CH 7

Gray Shed Town.

The Thermae, a public bathhouse, was very popular among foreign tourists, adventurers and traveling merchants who would often hear rumors and arrive at the Thermae to relax.

Many people do business here and during the peak season the place was so crowded at night that it would almost turn into a festival.

It was late in the evening when Set and Satis arrived.

They quickly decided to get their lodging and set out to use the facilities.

“Well then, take your time. Don’t soak too much, okay?”

“Don’t worry. In the barracks, young soldiers were instructed to not soak for more than 10 seconds.”

“So you must soak in for some more time. And clean yourself up.”

“I understand.”

The bath houses were separated into men’s and women’s baths and they soaked themselves in the bathtubs.

“Ahh~, I’m coming back to life!”

In the women’s bath, Satis soaked her naked body in the bathtub and stretched her wings in the warm water that reached till her core.

The tension of the past had been relaxed, and her expression returned to her previous liveliness.

“If I hadn’t met him,…… I’m sure I wouldn’t be taking such a bath.”

With skin texture and firmness greater than that of a human being, her proportions were truly goddess-like.

The beauty was also of inhuman level, as she was the star of the Demon King’s army.

The hot water ran through her entire body as if stroking it, and she was thoroughly relaxed right down to the tips of her fingers.

(……It’s a wonder. I used to be active in the Demon King’s army and looked down on humans, but here I am, relaxing in a bathhouse.)

It was true that Satis had been planning to monopolize this bathhouse after she had conquered the Town.

But she had now fallen so far that there was no longer any need for such a plan.

“Strangely enough, I am not sad.”

“It’s been like this since I met Set.”

“If I had not met Set, I would have been killed by the demons that caught up with me.”

“I should thank …… that child.”

Finding a star through the window near the ceiling of the bathroom, she suddenly smiled gently.

The warmth that was being carried by the pleasant temperature of the water, relaxed her even more.

(Speaking of which, I wonder if he’s soaking himself properly. ……To be honest, it’s a big place, so he might be itching to hold back from swimming. I wonder …… if he’s that young).

On the other hand, in the men’s bath, Set’s frustrating struggle continued.

(…… I want to swim!)

The bathtubs were too spacious, and although there were many customers, there still existed plenty of room to spare.

However, swimming was not allowed here, of course.

(The water level is perfect, there is no time limit, and it makes me feel excited. With all these conditions, they want to deprive me of swimming?)

Even after moving on foot after all that fighting, Set tremendously possessed the energy of wanting to move around.　

“No, I won’t hold back. …… I’ll be a fish.”

Immediately after, the bearded man next to him stopped Set.

“Kid, you can’t swim here, okay?”

“Damn it…….”

The man called out to Set again who had finally decided to soak in the bathtub quietly.

“I haven’t seen you around, kid. Are you a Traveler?”

“Something like that.”

“To be able to Travel at such a young age. You are good, aren’t you?

“I am just a fighter…….”

“Ho ho, don’t be modest. I can sense the eyes of a man who has seen h**l. Are you a former young soldier?”

The man snickered with satisfaction and wiped his face with a cloth.

The man’s keen eyesight, which detected at a glance that he had been a child soldier, took Set’s breath away.

“It’s nice here. The fatigue will be blown away at once. After a long time in battle, the heat of midsummer and the heat of the battlefield won’t make much difference. But this bath is different.”

“You’re a mercenary, aren’t you? You don’t look like a regular soldier.”

“That’s right. I’d like to be a guard or something someday, and have a quiet life.”

The man laughed sarcastically as he shared his dream.

“I have a dream, too. I want to travel around and one day own my own house.”

“It’s a good dream. Would you like to do that with that beautiful and nice looking sister of yours?”

“────!”

“Wait wait, I’m not planning to interfere. This is just a mercenary’s intuition. Also, if you’re going to be hostile to me, just keep it on the battlefield.”

It seemed that this man just happened to see Set and Satis together.

Since he displayed no hostility and no intent to kill, there should be no pretense of lying.

Above all, Set could feel the dignity of being a mercenary oozing from him. Set felt that his personality was a bit of a rabbit, and that he was a person with a strong core.

“Well… I’m about to go up, how about you kid? I’ve been soaking for a long time and I’m just hot.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that too.”

“I’d love to have a drink with you, but you are just a kid. I’d rather be with that sister than with this old man.”

The man hummed as he walked up the stairs.

Set felt something when he saw the man’s back, and suddenly wondered what his name was.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

“Huh? Me? Well, you can call me Holmes. Oh, you don’t want me to call you a kid, do you? But we may never see each other again.”

“Eh, but ……”

“If you run into me again somewhere else, let me know.”

He then walked away. Set got out of the bathtub after a while.

As he dressed in the changing room and went outside, Satis, who had just finished taking a bath, waved to him and called him.

“That was quite a long bath, wasn’t it?”

“Satis, you’re looking better.”

“Thanks to you,” she said. 

“Well, let’s go to the inn, shall we? I hear the food there is very good.”

“Really?”

Satis smiled with satisfaction at Set, whose eyes lit up at the mention of food.

“By the way, did you ever think of swimming while in the bath house?”

“No. ……?

“Oh, I did…..”.

She smiled at him in a funny way.

Set’s cheeks turned a little embarrassed.

With that the two of them headed side by side to the inn.