Dominic looked at him with confusion, but Shiao Yi tossed the shirt aside and said bluntly, "Do you have anything I can wear? I don't want this anymore. Is there a shower room here? I'm going to wash up."
"I'll give you something of mine," Dominic said.
He pulled out a new blue shirt from the wardrobe, but Shiao Yi frowned when he saw it.
"Dominic, your clothes are way too big. They're all baggy and hard to move in. Why the hell are you so big anyway? Is it because I'm someone from earth that's why I'm so small? Is that a privilege for someone from another world? I don't like this."
Toward the end, Shiao Yi started mumbling to himself, like he was talking under his breath.
"This room was made for a commander, so it has a bathtub. I'll ask someone to brought up the hot water," Dominic said.
"What? You're going to carry the water all the way here? Seriously?"
"How else do you think the bath gets filled? We boil the water in the boiler room downstairs and bring it up. The shared bathroom next to it is hooked up to pipes from the boiler directly."
"…Wait, are you saying you don't have plumbing?"
"Plumbing? What's that? Water is drawn from the well, obviously. Some places bring it from rivers or lakes too."
Shiao Yi made a strange face, like he was in shock.
"If there's a shared bath, I'll just go use that. You think it's open at this hour?"
"It is, but… Shiao, can you just use the bathtub here. There's no reason to go all the way to the shared bathroom."
"It'd feel wrong to make someone carry hot water just for me. I'll go downstairs."
"Use the bathtub in this room!" Dominic suddenly raised his voice sharply.
"Wha—why are you getting all commanding over a bath? It's not that big a deal," Shiao Yi said feeling startled.
"I just don't want that, okay?! I don't want you to use the shared bathroom."
"…What? Why not? That makes no sense."
"B-Because…"
Dominic trailed off. He couldn't say it out loud—that it was because he didn't want any other men to see Shiao Yi naked. That selfish reason got stuck in his throat.
Shiao Yi turned around and headed for the door. "I'm going."
Without thinking, Dominic grabbed his arm. "Don't go!"
"I'm just going to wash up. Why are you making that face?"
Face? Dominic wasn't sure what kind of expression he was making.
"There's no need to go. If you feel dirty, I'll clean you."
He didn't want to argue with Shiao Yi over something this petty. So, Dominic cast a cleansing spell.
Shiao Yi gasped and looked down at himself in surprise.
"Whoa. That's amazing. I feel totally clean. The sticky sweat and all the mud are just… gone. Wow, it's like magic."
"It is magic," Dominic said simply.
"…Oh. Right. I guess it is. Ha… haha…"
Shiao Yi gave a strained laugh. It was rare. In fact, it might have been the first time Dominic had seen him smile at all.
He had a set of the smallest clothes delivered. Shiao Yi tied the waist with a string to make it fit his small body, and Dominic brought him along as they headed toward the treatment room.
...
First, Louis went to the east wing of the fortress, where the mages were stationed.
He went there to ask Segoy, a high-ranking mage and his subordinates to come up with a plan to stop the magical beasts from entering the kingdom, since they would likely keep appearing often.
The forest along the border was too wide to place a protective barrier over the entire area. Instead, they decided to focus on setting up partial barriers around the roads and smaller paths that led out of the forest.
They would also place scents and marks that magical beasts disliked, making it harder for them to come out of the forest. It was only a temporary measure, but it was still better than doing nothing at all.
If it worked—if the magical beasts actually stayed away and damage was reduced—it would be considered a lucky success.
Next, Louis headed to the west wing of the fortress, where the barracks were located.
This was the largest facility in the entire fortress, with a wide courtyard in the middle that included the training grounds and stables.
The west wing housed the dormitories for the eight military units and the private rooms of the officers in charge of those units. For reference, the shared bathroom was located on the first floor between the west and south wings.
There were two mess halls: one in the barracks for the regular soldiers, and another on the first floor of the central building that was reserved for high-ranking officers, knights, and mages.
That said, the maged usually ate at irregular times, and many of them preferred to eat in their own rooms.
There, Louis met with the unit commanders and discussed strengthening the patrols along the forest's edge.
They decided to rotate watch duties and prepare to deploy at any moment. This way, the soldiers wouldn't get too exhausted and could hold out for a long-term conflict if needed.
The actual system didn't change much. The only difference was the mindset—rather than preparing for surprise attacks, they had to treat this as something ongoing and constant. That shift in thinking alone made a big difference in how people prepared themselves.
While Louis was running around here and there, busy handling everything, he suddenly got a message from the captain that was telling him to come to the treatment room.
When did he get back? Louis thought. The last time he saw him, the man had suddenly vanished from the meeting room with Shiao Yi.
—The treatment room? Did someone get hurt? Is everything okay?
Louis rushed into the treatment room on the south side of the central building while breathing heavily.