Chapter 22: Colrac Baths

After leaving the guild we head straight for the town baths, to wash off the debris from my failed attempt to look like your normal average everyday savage northern barbarian marauder.

Fortunately, no one makes any move on the girls while in route. No grabbing. No pickpocketing. No kidnapping. Not in a forgiving mood right now so would probably kill them. Then resurrect them. Then kill them again. Several times.

The town baths? Impressive. Its a connected series of buildings forming a giant 'U' shape. Customers enter on the right side and exit on the left. Not as fancy looking as the hotel's but much bigger. Lots of stone, tile, and what I'm guessing is, marble? Plants are all over too.

Colrac's only public bath is coed with some female-only time slots. But the girls aren't willing to wait. So we will be bathing together.

I can feel that they aren't happy about being naked around other men, but they really want to get cleaned up.

While we get undressed in the entrance changing room, I'm getting lots of envious looks from the men. And even from several women? Oh boy. Thanks to my [Super Senses] I detect the guys, and couple of girls, trying to make a move early.

The girls are giving off 'vulnerable and scared' vibes which are like a magnet for predators. One hard look from this mountain of muscle convinces each to beat a hasty retreat. All the girls except Ushalen are super tense and quiet.

The necromancer, on the other hand, is happy to show off the body she's regained. She is being downright flirty.

"N-No Master..." "Master, p-please let us..." "It is-s our need to s-serve you..."

Feeling guilty I try to rent pool slaves to scrub and rub, wash and massage, the girls but they refuse. Demanding to wash me, and each other, themselves. We turn in our clothes to get cleaned put the valuables in lockers, including our weapons.

We get a key for the lock from the staff, and test it to make sure it works. I've got my senses locked on my swords so I'll know if they move. The girls cast 'wards' on theirs. Something ike a magical car alarm.

Let me tell ya. Walking with six ladies crowding you? Ain't easy. Ushalen and I manage to navigate the herd into the wash room and see quite the sight. Dozens of naked dudes, and a few naked ladies, standing or sitting in shallow pools scrubbing themselves under streams of warm water spurting out of various statues.

The air is thick with the smell of soap, body odor, and the sound of chatting patrons. Even a couple of kids are running about.

Some guys and gals are wandering about wearing, ties? Noticing my look, Vira whispers in my ear. Oh. Those are the prostitutes. Good to know.

The girls push me towards the emptiest part of the room. I ask why so few customers and a hooker tells me its almost lunch so the pool just opened. Not a busy time. It gets busiest after lunch and then again before dinner.

Except for Ushalen, the girls are still nervous and avoiding eye contact. So I end up using the various implements hanging on the shower statues and wash them myself.

You can see the tension in their bodies melt away as I rub them, little moans escaping from time to time. Come on, it can't feel that good. Pretty soon the girls are obediently lining up for me. Dara even shivers in anticipation when her turn is next. Ushalen, of course, is the loudest. I may be spoiling these girls too much.

After washing off the soap a much happier group of girls follows me into the 'hot' room.

Red catches up to us after we wade into the pool. Boldly striding in. Looks like the messenger I hired found her. Hmm. Nice body. Muscled but not too much. Good firm rack and rear too. Wonder why I haven't noticed it before?

Now the hot room has more of a 'pool' look to it. Well, combination pool, hot tub, and sauna. There are benches scattered around with folks sitting and chatting or getting massages. There are also rooms, some with their own little pools, that you can rent.

The ones with the ties take their customers into those little rooms. I'm relieved they aren't having sex in public. There are a couple of kids in here too.

With the hot water, Red, Ushalen, and post rubdown? The girls have finally relaxed. My eyes and aura make a corner of the large pool our private party. I'm embarrassed as the girls share my examination fiasco with Red.

After laughing, a lot, they finally get to my class.

"A Swordmage?!" She's excited.

The girls seem just as proud of me as I am of them. They did so well. Avalina seems particularly proud of my class for some reason.

"Master is amazing! Bronze and a Swordmage!" Avi's like, glowing.

"His muscle was so powerful. I thought he was going to level the building!" Dara, stop. You are not helping. Hey! My eyes are up here!

I'm confused. "So are swordmage's rare or something?" Why were they acting, at the guild, like they didn't know what it was?

Chyal sheds some light. "Well, Master, there has not been a Swordmage in centuries. Even races as long lived as mine cannot combine the blade and spell. So we were trying to keep it quiet." Dammit, guess I screwed up by asking about it. Ugh.

Avalina is bubbling over. "My beloved master. There have only been a handful of Swordmages in history." Would giddy be the right word to describe her right now? "The last Swordmage was centuries ago and it was Saint Sanriel herself!" Yep, she's giddy. Oh, that's right. Avi is a Sanriel fan girl.

"Wait a minute." What about magic weapons? "If a fighter uses a magic weapon, doesn't that make him a swordmage?"

"Not quite, master." Viridia's turn. "Weapons that can use mana well, are rare. Those that have their own mana, like Sanctity and Tormentor?" She lifts her hand palm up. "Only a handful, in the world." Continuing. "While in your hands, even a practice sword becomes a magical powerhouse."

Turns out? You can feed mana into any item. Swords become sharper, lights become brighter, etc, etc... However, unless the item is designed to handle it? Its easy to overload and break it. Anything from just cracking to explosive shattering is possible.

Swordmages can, mostly, ignore that limit. Like the [Limit Break] ability but for items instead. A pretty frightening cheat when you think about it.

As long as you have enough mana of course. Which, it so happens, I do.

We enjoy the 'hot pool' chatting and snuggling, even Red joins in. Hasn't she has been getting a lot friendlier lately? More touchy feely? Well I don't really mind. I just hope she doesn't go the 'enslave me' route too.

We move on to the cool room once the post lunch crowd starts coming in. The 'cool pool' is just that. Cool water. Like a regular pool back home. Intended to wake you back up after melting in the hot room.

Not really designed for loitering, its plainer than the wash or hot rooms. Not much is offered here and some choose not to even take a dip. Walking past it to the changing rooms.

We spend a while in the water, chatting about nothing some more, and I do some actual swimming. Laps and a few dives. The temperature reminds me of the pools back home. Finally we get out and head to the exit changing room. Pick up our freshly cleaned clothes and open the locker with the key.

I laugh a little as I notice the ozone and burn smells. I sensed someone trying to steal my swords while we were in the hot pool.

Unfortunately for them, my blades bite. Even if I'm not holding them. I don't see a body and the staff is trying way to hard to pretend nothing happened. The girls immediately pick up on the smell, and scorch marks, but also choose to ignore it. Well, if the idiot is still alive maybe he learned his lesson.

Red says public baths are usually built in a big horseshoe shape. Enter the right changing room. Exit the left changing room. This one has lockers built into the wall separating the two changing rooms. So you don't have to go back to the first room or turn in your valuables to the staff.

The girls get dressed and then dress me. Earning me envious stares from other customers again. Red even joins in helping with my pants. Did she just sneak a smooch down there?

We are all feeling pretty refreshed as we leave the baths and stop at a restaurant right across the street. Its the end of the lunch rush so we don't even need to wait for a table. Like the guild, the place looks like it was pulled straight out of an isekai cartoon.

Wide open room, lots of tables, big bar, large fireplace, large windows, busty waitresses, the works. Is this world really real?

Avi explains that the custom in most human communities is to wake up with the dawn bell and have a light breakfast. Then go work until the noon bell. That starts lunch, which is the biggest meal of the day. After lunch, many go to the baths, take a nap, attend church, for an eighth-hour or two.

Then back to work until the dusk bell. Afterwards a supper which is heavier than breakfast but lighter than lunch, and spend the evening with family before going to bed.

The bell, or horn, or just yelling guy, is typically at the town hall or lords manor and its timing changes according to the season. At the height of summer the dawn and dusk bells may be up to sixteen hours apart. In the depth of winter? Maybe only eight.

Once the sun goes down? The town shuts down. Except for bars and brothels of course. Lighting is expensive so not normally wasted on street lights except in the wealthiest places. Larger cities can afford to keep larger areas lit so have more 'night life.' Most communities though? Do not.

Lunch today is pottage and bread again. Pottage being a soup with a mix of meat, vegetables, and wheat? Almost oatmeal? This one being mostly bacon and cabbage. Yep, finally found a place serving bacon.

Though its still not quite right. I like bacon by itself. The ale is good though. Now I hate cabbage but I eat everything in front of me. Honestly my appetite with this muscle car body is ridiculous.

So even if I don't like the taste I'll wolf it down. I can't be picky and throw away food in this world. I need every calorie I can get.

As the girls chat I watch the traffic outside and chuckle a little remembering the isekai stories I used to read. Every single ingredient would be listed and the MC would already be in the kitchen wowing the locals and his love interest with gourmet chef skills. Me? Uh, I think there's salt in this. Maybe.

By the by? Unlike the medieval tales I recall, water is fine to drink in this world. Well, mostly. Many 'prefer' alcohol though. Like no shit, Sherlock. A huge variety of fermented drinks, like beers, ciders, meads, and wines, are made. Every village we passed thru made their own. Exported it, and imported from others.

Alcohol is the grease that makes the trade wheels turn in this world.

Distilled alcohols like brandies, gins, and whiskeys, are here but not as common. Their production and distribution is more controlled and regulated. More expensive, but still available. Yep. I'm on a planet of alcoholics.

They start drinking before they are even weaned off their mother's milk and don't quit until death do they part. I'm staying on the lookout for whiskey.

Supposedly there is tea and coffee in this world too. But I have yet to see them.

I had pretty much quit alcohol in my world. Drinking so much in this world is not something I'm mentally used too yet. This body is though. Otherwise I would be three sheets to the wind twenty-four seven.

Along with other 'culture shocks' I've been seeing? I just might be the biggest prude in this world. I'm a fifty-fifty mix of ass and prude.

Hehe.

What a fucked up combo that is.

Gilend, Edelys (female, human, tourinese)