On how PhDs become human evil

A few minutes earlier, Bai Jie, who was on his way to the research lab, suddenly needed to use the restroom. He told Cecilia and came over, but as soon as he came out of the men's restroom, he found Cecilia standing at the door like a statue. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought this was the women's restroom.

"Cecilia, even though you're supposed to be my bodyguard, this isn't the kind of 'bodyguard' you're supposed to be," Bai Jie said, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.

It was Bai Jie himself who suggested that Cecilia be his bodyguard. He intended to use this relationship to change Cecilia's current situation of not questioning orders. In his opinion, the lively and charming Cecilia of the future was much more lovable. The current Cecilia was almost like a robot.

However, Bai Jie underestimated Cecilia's dedication to the mission. She would complete the mission exactly as described, without any deviation. Although she was not to the point where she could not tolerate any loss, she was close.

Therefore, in the mission of protecting Bai Jie, since Otto's order was to provide 24-hour close protection for Fafnir, Cecilia really did stay by Bai Jie's side every moment.

She eats with Bai Jie, goes to work at the research institute with Bai Jie, and stays by Bai Jie's side when he does research... Ever since Cecilia took on Bai Jie's bodyguard mission a week ago, she has followed Bai Jie wherever he goes, practically becoming his second shadow.

(Although this is a situation I'd love to have, having them follow me around like a shadow is getting a bit much for me.)

After a long sigh, Bai Jie asked Cecilia, "Cecilia, don't you have anything you want to do? Don't you get bored following me around all day? How about you take care of your own things once in a while?"

“I don’t have anything I want to do, and for me, the mission is the most important thing. My personal matters will have to wait until the mission is completed.”

(Here it comes, the standard workaholic statement: someone who doesn't care about anything else when it comes to work. In Japan, that would be the perfect corporate slave, the ideal employee every unscrupulous boss wants.)

In the future, Cecilia will still focus on missions, but she will postpone less important missions, such as helping Valkyrie recruits train.

Cecilia, on the other hand, is the opposite. If Otto calls her while she's taking a shower and asks her to organize the Schicksal database, she will immediately rush out of the shower, change her clothes as quickly as possible, and head to the database room.

"Wait, take a shower?"

Suddenly, Bai Jie thought of something, and after resting his chin on his hand for a moment, he said to Cecilia, "Cecilia, let's go soak in the hot springs!"

"Huh?" Cecilia was taken aback by Bai Jie's sudden remark. "Hot spring? But didn't you have important research to do today?"

"Then let's do it tomorrow. We need to satisfy our personal desires. Besides, I've been working overtime for five days in a row. My shoulders are killing me. I need to take a break from time to time. You wait, I'll call Otto right now."

After saying that, Bai Jie took out his personal terminal and connected to Otto's call.

"Hello? Otto? I'd like to take a couple of days off to go to the hot springs... Yes, with Cecilia... Research? It's just the development of a new weapon, right? I'll get it done after I get back from the hot springs tomorrow... Time is of the essence? I'll get it done in half a day... Okay, could you also make a reservation for me? I'm sure you have the phone number of the best hot spring hotel in the world. That's all, thanks."

After hanging up the phone, Bai Jie took Cecilia's hand: "Okay, I've asked Otto to book a hotel for us. Let's go back and pack our luggage."

"You... Hah, really." Cecilia sighed wearily. She had asked the Valkyries who had handled escort missions, but it seemed that her escort mission was different from others.

While others were genuinely there to protect her, she felt more like a nanny.

--------------------------

When it comes to hot springs, the first country that comes to mind is Japan. Located at the junction of the Eurasian and Pacific tectonic plates, this island nation boasts some of the world's best hot springs due to its unique geographical location.

In Japan, when it comes to hot springs, Hakone is the first place that comes to mind.

After arriving in Hakone by Shinkansen, Bai Jie, who had changed into casual clothes, looked at the scenery outside the station with some amazement: "We were in Europe this morning, and now we're in Japan, which is almost on the other side of the world. Schicksal's aircraft technology is really advanced."

Cecilia rolled her eyes at Bai Jie's exclamation: "Using a supersonic transport plane as a tourist vehicle... The researchers in the equipment department must be upset."

Supersonic transport aircraft, as its name suggests, is a supersonic aircraft specifically designed for cargo transport. Originally designed to quickly transport Valkyries to battle locations, it has now become a cargo transport vehicle thanks to technological advancements.

Bai Jie flew directly from Austria to Japan using this type of aircraft.

While others travel by plane in the luxurious first class, Bai Jie brought a military plane. Luckily, he was traveling with Cecilia; if he had brought his girlfriend, he probably would have been dumped immediately.

"Alright, let me see what kind of hot spring hotel Otto booked for me. With his discerning eye as the Archbishop of Destiny, I'm sure it's a very high-class hotel."

......

Ten minutes later, following the address given by Otto, Bai Jie and Cecilia arrived there by taxi. However, looking at the hotel sign, Bai Jie felt for a moment that life was full of despair.

Longmen Hot Spring

(Calm down, Bai Jie, you have to calm down. It's just a coincidence of names, it's definitely just a coincidence of names. It's impossible that they really have anything to do with my group of operators. This is the past, how are they going to get here?)

"Fafner, what's wrong? You look terrible."

Seeing Bai Jie's pale face, Cecilia asked worriedly. Her mission was to protect Bai Jie, and if anything happened to him, it would be her fault.

Waving his hand, Bai Jie forced a smile and said, "It's nothing, I guess I was just overthinking it. Okay, let's go in. I'm really looking forward to soaking in the hot springs."

Carrying their luggage, Bai Jie and Cecilia pushed open the door and entered the so-called Longmen Hot Spring. As soon as they stepped inside, the proprietress greeted them from behind the counter: "Welcome to Longmen Hot Spring!"

P.S.: Update

P.S.: Sorry everyone, I had a class reunion dinner today and have been playing around in Jiangyin with my classmates until now. I'm really tired, so I'll write one more chapter and then go to sleep. I drank a bit too much tonight... Honestly, why does sake taste so strange?

Section 146, 9. SilverAsh: My ally, want to have a drink with me?

At the bar of Longmen Hot Spring, Bai Jie and Swire stared at each other across the bar.

Bai Jie looked utterly devastated, while Swire wore a businesslike smile.

"Welcome to Longmen Hot Spring. Are you two guests together?" Swire asked with a smile.

After a moment of silence, Bai Jie slowly lowered his head and leaned close to Swire, asking in a very low voice, "Swire! Why did you come to Japan to open a hot spring inn?! I've never heard of this before!"

“This hot spring hotel isn’t owned by me, it’s owned by Chen. I’m just here to help out,” Swire said with a smile.

Chen Kai's Hot Spring Hotel!

"Why did Chen come too? Didn't we agree that Sirin and I would come together this time, and you guys would stay with the Kamen Riders?"

"Chen dragged us here by force, saying it was to prevent you from continuing to deceive young girls. —Alright, Mr. Fafnir, right? The reservation has been confirmed. Please keep your room keys."

Halfway through her conversation, Swire pulled out a room key and handed it to Bai Jie.

"We will prepare three meals for you here. Breakfast is from 6:00 to 8:00 in the morning, lunch is from 11:00 to 1:00 in the afternoon, and dinner is from 6:00 to 8:00 in the evening. Please pay attention to the time. In addition, except for the open-air hot spring which is only open until 11:00 at night, the other hot springs are open all day. Please enjoy!"

When Bai Jie heard Swire use such a set of business platitudes, he knew she wasn't planning to tell him anything more.

(Never mind, I'm just here to soak in a hot spring, nothing will go wrong. I'll just treat this place like a regular hot spring inn.)

Thinking this, Bai Jie looked at his room card, which showed the room number as 526.

(It was intentional, absolutely intentional! And it had to be this room number!)

526—that's the apartment number where Bai Jie and Chen lived together back in Lungmen! Swire's intention to cause trouble is now crystal clear!

Giving a resentful glare to the smiling Swire, Bai Jie looked at Cecilia and said, "Let's go, let's go to our room and put our luggage down."

"it is good."

Cecilia nodded, but she felt that Bai Jie seemed a little indignant compared to before.

----------------------

Longmen Hot Spring, Room 526.

"Phew~ Although the name of the hotel is a bit of a surprise, the decorations here are quite nice." Bai Jie nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the interior layout.

The room is a traditional Japanese tatami room. Incense burners placed in the four corners of the room are surrounded by several pots of bamboo, emitting a faint fragrance, as if you have entered a bamboo forest in the deep mountains.

On the open-air balcony, bamboo shoots tap against the stones, causing the clear spring water flowing from above to cascade down.

"What a wonderful place! They've managed to find a spot like this to build a hot spring inn; they're quite capable," Bai Jie said with a smile, leaning against the other side of the balcony and looking out the window. "Well, I guess I should go soak in the hot springs too. Cecilia, what about you?"

Hearing Bai Jie call her name, Cecilia, who was packing her luggage, said, "Since you're planning to go to the hot springs, I'll go too, after all, I'm your bodyguard."

"Hey, hey, hey, you're on vacation now, so you don't need to worry about the mission anymore."

"No, a mission is a mission, and we can't let our guard down even on vacation."

"...Alright then, anyway, the men's and women's hot springs are only separated by a bamboo partition, you're not really thinking of going to the same hot spring as me, are you?"

Although mixed bathing is generally something that only elderly people do, if Cecilia really wants to take a mixed bath with him for the sake of the guard mission, then Bai Jie wouldn't mind.

......

Five minutes later, in the men's bath, Bai Jie was all alone, soaking in the hot spring. He gave a wry smile.

"That's true. No matter how proper she is, Cecilia is still a normal woman. She would never take a mixed-gender bath with me. I'm dreaming...hehe."

Reaching the bamboo barrier, and leaning against it, Bai Jie called out, "Cecilia, can you hear me?"

"I can hear you, what's wrong?"

"Ah...nothing, just asking if you were there...By the way, I ran into the landlady earlier, and she said that apart from breakfast which is served at the restaurant, lunch and dinner can be eaten in your room. Would you like to eat at the restaurant or in your room?"

"From a safety perspective, it's better to eat in a restaurant, as freshly cooked food is less likely to be poisoned."

"Poisoning... What do you think this place is?" Bai Jie was truly speechless at Cecilia's wild imagination. She could even come up with a plot involving poisoning. This wasn't a mystery novel, and besides, this was Chen Kai's hotel.

After finishing their conversation about dinner, Bai Jie and Cecilia's conversation ended.

Leaning against the bamboo partition, Bai Jie relaxed completely and lay down in the hot spring. He couldn't help but let out a comfortable shout. This feeling was so wonderful. His shoulders, which had become stiff and sore from working overtime for days, gradually felt warm under the influence of the hot spring.

It feels like taking a watermelon that's been in the fridge all day out to thaw.

Click—!

The sound of a door opening came from the other side. Bai Jie, who was lying in the hot spring, subconsciously looked towards the door, and then he froze.

"Hey, I didn't expect to run into you here, my ally."

"silver gray?!"

With a towel draped over his shoulder, Silver Gray smiled and walked into the hot spring.

"Phew~ This is a really nice hot spring."

"Um... SilverAsh, what are you doing here?" Bai Jie asked in surprise. "Didn't you go back to Terra to handle the Kallan trade?"

“You have to take a break now and then. I’ve handed over the things at the company to my subordinates. They can handle it for two or three days.” SilverAsh laughed. “I originally wanted to take Horn to Victoria to rest, but Miss Chen suddenly invited me here, so I went along with her wishes.”

"Master, I've brought you the sake."

Just as Bai Jie and SilverAsh were chatting, Cliffheart walked in, carrying several bottles of sake and three cups.

SilverAsh invited Horn Peak into the hot spring, poured himself and Whitebeard a drink, and said, "This is a rare opportunity, how about having a drink with me?"

"I'm not a big drinker, but I can still keep you company with a glass or two."

.......

While Bai Jie and SilverAsh were drinking together in the men's hot spring, Cecilia, who was soaking in the women's hot spring, also encountered Chen, who had come to the same place.

"Are you Cecilia?" Chen asked, who had wrapped her impressive bust in a towel. "How about we chat for a bit? I have a lot of questions for you."

"May I ask who you are?"