47. Bathing and Our Happiest Moments!

47. Bathing and Our Happiest Moments!

The changing room saw plenty of hot mist cascade the air already. The minerals known as the ‘heated stones’ were responsible for maintaining the sauna-like temperature in this vast room.

It was almost too large to be a normal changing room.

The wooden-architectural theme continued here. Shaved pine logs held up a second floor above, which oversaw the entire bath ahead like a balcony. Directly on the other side of the wall, which was built like a log cabin, was the men’s area. Given the material used, they could just vaguely hear the other two.

At least only Frost could with her immaculate hearing abilities.

Piles of clothes and shelves of abandoned apparel littered the place. It was a treasure trove for equipment, which Frost vowed to search through afterwards. In the meantime, everyone including herself stripped down.

She did so in front of a long mirror that spanned the entire back wall with Jury by her side. Jury, who had never seen her own body in this light before, seemed rather impressed with herself. It was also a source of awe for Frost, who only now just realized how... well, ‘gifted’ Jury was in all aspects.

Frost on the other hand?

“... they don’t get in the way, so that’s a bonus in of itself.” She said upon looking at herself in the mirror, cupping the sides of her small mounds. “... what a weird sensation. I don’t even know how to describe it. But it’s... nice I think?”

She deeply sighed and burnt the image into her mind.

She was beautiful to say the least. Ungifted in certain areas but beautiful, nonetheless. It was her face and eyes that stood out the most to her. Its golden, glowing color was seldomly found anywhere else.

The story of Narcissus might not be so far fetched anymore. I’d fall for those eyes myself. Not bad. That’s a 10/10 in my books.

“You realize I can hear you?”

Yes I do. By the way, do I get any privacy in my own mind?

“I’m using your head space. Your words are similar to the voices of the Corrupted to me, so I can hear every single one of your train of thoughts.”

... I take that as a solid ‘no’ then.

Her body was also pristine without a single scratch to be found as expected of a healer. Furthermore, her skin was healthy color throughout and even her hair seemed like it had some sort of magical properties.

The bath felt redundant all of a sudden. Cleanse was all she really needed. But then again... a bath was more so for the relaxation aspect, which was not something Cleanse could replicate.

Also, Frost and Jury were not so foolish to leave their Corrupted apparel here unattended. They brought them into the vast bath house, which was built like a giant shared swimming pool.

“It’s soooo goooood!” Someone melted into the bath.

“Hmmm~! It’s been so long! We never had this kind of luxury as slaves.” Another pointed out.

“Jury! Jury! Show me your tail! What’s this on the end?”

“A budding organ. I don’t know much else either – ah!? That tickles!” Jury suddenly yelped as she placed her apparel beside Frost’s.

They then both slipped into the warm bath simultaneously.

“... Oh... this is... nice...” Frost also melted away, sinking until only half her head remained above the misty water.

Unbeknownst to her was the rather... girly voice she made. The deep voice she paraded disappeared in that instant, drawing all sorts of eyes towards her.

“... what...?”

“Hmm~! For someone so strong, you have a rather cute side to you as well!” Hellen commented.

“Ugh... please don’t call me ‘cute’. But thanks. I appreciate the sentiment.” Frost took mental damage from that.

She was used to being called darling, sweetie and sonny by her patients back on Earth. But not once had she ever been called cute.

“It’s so warm... do people sleep in these?” Jury had to ask.

“If you want to drown then go right ahead.” One of the broods said bluntly. “It’s strange, isn’t it? This place used to be filled with tens of people. Could reach a hundred people at times. Now it’s all empty and silent. Isn’t that eerie?” This was a different feline woman who spoke.

It was the same one who screamed out their lungs from the traumatic event prior to being rescued by the Anids. These women had no names and were only called by whatever race they were, effectively de... humanizing them? Frost didn’t know how else to describe this.

One by one, the other broods slowly surrounded the girl for comfort. Frost had dealt with patients similar to her, but none with a trauma quite like her. Every single word was a potential landmine.

Words were like magic. But they had their limits, and they had their curses.

“... I can try. Um... hmm. I like it.”

“Good. It’s because you’re safe right now. So it’s ok to be carefree in this moment. I guarantee it. It must have been awful. But no one’s here to hurt you anymore so – smile.” When she said this, a few of the women swooped in to embrace the pained girl.

Frost could not imagine the pain of going through all of that. Where hers was mostly physical, this girl’s was a horrific blend of all kinds since birth. That sort of pain was not easily repaired by words alone.

It was just a temporary measure. In the end, there was truly little that Frost could do.

And it pained her.

“... I’ll try. Thank you.” She managed to smile to their surprise.

But it was at this moment that something strange happened.

< [Remember] >

The sound of a camera shutter caused Frost to instantly throw herself towards her clothing. A wave of water exploded in the wake of her movement as she threw on her coat she ordered:

“There’s a Corrupted somewhere in here! Get to the changing rooms!”

Jury instantly rushed to her mantle as the women quickly rushed away in a fit of panic. Her eyes scoured the entire place in search of this Corrupted but found nothing until she spotted something in the corner of the room.

A spider. A tiny, fist-sized spider what was clad in pale fur. As inconspicuous as it was – it was far from any normal spider. Because instead of eight beady eyes, the creature only had one eye which was in the bizarre shape of a camera lens.

Our Happiest Moments

< We must never forget them >

LEVEL : 25AFFINITY : Hope ORIGIN : Trauma HP : 100MP : 100AGI : 1,500ATT : 0MAG ATT : 0 ATT DEF : 0MAG DEF : 0

This was the Corrupted they met earlier. For it to be a spider of all things made some sense considering it first appeared in that Anid-infested forest. Although the name of the creature baffled her to no end.

Either way, it was a Corrupted. There was no telling what damage it was capable of.

“My parameters conclude it is a Trickle threat-leveled Corrupted. No need to be alarmed.” Nav insisted.

A Corrupted is a Corrupted – wait... it’s gone?

It disappeared before her very eyes. It just... vanished.

“1,500 AGI... That’s too fast.” Jury muttered. “Huh? Where did it go!?”

Something then fell from the very same corner. Frost did not waste any time and caught the paper-looking object before it could touch the ground. If it was anything like the Listening Bird’s ability, then deaths were inevitable.

However –

“... this is... a polaroid?” Frost could hardly believe the object she held in her hands.

The slippery, square-shaped object even had an image on it. When Jury approached and glanced down at it, she cocked her head and wondered what it was.

“A blank piece of paper? Is it dangerous?”

“Wait, you don’t see it?” Frost’s voice was filled with immense shock when she realized that Jury couldn’t see the picture at all.

“See what?”

“The picture of her?” Frost pointed towards the cat-eared girl.

In the photo was a much younger version of the girl. And surrounding her was what Frost presumed to be her family. Not her human masters, but her real, blood tied family.

< Captured Memories >

< Hold them dear. Hold them close. And never let them burn away >