We bought many things at the Plaza after we ate the nostalgic Ramen; we looked for a shop where we can buy my clothes, I bought only three sets of clothing, mostly what male adventurers wear; we also bought 1 bow, 2 swords, and a pair of leather gauntlet which I can use to improve my bow skills.
As we finished shopping, I remembered that we haven't taken a bath yet and as a Japanese, bath is one of the most necessary parts of my everyday life, not taking one will definitely influence my mood and my self-confidence for a day.
We are now walking back to the Inn, I forgot to look for a Public Bath at the Plaza, but I hope there's one near Marinda-san's Inn.
[ Alice, are there any places we can take a bath near here? ] I asked Alice who's sitting on top of my shoulders.
[ I don't know onii-san... I'm not that familiar with the area around here. ]
[ is that so? we're just gonna need to ask Marinda-san then, maybe she knows one. ] I'm sure Marinda-san can recommend me one.
I only washed my self once since I arrived at this world, and it's in a lake no less.
[ we're about to arrive. Let's put our things in our room then let's look for a bath. ]
*** A minute later...
[ Marinda-san, is there any Public Baths near this place? ] after we arrived at the Inn, I immediately saw Marinda-san at the counter so I asked her first before going back to our room.
[ ah yes, there's one just a few walks away from here, just turn left when you go outside, and you'll see a large building, you can easily recognize it because there's a large sign in front of it. ] Marinda-san replied.
[ does it got any other distinctive feature? ] I asked because I can't read any words from the writing of this world yet so it'll be hard for me to recognize the building she was talking about.
[ hmm... Its blue color I guess... ] color blue? is that all? well, you take what you can get.
[ Thank you Marinda-san. I haven't taken a bath for two days now so I really want to take one. ] I said as I proceeded walking upstairs with Alice.
[ Onii-san... is not taking a bath for two days not normal to you? ] Alice suddenly asked me.
[ hm? I guess so... well, at least that's not normal in the country I previously lived on to. ]
[ oh... I forgot that onii-san was from a different country. ] Alice muttered.
[ is your black hair also common in your previous country onii-san? ]
[ ... no, it's not common, in fact, only my family has this hair color in my previous country. That's why we often got discriminated. ] I already established that fake story as my answer whenever people ask about my hair or where I'm from.
[ is that so onii-san? ]
[ yes, okay, let's just put these things inside our room then let's look for a place to bath. ]
We got inside our room and put the things we bought earlier inside.
[ Alice, bring one dress with you, I'll also bring one of the clothes I bought earlier. ]
[ but I already changed my clothes just earlier at the Plaza? ]
[ no, that one is different, we should always change our clothes whenever we took a bath, so you need to bring another, we'll just gonna wash them again sometime. ]
[ if you say so onii-san. ]
[ hmm.. okay that's it, let's go outside now. ] we finished organizing our stuff in the room, so we're ready to get out now.
We went down and saw Marinda-san again.
[ we're gonna go now Marinda-san, we'll come back before dinner. ]
[ of course, your food will be ready when you get back, that includes Alice's-chan. ] as Marinda-san said so, I already paid for Alice's dinner just this morning.
[ you heard that Alice? we're not gonna share our food this time, so eat a bunch okay? also, can you add more vegetable on Alice's meal? ] I asked Marinda-san after motivating Alice.
[ onii-san! ] Alice complained.
[ I can do that Haruto-kun, and don't you like that Alice-chan? Haruto-kun only wants you to be healthy and grow you know? ]
[ no, that's not it... ]
[ well, let's just mind that later, let's go now Alice. ] I hold Alice's hand and smiled at her.
[ yes. ]
(XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX)
[ Is this it? ]
After a few minutes of walking, we finally found a blue colored building with a large sign in front. I can guess that this is the bathing place Marinda-san was talking about.
[ let's go inside. ]
[ Un. ]
Me and Alice walked inside the door. Inside was a small counter with an old lady sitting inside of it.
[ excuse me, is this the bathing place? ] I asked the old lady.
[ yes, but if you want to bathe then, you need to pay. ] said the old lady.
[ of course, then how much does it cost? ]
[ Only 5 copper coins per person, I see that you also got that kid over there, if you gonna make that kid get water for you then you can save some money. ]
[ wait... I don't understand, I thought you said I need to pay 5 copper coins, then what was that about her getting water? ] I asked.
I can already see that this is not like one of the public onsens I often bathe to in my previous country.
[ ah yes, the 5 copper coins are only for the soap, you need to pay for the water you'll use too, which is 2, copper coins per bucket. ]
[ what isn't that too expensive? ] 5 copper coins for soap and another 2 for a bucket of water? I can't see the reason why the price is so high.
[ hey mister, that price is the most common price you'll get at any bathing place. We don't charge for water unless you want to get us to get it for you. There's a small river just a little walk from here, if you don't have the money to pay, then you get in there and wash your self, but if you want to use a soap then you need to buy it from us. ] this old lady is really intense, she's not suited as a receptionist.
[ fine, fine, I'll buy a soap and hmm... I guess 4 buckets of water, do we also need to pay for using one of your rooms? ] I can't argue with the prices if I don't even know if it's too high or too low.
[ the rooms are free, but you can only use them if you bought one of our soaps. ] I guess that reasonable.
[ okay, here's 5 copper coins, and... 8 copper coins, for 4 buckets of water. ] I took out the coins from my pouch and gave it to the old lady.
[ okay, I'm gonna get someone to get the water for you. Get inside and pick any room you want. ] the old lady the left as she said that.
we get inside another room, its inside is like a public bathroom filled with different rooms with only small doors blocking the view from the inside.
[ here's your water and here's your soap. ] the old lady came back and handed me the soap. she brought two small kids with her who's carrying the buckets of water, the kids also look so thin like Alice.
the kids then carried the buckets in front of me.
[ thank you. ] I thank them as I handed them 2 coppers each. it's the amount where you can get a proper meal.
[ what is this mister? ] one of the two boys asked nervously.
[ it's for you, consider it my thanks. ] I said and smiled at him.
[ tha-thank you. ] he said his thanks but the other one didn't, he only looks at Alice. Is Alice his crush or something?
[ let's go boys, I wouldn't want you two interrupting our customers. ] said the old lady as he drags away the two boys forcefully from their wrists.
[ what was that about? ] I muttered.
I bet that old lady is not treating those boys properly.
I shrugged those thoughts off and faced Alice.
[ let's just go and take a bath now. ]
[ U-un. ] Alice replied nervously.