Rena found a Hakama Kimono.
"Ohh, you like that one? Interesting choice!" Saola got excited.
"I named this collection The Red Guardian. The inspiration behind this collection is a tragic romance between a maiden who was to guard a magical jewel and a half-human. So the set is divided into two pieces, the white upper part symbolized purity and the red bottom part symbolized their passionate love. It was weaved from The Goliath Spider's silk thread which is resistant to fire. Because The Goliath Spiders live in the deep layer of Volcanic-type dungeon....." Saola's non-stop talking started again.
(Isn't this just a miko hakama?) Rena thought.
After some thorough selection, more like being forced to buy it, Rena also bought some sets of underwear and another outfit.
"Thank you for the purchase! Please come back again!" Saola spoke with a cheerful tone when they said goodbye.
"Finally..." Said Rena when they quit from Saola's Garment Shop. This experience made her exhausted, but she got an unexpectedly good surprise which made her happy. She would never imagine finding a hakama kimono in another world.
Currently, Sebastian and Rena were walking at the side of the street. Sebastian was carrying the shopping bag although Rena wanted to carry it by herself, he politely refused her.
"Sebastian, thank you for buying me these clothes. I'll definitely pay it back someday."
"Don't thank me, Miss Serena. I just did what I'm ordered to. It's Master Frei who was being considerate." Sebastian said in a straightforward manner.
"Yes, I promise I'll thank him later. But I still want to thank Sebastian too. You were the one who accompanied me so far." Rena replied.
"Then Sebastian will humbly accept your feeling." He courteously said.
"Now, if we're done here, let's go back to the inn and wait for Master Frei to return."
"Ehm... actually Sebastian, I have another request." She hid her hands behind her body, looking at Sebastian nervously.
"Yes?" Sebastian stopped, looking at her.
"Do they have a bathhouse here?" Rena asked him.
"A bathhouse? Yes, there's a public bathhouse here. Why?"
"If you don't mind, I'd like to go there." She stated her intention.
"Miss Serena, I could prepare a bath for you after we go back to the inn..."
"No, no... It's fine." She refused, shaking her head.
"I want to use the public bathhouse if that's alright."
She was sure preparing a bath in a place that didn't have one would take a lot of trouble. She didn't want to trouble Sebastian.
"But... The location is a bit far from here, is that okay?
"Yes! No problem. Thank you, Sebastian." She smiled cheerfully.
"Let's see, from this place it should be in that direction..."
They walked along the main streets until they arrived at a building with big circular domes. It stood out compared to the nearby buildings with a lot of people come and go, it was even bigger than the auction house. The entrance was decorated with ornate carvings and the hall was huge.
"Is this really a bathhouse? This is amazing..." Rena stared at the building in awe.
"Yes, it was built by the order of Haffa Kingdom's previous king. Tawarr is a prosperous port city, thanks to its strategic position between East and West Continent. There are many people come here from the different part of the world. Rich people can't just ignore their hygiene and appearance, that's why they built this elaborate bathhouse. It's is just a way to show Haffa Kingdom's prosperity to outsiders." Sebastian explained it to Rena.
Listening to Sebastian's explanation, Rena's eyes were sparkling while looking her surrounding. Actually, Sebastian wasn't just kindly following her requests, he was observing Rena this entire time, possibly trying to grasp her personality, out of protectiveness to his master. His eyes soften looking at the curious young girl.
"Miss Serena, since women area and men area are separated, I can't go with you. I'm going to wait here if you need my assistance." Sebastian bowed to Rena.
"Alright. Then, I'll be back soon!" Rena said, bowing back to Sebastian.
She left Sebastian at the bathhouse entrance and went inside to the women area. Inside the bathhouse; the decorated dome ceiling was high, the sunlight penetrated the glass window at the center of the dome. A small pool in the middle of the room reflecting the sunlight, projecting the ripples on the wall, giving the place a beautiful ambient.
"This bathhouse is truly beautiful..." Rena was mesmerized.
Staring the giant dome above her head, a glowing blue mandala painted on its surface was slowly moving in circular motion.
"Whoa, amazing! The painting glows and moves! I wonder if that's because of magic..."
The bathhouse looked surreal. She never imagined that she would enter a non-japanese style public bathhouse, much less in another world. After done feasting her eyes with the view, she looked around.
"Mmm, what should I do here..."
Observing her surrounding, she glanced around the room, the women here were relaxing, sitting around the pool while chatting with each other. She saw a woman who just entered the bathroom, changed clothes and went inside to the other room. Rena quickly followed her. The other room was steamy and dim, but no less beautiful than the previous room. The wall was covered with geometric tiles which looked like star patterns. There were several ventilation holes on the dome ceiling, and small yellow crystals hanged there to illuminate the place.
"This one is like Sauna. I guess I just need to stay here for about fifteen minutes then."
Rena chose the space with fewer people and sit there. All this time, she tried to be careful not to attract attention, quickly directed her gaze to the floor after looking around, and she used her hair to cover the side of her face.
"Mmm... this is nice... it's different than a Japanese bath but no less interesting."
Rena was relaxing, enjoying the steam heating up her body.
She was also watching the activities in the room, the women were sitting on the wooden bench and talking to each other, some were laying down and getting a massage, and some of them were washing their body. There were small fountains nearby, providing cool water to wash the body. After ten minutes have passed, Rena stood.
"I shouldn't stay too long here, Sebastian is waiting. It's time to wash my body."
She took a bucket and filled it with water. She then took out a soap she bought earlier with Sebastian. There was a shop in front of the bathhouse selling bathing supplies. Rena thought the soap wasn't as good quality as the modern soap on earth, but she was still happy to find a soap in this world.
"Hmm~ hmm~ āŖ" She hummed while washing her body.
She was busy cleaning her body that she failed to notice someone's presence getting close to her. A shadow came from behind her, covering her body. Before she could turn around, a hand covered her mouth.
"Mmmh?!!"
Suddenly, Rena felt sleepy. Her limbs got weak and she couldn't support her body. Before she lost consciousness, she felt someone caught her fallen body.
"Hmm, what's wrong?" A woman who was laying down nearby lifted her head.
"Oh, I'm sorry, my sister couldn't stand the heat for too long, so she fainted. Excuse me then, I'll take her outside." Said the mysterious person.
---
*Splash!*
*Cough* *cough*
"Uhh..."
"Hey, sleeping beauty, how long will you be sleeping?!" A voice shouted at Rena.
Rena opened her eyes to see an unfamiliar girl.
"Who are you...?" She asked.
"Hah, what's the point of introducing myself to you?" Said the mysterious girl, putting her hands on the waist.
Brown hair and hazel eyes, she had a boyish appearance. She looked like in her early teens. She was small, but her voice was loud and she had a sharp tongue.
"Achoo!" Rena sneezed.
Noticing there was only a towel covering her, she recalled that she was taking a bath before she lost consciousness.
"Aaahh, here, here!" She threw a piece of clothes to Rena.
"Wear that, if you get sick, I'll be in trouble!"
"...Umm, thank you." Rena said when taking the shirt.
It was a plain khaki one piece that looked dirty, but Rena still wore it. After putting the clothes, she realized she was in a dark room which looked like a basement, there wasn't any source of light except from the lantern whom the girl carried. Some barrels and wooden boards were stacked close to the wall. It didn't seem to be part of the bathhouse.
"Where am I?" Rena asked the girl who was standing in front of her.
"In my village."
"Huh? In your village? Why did you take me here?" Rena knitted her eyebrows, confused.
"That's because I'll get a reward if I could drag you here." She said that without any reservation.
"But really, I didn't expect to be this easy to catch you! You were casually walking around the town and even taking a public bathhouse alone. Thanks to you, it was an easy job."
"D-did, did you mean you were kidnapping me?"
"No, I'm not kidnapping you, I'm kidding you!"
"Pffft. Ahahaha." The girl held her stomach, laughing the weird pun.
"Purple sis, you are slow, aren't you?" She said that with a mocking tone.
The girl shook her head, seemed to find Rena amusing.
Rena couldn't believe she got kidnapped again, and this time, the kidnapper was a girl younger than her. She was truly underestimating how different this world compare to Japan. Living her entire life in a peaceful country like Japan, where people are several times more likely to die by their own hand than at the hands of another, she was ignorant and oblivious. Understanding the bad side and trying to change the programmed behavior was not something that could be done in a night though.
(How foolish I am, I didn't learn the lesson at all!)
(Even if I'm free, with this attitude of mine, I'll just get into another trouble...)
Rena banged her head on the wall.
"What are you doing?!" The girl shouted, rushing toward Rena to hold her.
"Hey, sis, is your head okay?! Uh, I mean the inside of your head..."
"Was it too shocking to be kidnapped by a girl younger than you?"
"...Well, I only did this because of the reward, you know. If you want to blame someone then blame your master for incurring Lord Sennan's wrath."
"Huh?!" Rena lifted her head up.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I don't know the details, but that guy is a powerful noble here in Haffa Kingdom, he is really cruel, nothing good will come by opposing him. Yesterday, he got angry and told us to kidnap you."
"Yesterday...?" Rena's eyes widened.
Yesterday was the day she met with Frei in the auction house...
"The Auction House...?" She blurted.
"Was it one of the guys who bid me?? He failed to buy me, so he resorted to this method??"
"Uuuhh... I really don't know. I told you already, we were only told to do this. Our village is going to suffer if we don't follow his demand."
"Anyway, I'm only here to brought you clothes and dinner. Stay there and behave well, purple sis." The girl turned around and left.
---