After placing our belongings in our room, we made our way toward the hot springs.
I thought about bringing a towel, but we were told that there were towels available in the large bath, free for guests to use.
Apparently, there really were places like this where you could use as many towels as you wanted. The thought made me smile; if I were really a grade schooler, I'd probably be playing with the towels. Sure enough, the changing room had a whole stack of them.
Being mid-afternoon, there were no other guests around, so there was no one to observe my father and Renji-san's tough, scarred bodies.
These two stand out in any bathhouse; their bodies aren't covered in tattoos, but the scars are more than enough to draw attention. If I were back in my old life and saw two intimidating guys like them entering the bath, I'd probably make a quick exit.
Noticing my gaze, my father tilted his head, puzzled.
"Something on your mind, Itsuki?"
"No, nothing," I replied quickly.
Still, seeing my father's scars up close was something else. His chest had burn scars, his right arm was slashed with deep cuts, and his left shoulder was dotted with puncture wounds. He'd once told me he got those when a monster's attack pierced right through his shoulder.
Scars covered his abdomen, legs, and back as well. It was a body that clearly bore the marks of years spent fighting monsters.
Renji-san's body, while less scarred overall, had its own share of deep, severe injuries—the vertical slash across his face, the massive horizontal gash across his chest. It looked as if he'd been sliced by some giant, razor-sharp blade.
I couldn't help but wonder if I'd end up like this someday, and the thought made me shudder.
"So, Itsuki-kun, now you can understand why it used to be rare for women to become exorcists, right?" Renji-san asked.
"Yeah..." I nodded.
Traditional beliefs still lingered in the exorcist community. It's a patriarchal system where men take the frontlines as exorcists, and women play supporting roles. I'd felt this at ceremonies, like the Seven-Five-Three festival gathering.
But looking at these two, I could almost see why they'd think that way. I didn't want Aya-chan or Nina-chan to have to endure the same painful trials.
And these wounds... weren't only on the body.
"That's an outdated way of thinking, Renji," my father grumbled.
"Says the man least likely to change his ways," Renji-san replied with a grin.
Just then, my father waded into the bath with a heavy splash. His sheer size displaced a fair amount of water, sending ripples throughout the bath. As I watched the water overflow, I remembered my science teacher explaining that the volume of displaced water equals the volume of the object. I hoped that teacher had made it through the attack.
Suddenly, my father and Renji-san stood up.
"Alright, let's go," he said, nodding at Renji-san.
"Go where?"
"The sauna."
I'd kind of expected that answer, but I still felt compelled to ask.
"We're heading in, but you don't have to join us, Itsuki," my father said. "Saunas can be dangerous for kids."
"Mist sauna might be okay for him, though," Renji-san suggested.
I'd never quite understood the appeal of saunas, even in my old life. Why would anyone willingly sit in a super-hot room? It couldn't be good for you, right?
But the question nagged me, so I asked, "Is it actually good for you, Dad?"
"Well, it's not really about health, Itsuki. Saunas are more for easing the mind."
Now that I thought about it, Renji-san had mentioned how saunas helped relieve the stress of exorcists.
"Saunas intentionally make you tense up and relax in cycles," Renji-san explained. "It has to do with your sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves. After heating up, you enter a cold bath, which activates the parasympathetic nerves, calming you down."
Uh... what? The explanation went over my head.
"Well, it's fine if you don't quite get it, Itsuki-kun," Renji-san said with a smile. "It's really something you'd only appreciate when you're a bit older."
...Fine, that was fair.
But still, back in my old life, I'd always been hesitant to try new things, closing myself off to opportunities. In this life, I'd decided to be different.
Taking a deep breath, I made up my mind.
"I'll give the sauna a shot too."