The next day, Nina and Tien went back to the children’s huts. The older ones had gone out early to gather coconuts and fruit, leaving the youngest ones who couldn’t keep up. The girl who’d been with Panther when they first met him had stayed behind to keep an eye on them.
“I’d like you to not sell what you gather today,” Nina told her. “When they come back, could you all come to the public bathhouse?”
“The bathhouse? But the hot spring doesn’t come out there, right?”
“That’s right, but I have a very trustworthy friend who asked me to bring all of you there. We’ll go ahead. Meet us there later, all right?”
“O-Okay...”
“Then it’s a promise.”
Nina and Tien said goodbye to the children.
When they arrived back at the bathhouse, they found a crowd gathered outside despite the early hour. Just as Nina was wondering what was going on, a cry rose up from the crowd.
Several men had arrived carrying a bundle of iron pipes, and leading them were the dwarf blacksmith and Emily.
“Emily!” Nina called, waving.
“Oh, Nina! Over here!”
“Why are all these people here?”
“Dunno. I guess word must have got around that we’re trying to get the public bath working again.”
“But we only started yesterday!”
“I know right? It just goes to show how much people have been holding out for the hot spring to come back. Pressure’s on, huh?”
Emily laughed a little awkwardly, but she looked pleased.
Nina looked around. “Where’s Astrid?”
“Right now she’s working on that magic item for me. She’s already done all she can for the public bath.”
“Hey, Emily!” yelled the dwarf. “Where d’ya want us to carry these?”
“Hold on, I’m coming! You too, Nina.”
“A-All right. Tien, let’s go— Tien?” She turned back and saw Tien staring off in the opposite direction.
“There was a man watching us. But he is gone now.”
“Hm? Perhaps another local curious about the hot springs?”
“That is not what it looked like...”
“Nina!” Emily called back to them, so Tien didn’t say any more.
They went through the back of the bathhouse. The old woman’s eyes widened when she saw them all, but after Emily explained the situation, her surprise turned to delight. She announced that she’d make tea for all the workers, so Nina went to help her.
Tien, meanwhile, attached herself to the work team. When the dwarf blacksmith spotted her, he bellowed, “Get back, it’s dangerous!” In response, she lifted up several pipes on her own. Cheers erupted and the blacksmith’s attitude immediately changed.
“What’s your name, lass?” he asked.
“Chi is called Tien.”
“Tien, eh? A good name, that.”
“Of course it is good,” Tien said proudly. “Chi’s mother and father chose it.”
With that, the blacksmith roared, “Listen up, boys! Young Tien here’s gonna take the lead today! Follow her!”
There was a rumble of “Aye, boss!” from the assembled men.
Emily came over. “First let’s dismantle the old pipe setup, then we can install the new one. We’ll extend it piece by piece until water starts coming through again.”
“Understood,” Tien said.
And so, with the curious locals looking on, they got to work renovating the hot spring.
An hour later, Emily sank heavily to her hands and knees.
Down and down they’d extended the pipe, searching for the point where it would meet the hot spring. But about five meters below where the last pipe had reached, there was a THUD.
“It’s no good,” sighed the blacksmith. “That’s the end.”
No matter what they did, the pipe wouldn’t go any deeper. They’d hit rock bottom.
“Wh-What if we made the pipe narrower?” Emily said desperately.
“Any narrower and it won’t draw enough water to fill the bath,” the blacksmith said. “Time to give it up, Emily.”
“Damn it...”
The onlookers, seeing that it wasn’t going to work, drifted away one by one, shoulders slumped.
Emily pushed herself up with a look that said she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet and regarded the pipe. It gleamed in the sunlight, full of determination to suck up the hot spring and bring it to them—if only it could reach.
Emily groaned in frustration. “I should have known this was more than an amateur like me could handle.”
“C’mon Emily, it wasn’t all for nothing,” said the blacksmith. “To be honest with you, I never guessed anyone would take an interest in the bathhouse. Things really were better back when we had the baths. People didn’t have so many cares back then...”
Nina, who was also listening, gasped. “Erm, I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said, “but in the past—when the bathhouse was still open, I mean—you used to be in contact with the orphan children in the forest, didn’t you?”
“Huh. We did, now that you mention it. Folk couldn’t stand to see those young ’uns go hungry, so someone would always give ’em a meal or old hand-me-downs. Some taught ’em letters, and I myself taught a few a craftsman’s trade. Those folk’ll be workin’ in the capital now.”
Nina saw a glimmer of hope. The town of Côte Sud had come together to raise the orphan children as a community. But in just two years, that custom had disappeared.
“But now no one spares them a glance,” she said. “Do you think that’s because you lost the public bathhouse?”
She’d found it—the connection between her own goal and the hot spring.
“Aye, that might well be true.”
“I see... How interesting...”
In that case, Nina thought, she definitely wanted to solve whatever was wrong with the hot spring. Teaching the children life skills was important too, of course, but if the locals were more at ease, they’d be able to support the children in learning to stand on their own feet.
“But hold on, li’l maid,” the blacksmith said, scratching his head. “Might be that it’s more than just the hot spring... I dunno why, but around the same time, the town suddenly got a lot dodgier.”
“How so?”
“Folk I’d never seen before started skulkin’ around, running cons to swindle tourists, sellin’ overpriced junk at knifepoint, that sorta thing...”
Nina knew about that from experience.
The old woman came over and added, “They raised taxes too.”
“Right, and that was two years ago too. It’s been tough on folk like us with small businesses. I felt bad about the young ’uns in the forest, but I had too much on my plate without worryin’ about them too.”
“That’s awful...” Nina said, then quickly added, “Erm, I mean, not that I’m blaming you!”
“Maybe we ought to be blamed,” the dwarf said.
“It’s true...” the old woman agreed. “As they say, children are precious.”
They both sighed, looking troubled.
“It’s not over yet!” Emily said, leaping to her feet. “I’m not giving up yet!”
“Huh?”
“I’m going to take a bath in a hot spring, damn it!” she howled up at the sky. “That’s the whole reason I came heeere!”
With that, she turned to Tien. “Pull that pipe up!”
“All right.”
The pipe was many times taller than Tien herself, but she drew it back out without any difficulty.
“Wh-Whoa there, Emily. Just what d’ya think you’re doin’?” said the dwarf.
“I’ll tell you what I’m doing. Do you know who I am?”
“Y-You’re Emily, aren’t you?”
“I,” said Emily, “am a mage.”
“You are?!”
Emily apparently hadn’t said anything about herself at all.
“And there’s some things that only a mage can do!”
Emily turned to face the crack in the rock that led to the water source, then cried, “Spirits of wind! Heed my call and gather to me.”
It was an incantation—the words chanted by a mage to cast magic.
Everyone stared in astonishment at the dense vortex of power that swirled up around her. Mages weren’t exactly common, but there were enough around that most people had met at least one. The blacksmith and the old woman had seen their share of magic in the past. But they hadn’t seen magic like this.
Emily radiated with a phosphorescent glow so bright, it was clearly visible even under the daytime sun. A raging whirlwind spun up around her.
This was wind magic.