Wies followed the female guard leading the way, pulling aside the curtain at the front, and a vast bath came into view.
Thick steam swirled, mist rising in the air.
These were all naturally excavated pools, created with standard earth-and-rock magic techniques—nothing difficult at all.
Yet the spring water seemed to possess a strange magical aura. Just walking inside, soaking in the mist, brought a miraculous sense of clarity and refreshment, even a hint of sacredness.
Was it meant to provide some special effect?
The Vanguard Battalion was the elite unit of this border army, something Wies had come to understand over the past two days.
After all, they were led by the kingdom’s strongest sergeant major, the ACE, so it made sense that the soldiers under his command were well-prepared for battle.
Now, thinking back, those female soldiers changing shifts and swapping their armor must have been getting ready to come here to bathe.
Wait—that means this place is the women’s bath?
A drop of sweat trickled down Wies’s forehead. So this was where they came to soak.
He now understood why both the adjutant and the guards had looked so surprised when they first heard the order.
“This is it.”
Fortunately, the female guard led him to a separate compartment,
not as large as the public bath, seemingly prepared for a single person, but still spacious enough—on par with a private pool in a villa’s backyard.
(They really thought of everything…)
Wies felt certain this arrangement had been made by Lortisa, and a deep sense of gratitude welled up in his heart.
They had only met in a time of crisis, and she had saved him. Now, he was being treated with such kindness.
At this rate, he didn’t even know how he could ever repay this favor.
Silently, he thanked the absent female sergeant major in his heart, then, with gratitude, removed his outer clothes.
Unable to wait, he scooped water from a clear water jar by the poolside and rinsed himself off quickly.
After making all the preparations, he slid comfortably into the smooth marble bath.
His throat let out a “Wuhu” dragon’s roar, his whole body feeling as if it might melt away in the warm spring.
Back in his original world, his family had only a shower—he had never enjoyed a real hot spring trip.
This was the first time he had felt such pleasure.
And this was in a bath almost half the size of a basketball court, all to himself.
He could even swim inside without anyone saying a word.
But now, he had no desire to move at all.
With a towel placed over his head, he soaked in the steam that seemed to wash and soothe even his soul.
“—Wow… it feels like I could ascend to immortality…”
A moist voice slipped out involuntarily. He had intended to let out a few more comfortable moans,
but soon, voices of female soldiers came from not far away.
They were probably beginning to enter the bath in groups.
Next door was the genuine women’s bath, and Wies’s mood grew complicated.
Of course, he didn’t consider himself so lustful as to sneak a peek.
At least, his upbringing didn’t condone that kind of behavior.
Perhaps, immersed in the bath, his distracting thoughts would be cleared away.
Right now, Wies only wanted to enjoy this rare moment of comfort.
What struck him as unbelievable was how, after soaking for only a short time, he could clearly feel his body recovering at an astonishing speed.
Every muscle fiber, every bone was joyfully absorbing this energy.
His vigor was rapidly replenishing.
Wies lowered his gaze toward the water’s surface.
“Besides relieving fatigue, does it also restore vitality…?”
“Not only that. If you’re injured, it can aid recovery and healing—better than healing magic relying solely on personal life force.”
A cool female voice responded to his muttering from nearby.
“That’s really amazing… wait?”
Wies blinked slowly, then whipped his head around.
Lortisa had somehow already entered, without even the sound of the curtain moving.
Matching the bath’s setting, the girl had shed her usual light military uniform as sergeant major,
and wasn’t even wearing a bath towel to cover herself, revealing her creamy white skin without reservation.
Her golden hair was still tied up in a bun as always.
What was going on?
Wies patted his head—
The very first thing he did after coming to his senses was immediately turn his back again.
“Tisa… what are you doing here?!”
He blurted out, but realizing there were still female soldiers in the adjacent bath, quickly lowered his voice.
“Why—”
Lortisa placed a hand on her hip, and in an even, emotionless tone, with just a hint of matter-of-factness,
“This place is prepared for me. Of course, I bathe here.”
Right. Since this bath was prepared by the battalion, having a separate place just for the sergeant major wasn’t strange.
He was just an outsider mercenary—no matter how much of a guest, there was no way they’d prepare something like this just for him.
So he was freeloading off the sergeant major’s private bath…
—But that wasn’t right either?!
Wies’s throat tightened as he spoke, an embarrassed flush creeping up his forehead along with the steam.
In this situation, it seemed like the shy one wasn’t the woman, but the man instead.
Lortisa, however, remained unperturbed as she walked from behind to the edge of the pool,
dipped a ladle into the water jar, and, following Wies’s earlier example, began rinsing herself off.
(Am I overreacting? If I made a big deal out of this, it would be too rude, wouldn’t it?)
Wies quietly listened to the sounds behind him. For a moment, only the splashing water,
and the loud laughter of the female soldiers in the public bath filled the surrounding air.
A subtle silence permeated the atmosphere.
“This spring water has been blessed by a pilgrim saint, and has the effect of dispelling malevolent energy.”
Lortisa suddenly spoke,
“The cursed energy attached to the wounds left by the Soul-Eating Lord on you—although it can’t be completely cleansed at once, it can at least alleviate most of its effects.”
“Malevolent energy…”
Wies raised his hand, flicking water droplets onto his forehead.
He almost forgot about this. The aura of disaster would bring misfortune upon a person without reason.
From this perspective, the knight camp’s contest had been, in a way, bad luck seeking him out.
Even saints, walking the righteous path without bias, can still face misfortune.
That was disaster.
However, in this world, when disaster condenses to a certain degree, it materializes into a physical form—what was called a Malefic Form.
A Malefic Form would stir up disaster, rippling and growing like waves, becoming a storm, then a tsunami.
This was the Calamity Tide.
When trouble comes knocking, no amount of caution can avoid it.
Wies sighed.
“Is it time to take formal action? To purge the Calamity Tide?”
“Not yet. We don’t know. The Empire hasn’t responded to negotiations about border operations.”
The sound of water splashing fell along with Lortisa’s cold voice.
“However, it seems Count Leicester has already begun preparing the next move.”