma hadn’t been around for a while, she probably didn’t know how dead the place had been back then.

It was pretty obvious—some of them had definitely gotten a bit lazy when there were barely any customers.

They also couldn’t deny that they had been completely reliant on Grandpa Kohaku’s inheritance.

“Anyway, let’s get back to the topic of Hisui?”

Aoba pulled the conversation back on track. With alcohol involved, it was easy to derail.

“I don’t think he even thinks about it that deeply.”

“He’s just natural, right? He’s not forcing himself at all.”

“That’s exactly why!”

“So, you’re saying you fell for how he just is?”

“Yeah, he’s not pretending or acting a certain way. He just has good upbringing.”

“He’s kind to us, and even his pervy side—it’s all just him.”

“Being natural is the ideal, huh?”

“Even Yata Granny says he’s best just the way he is.”

“You could even say he’s a fated match, huh?”

So, the approach was decided. But how to start the conversation?

“Why not just do what he does with us sometimes?”

And so…

“How was today’s meal?”

“It was delicious. Thank you for the food.”

Aoba decided to just talk to him naturally after a meal.

~Postscript

Only one more chapter from Aoba’s perspective.