“I had no idea that places like this existed in this city,” I said.
“The dungeon is the city’s main industry, but many of the people who support that industry have families here,” said Estelle. “There are also people who seldom interact with adventurers. It seems the residential areas were purposely separated from the city proper in order to prevent conflicts between ordinary citizens and adventurers.”
“Oh, I see. That makes perfect sense. A lot of adventures are basically thugs.”
Most of the adventurers here, being adventurers Rank 4 and above, were decent people, but given the nature of their profession, they tended to look really tough. Adonix-san and the guys in his party were all friendly dudes, but I was pretty sure that they could have made a kid cry just by standing nearby. In fact, Estelle and I, who could both blend in with ordinary people if we wore casual clothes, were rare exceptions among adventurers. Estelle stood out in a different way, though.
“I guess a bathhouse in this section of the city wouldn’t cater to adventurers,” I said.
“Some adventurers drop by on their days off, and I happen to be one of them,” said Estelle. “Oh, look—we’re almost there.”
I looked where Estelle was pointing and saw a moderately large two-story building. The main thing that made it stand out was the chimney on top, but apart from that, it seemed pretty normal. The fact that it wasn’t fancy honestly made it look more welcoming, though.
“This looks pretty ordinary,” I said.
“Precisely,” said Estelle. “I told you that it’s nowhere near as deluxe as you might imagine from its name, and I’m sure you understand what I mean now.” She smiled at me. “Let’s get going.”
The entrance had separate sections for men and women. I’d been well aware that this wasn’t mixed bathing, but I hadn’t anticipated that I’d have to part ways with Estelle at the entrance.
“Will you be fine on your own, Sai? Do you know what to do?”
“Please, you don’t have to worry about me—I’m not a kid. Besides, I can just ask people for help if there’s something I don’t understand.”
“I suppose that’s true. In that case, see you later, Sai.”
“Y-Yeah! See you later, Estelle!”
A promise to meet up later—perfect! Now I don’t have to worry about people giving me weird looks if I wait here! I smiled and waved at Estelle as I watched her walk off.
After she disappeared into the women’s section, I took a look around. Although the entry area was split into two sections, it was plenty spacious. I saw a couple of benches where people could stop and rest, and there was free drinking water too. That in itself definitely made this place a little bit deluxe, since water wasn’t usually free in this world. Some bathhouses back on Earth had large rest areas and food for customers who’d finished bathing, but obviously there was no point in wishing for too much here.
I gently shook my head and walked toward the men’s section. Right inside was the counter where you paid.
“Uh, let’s see. How much is the fee...?”
“Oh, is this your first time here?” asked the guy behind the counter. “The fee is two large silver coins.”
I felt like that was on the expensive end, but it didn’t seem like he had any reason to lie to me, so I placed two large silver coins on the counter.
“Okay. Here you go.”
“Cheers. Here’s your key.” He handed me a wooden key that was on a strap so you could wear it around your neck. “You can use it to open the locker with the corresponding number.”
Oh, I’ve seen something similar to this before. I guess it should be pretty easy to use.
“Okay. Thank you.”
I took the key and walked through the men’s section until I arrived at a changing room full of lockers. It wasn’t even noon yet, so there weren’t many people inside, but there were a few. I followed their example and took off my clothes, put them in my locker, then walked on with just a towel in my hands. The first thing I came across was a washroom.
“...Oh, I guess I’m supposed to wash off here first. There’s hot water too, although I guess that’s to be expected considering the fee.”
Specifically, here was a large basin filled with hot water as well as some smaller buckets to scoop it with.
“Okay, this is kind of lukewarm, but I guess there’s no point in complaining.”
As a former Japanese person, I washed pretty fastidiously, so I wasn’t too dirty, but I still splashed myself with some hot water and scrubbed myself with the towel. Then I walked on and entered an area where the air was thick with steam.
“I guess I’m about to find out what a steam room is like.”
There was a structure here that looked like a small room surrounded by boards. The flooring was duckboard with some benches on top of it. A few guys were sitting on the benches, bathing in the steam that rose through the duckboard. A little ways beyond this room, I saw another washroom, so apparently you were meant to wash yourself again in there after you sat in the steam here.
“Okay, here goes... Hmm. This feels kind of different from a sauna.”
The moment I sat down on an open bench, my whole body was wet. It was hot, but it wasn’t as suffocatingly hot as a sauna; it was actually pretty comfortable. I was definitely sweating, but the steam washed everything away, so it was hard for me to tell my own sweat from the condensation.
“...Okay, that should do it.”
I stood up and walked over to the washroom to splash myself off with lukewarm water. Okay, yeah, that is refreshing. This was a rare opportunity, so I headed back into the steam room and sat down again to enjoy it one more time.
“Yeah, this feels perfect for me. This has gotta be better for your body than a sauna.”
Usually, right after you left a sauna, you had to get into a cold bath, and I was pretty sure that process was bad for your heart. I’d never really understood why some people recommended half-body baths or saunas as healthy options. Oh well. Everyone has their own preferences. I guess you just have to go with whatever suits you best.
“Man, this feels great, but I guess I should probably head out now so that I don’t end up making Estelle wait for me.”
I washed off with lukewarm water again. On my way to the exit, I saw another giant basin full of water. When I touched it, it felt cooler than the water I’d just used.
“Hmm. This must be optional.”
I glanced around and noticed that only half of the other people were actually splashing themselves off with this water. I was a bit hot, so I splashed myself twice, then headed to the changing room.
“Uh, this should be it, right?”
There was nowhere for people to dry their hair or groom themselves. The price for this entire experience was two large silver coins, which could easily cover up to four meals at a cheap eatery, but...
“Is this expensive or cheap? I honestly can’t tell...”
Back in Japan, I would definitely have found that price to be too high, but it was hard to evaluate by this world’s standards. After exiting the locker room, I sat down on one of the benches near the entrance to think for a bit.
“Some dining halls give you free water, so I should probably factor that in too.”
I grabbed a cup, filled it with water, and took a sip, then paused to cool it with the Freeze spell before taking a second. The water was delicious, especially since I’d just gotten out of a bath. In the towns I’d passed through on the way to the dungeon city, there were some places that had charged money for foul-tasting water, probably partly due to their locations—wells weren’t easily accessible everywhere.
Ivalia, though, apparently had an abundant supply of water relative to other towns and cities. You had free use of the wells at inns, and plenty of dining halls offered water for free, which I really appreciated, since I usually didn’t consume alcohol.
I slowly sipped from my cup and spaced out a bit as I watched people pass by. It was honestly kind of a luxury being able to spend some time relaxing and people-watching while most commoners were hard at work. I would honestly have come back and paid another two large silver coins for this experience.
“But no cost is too high to do things with Estelle.”
Suddenly, I heard a voice from behind me. “What do you mean?”
I flinched, and when I spun around, I saw Estelle, fresh from the bath. Her face was a bit flushed, and her hair was tied up, so the back of her neck was visible. She looked kind of sexy, and I blushed too.
“Oh, n-nothing! M-More importantly, did you know that water here is drinkable?”
“Huh?” said Estelle. “Yes, of course. I’ve been here plenty of times before, after all.”
✦ ✦ ✦
