Kumano Hot Springs is divided into two sections: the new building and the old building.
The new building is a modern structure with eight floors, housing a wide variety of guest rooms. All guests stay there. The old building, by contrast, is a classic Japanese-style structure.
The two buildings are connected by both an elevated corridor and a ground-level passage. Each side has its own distinct hot spring baths, and guests are free to choose whichever they prefer.
Beyond that, the hot springs are said to possess five secret baths capable of granting wishes.
A bath that restores youth.
A bath that fulfills love.
A bath that transforms women into men.
A bath that brings peace to the whole family.
And a bath that banishes shoulder stiffness.
It's said that the first person to enter alone each morning can have their wish granted. For the Chaldea group, who only bathed at night, that rumor held no real meaning.
Touko was the last to emerge from the east-side bathhouse of the old building. She casually adjusted the sleeves of her yukata. It had been a long time since she'd last dressed like this.
She had experienced hot springs all over the world during her travels, but soaking in a bath back in her homeland was something she hadn't done in ages.
"So I really do feel something you could call homesickness," she murmured.
Pushing her glasses up, Touko walked down the corridor, instinctively examining her own body as she went.
At its core, Rayshifting was a thaumaturgical process that converted physical matter into spirit particles and transferred them to arbitrary coordinates.
This technology, made practical only with the support of the Atlas Institute, allowed "Masters" to be sent to different eras. In essence, it was based on concepts akin to the projection and observation of object data.
At its heart, the system transformed the Master and Servant entering the container into an unknown state where life and death overlapped, then transferred that portion of spirit particles to the destination.
During this interval, the Chaldea container was completely isolated from the outside world, and its internal definition became null.
Originally, Chaldeas was used to secure accurate data for Rayshift destinations. The new Chaldea could largely achieve the same results, but only for eras relatively close to the post-2017 Bleached World.
For example, the year 2001.
"So basically, it's something like time travel…" Touko let out a languid sigh. "I wonder how much of an overlap there is between this and what the Fifth Magic passed down in the Aozaki family can do."
She voiced the comparison, but the moment the words left her mouth, her interest faded.
Rayshifting really was an extraordinary experience. Her ability to adapt to it was, in a sense, cheating—meeting its demands by modifying her own body.
Any spare body would also need to carry on those adjustments, adapting to the same changes.
Letting her thoughts drift aimlessly, Touko considered where to go next.
They hadn't left the hot springs together, and since everyone would end up back in their rooms anyway, she had much more freedom to move around.
Should she stop by the lobby and relax in one of the massage chairs, or maybe pick up a pack of cigarettes?
After all, those couldn't be brought along during Rayshifting.
Though her nicotine dependence wasn't particularly strong, she hadn't smoked a single cigarette since arriving at the hot springs. Touko found the restraint, predictably enough, a little dull.
And this trip wasn't just a leisurely soak, either. It came bundled with an unresolved Singularity and the whereabouts of the "two people from 2001" still unknown.
She needed a bit of nicotine to kick her sluggish brain into gear.
After all, it wasn't like she could just go pop some amphetamines.
If Shiomi caught her doing that, he'd nag her endlessly, only to end up sulking on his own because he never had the heart to actually stop her bad habits.
There was a vending machine in the lobby of the new building that sold cigarettes.
But when she reached it, she realized she hadn't brought any money with her.
Just as she was debating whether to head back upstairs, uneven footsteps sounded nearby. Two people walked over.
Aoko and Alice.
The spacious hotel lobby was, by some twist of fate, completely empty at this hour. There wasn't a single guest in sight, and even the owner who usually handled reception was nowhere to be found.
Night. A silent building. And the three of them.
It brought back memories of the old schoolhouse at Misaki High.
Compared to Aoko and Alice's slightly tense expressions, Touko looked utterly relaxed.
"Oh, perfect timing. I was just worrying about this," Touko said casually to Aoko. "Do you have any money on you? Lend me a little so I can buy some cigarettes. I can't bring myself to use Magecraft on a vending machine over something this trivial."
Aoko, who had been ready to ask her own questions, was completely blindsided by her sister's request. She froze, then made a helpless face.
"...I don't have any money."
"Huh? Oh. Well…"
Touko paused, then thought it over and found it hard to argue.
After all, they were sisters. Neither of them belonged to this era, and Aoko probably hadn't brought anything unnecessary with her, money included.
"Then I'll ask someone else—" Touko turned her head toward the person standing slightly behind Aoko. "Alice Kuonji, do you have any money?"
"..."
Alice said nothing.
It wasn't so much silence as it was an unspoken message: Even if I did have money, I wouldn't lend it to you.
"That's just hopeless," Aoko said, a trace of disgust creeping into her expression. "When did you turn into someone like this? You're starting to resemble those upperclassmen who shake people down for cash at school."
"It's just borrowing money. Do you really need to react like that?" Touko sighed, leaning back against the vending machine. "So then, what is it? Did you come over to reminisce, or to settle accounts?"
As she spoke, Touko noticed the bags in Aoko and Alice's hands. They were probably planning to go soak in the hot springs together.
Originally forced into cohabitation with the intent of killing each other, the two had ended up becoming friends after all. That bond hadn't faded with time.
Doing things like heading to the baths together was only natural now.
"No," Aoko said. "I'm just confused about why you're here. And why you're moving around with those strange… no, dangerous people. What exactly are all of you doing, gathering here like this?"
"I already explained," Touko replied with a shrug. "This place has turned into a Singularity. People living in this era can't perceive it, but from the future, we observed a distortion here. We came to correct human history."
Alice stared at Touko.
"To me, you don't look like the kind of magus who worries about humanity's future."
"True enough," Touko said lightly. "But think about it this way. If one day you saw all civilization on this planet vanish, leaving behind nothing but a blank slate, what would you do as one of the last humans left?"
She smiled indifferently as she shifted her gaze toward Alice.
"The witch over there can think about it too. Though I'm not sure how much you actually care about human civilization… or, to put it another way, about human history."
...