Evan D. Sherden. Opening a Hot Spring (3)
The Brotherhood Bathhouse was completed. From a distance, it seemed like a luxurious facility that almost looked like a huge mansion, and the initials of the Brotherhood Bathhouse were slightly unbalanced, but Evan was personally very satisfied.
"Elisha, please take your position at the counter. Maybell would be pleased to operate the rest."
"Oh, if she takes care of the Brotherhood Bathhouse here, you will have fewer chances of seeing her face…"
"Please leave the facility management to me, Master Evan!"
Maybell also took over the representation of the Brotherhood Bathhouse. In addition to that, a couple of male and female servants were selected and entrusted to the management, and several residents were hired too.
It had not been opened to the public yet. Selected people did the inauguration along with the Marquis's family. The Bathhouse had been divided into the men's bath and the women's bath, so Bellois would not be able to enter the bath with Evan even this time.
"It looks magnificent, Evan. The design is very sophisticated."
"Thank you, Father."
Evan proudly responded to the Marquis as he looked inside the changing rooms, admiring them. Evan had designed the interior of the Brotherhood Bathhouse.
If Steama's hot springs gave off a Japanese ambience as a whole, then the Brotherhood Bathhouse felt like it had been designed in resemblance to Korean hot springs.
"Young Master, what is this?!"
Evan's escort knight Dain was standing near a machine, which had been installed by one wall of the dressing room. He approached the rectangular box with translucent light inside, tapped it, and exclaimed.
The occasional sparkle of the machine looked very mysterious. Evan approached him, took a position in front of the machine, and said, "Ah, this is a vending machine. If you put money in it, you can enjoy different drinks that are available."
"This provides us with drinks!?"
"Okay, listen. If you put some silver coins here…" There was a gold slot on the machine's right side, and Evan put a silver coin from his pocket in it.
Various buttons on the front of the machine lit up. Each of the large buttons was painted with symbols of various drinks such as white milk, strawberry milk, chocolate milk, and coffee milk.
"If you press the button corresponding to the drink you want to have, like this, then the drink you chose comes out from below."
When Evan pushed the button, there was a rattling sound, and a bottle of milk, sealed at the top, fell lightly into the box-spaced shape at the bottom. Evan picked up the icy bottle of milk.
"Oh, oh…! Cold milk came out!"
"You can drink it after opening the lid."
"Oh wow! It's sweet strawberry milk!"
"Isn't it delicious? It would taste even sweeter after taking a bath."
"Oh!"
Evan, who couldn't have ever given up a cup of milk right after taking a bath even if he gave up everything else he enjoyed in Korea, realized he could install a vending machine after some brainstorming with Bernard!
It had been made with a box-type magic tool with space expansion magic along with semi-permanent refrigeration magic. Two vending machines had been created. One would be put in the male, and one would be placed in the female changing room!
Although they had set a high price of one silver coin for a milk bottle, Evan couldn't guess how long it would take to recover the actual cost. He didn't care about that, though. About the vending machines alone, Evan had no regrets!
"You do know how much I had to struggle to make them, little boy. If the beer which I drink when I get out of the bath isn't worth it, then you better pray for your life."
"Well, Grandpa Bernard, you'll thank me later." Evan grinned and replied.
"And, a cold beer with me after taking a bath. Wow, I'm looking forward to that too."
"Wow, it's so big and wide! I want to swim too!"
While the rest of the party was still gaping at the vending machine, Shine took off his clothes, went through the dressing room to the large bath, and then stopped talking on the transcendental scale.
Its overwhelming size, which seemed to fit hundreds of people at once, was far beyond the Korean-style bathhouse!
"The hot water is still pouring out. It looks like the Steama's hot springs."
"It's not just that, father. Look at the water."
"…Huh, is this all magic?"
"You could say that. Grandpa Bernard and I worked very hard."
"Well, I didn't have to do much. This is just a fraction of my alchemy skills."
The undiluted hot spring water was being extracted from the stone slab, which contained the hot springs' power. ?Two pipes were connected to it, which went separately into the men's and women's baths. The bath itself was humongous. Bubbles were added to amplify the effect of the hot spring water while also containing the purifying function.
The undiluted solution made by crushing and mixing up medicinal herbs that were good for the body was periodically dissolved in the bath. The water's healing properties were once again amplified.
The sweet scent of the bath fascinated them all.
"Huh… That's amazing, Sir Garcia."
"Hey, I'm just an old man who mixes some herbs. Please stop with the unrequired title."
"If everyone is ready, then let's go in!"
"All of you first wash yourselves and then enter the bath, please."
After grabbing Shine, who was being extra noisy and washing him from head to toe, Evan went into the bath with the rest of the group.
Oh, the tremendous pleasure Evan felt at that moment! Steama's hot springs were incomparable to its soothing heat and comfort! He felt as if his muscles that were strained from the hard training were recovering and strengthening instantaneously.
"Wow, all of this seems like a grand reward for all of my training."
"Yes! It's so good."
"This, this is… excellent!"
Sure enough, it had been worthwhile to suffer and groan with Bernard for two months. Evan was instinctively convinced that this bath's effect would be much better than that of Steama's.
The legendary alchemist thoroughly analyzed the ingredients to be added to the hot spring water and combined the effects of all kinds of magical and medicinal herbs and magical tools to enhance the healing effect. There was no way the outcome would be bad for any of them.
'If this was a game, the message that would have appeared the moment I entered the bath would have been that I had accurately grasped its effects.'
Evan immersed himself in the bath, closed his eyes, and then started laughing hysterically.
The feeling of enjoying the bath without any care in the world was overwhelming. He couldn't measure exactly how happy he was and gave up the attempt, as he thought it might interfere with appreciating the contentment.
'The consequences of building this bathhouse are so fascinating that they cannot be expressed easily…'
Evan thought if he continued thinking like that, this feeling of pleasure would diminish, and it would be all for nothing. For now, it was enough for him to have confirmed that the Brotherhood Bathhouse was superior to the hot spring of Steama.
"How is it, Evan?? Are you satisfied? "
"Yes, Grandpa."
Evan replied with a smile. Bernard was enjoying the hot water with joy like Evan himself.
"This will be a huge success."
From the very next day, the Brotherhood Bathhouse began operating normally. Of course, there were many problems at first. The entrance fee itself was a whopping 20 silver coins!
With that amount of money, you could enjoy a great meal. In other words, the entree fees of the Bathhouse were enough to eat a satisfying meal for a week! Of course, many people opposed this.
"Who the hell even comes here?"
"This is nonsense!"
"Hey, this is unnecessary exploitation on behalf of the Marquis of Sherden. Trying to make this much profit from explorers who struggle in the dungeon… !"
"Marquis should lower the entrance fee to the bathhouse right now!"
"No, they shouldn't have done this! I won't go there!"
Many explorers spat in front of the Brotherhood Bathhouse and left. However, Evan couldn't help but notice that some of them were the same people who leisurely went to the dungeon's 30th floor and below. There were also quite a few explorers who could casually spend about one gold coin(one gold coin was worth a hundred silver coins).
Some of those explorers thought they were being deceived but still invested 20 silver coins, trusting the Brotherhood Bathhouse's name. And the result was… There were left speechless.
"This is crazy. I've been to the Steama hot springs before, but this one here is even more awesome."
"I don't know where the town Steama is, but this bath… It feels like my very soul is being purified."
"They change the herbs regularly. I don't know if that increased the effect, but my energy recovered very quickly."
"Honestly, the money spent here is not wasted. While bathing, I felt like I was a noble."
Of course, explorers with high dungeon levels had an excellent ability to realize their stamina and magic.
They found that just entering the bath restored their health and power to full capacity as well as any abnormal conditions. And all of that for only 20 silver coins.
"Hey, in the future, let's soak ourselves in the Brotherhood Bathhouse the day before, we enter the dungeon."
"Yes, you're right. The efficiency increases somewhat."
"Still, it's 20 silver coins… We will be coming here soon, won't we?"
"I recommend coffee milk. I only drink that."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
As a lot of people and explorers from the dungeons visited the Bathhouse, word about the efficacy of the Brotherhood Bathhouse spread quickly.
Eventually, the battle guild being operated in the dungeon city decided to soak their adventurers in the Brotherhood Bathhouse once a day and made it an 'essential rule'. They were forced to visit it at least once a week.
"This is a miracle."
"It is water created by God Himself to directly wash and purify our human souls."
And once someone went inside, they couldn't help but admit that the Brotherhood Bathhouse was well worth the 20 silver coins!
Of course, there were still some people who claimed that it was making unneeded profits, but the majority were satisfied with the results of their investment.
The effects of the Brotherhood Bathhouse didn't simply end with getting better for only a couple of minutes. By evolving the physical recovery rate of the whole body, the water's special qualities made it easier and safer to enter the dungeon and further strengthened the body more quickly based on the experience gained in the dungeon.
"Those who don't utilize this place and its facilities will soon be unable to wander into the dungeon naturally. I can bet."
"There will be a clear difference in the level of the attacking team."
"Perhaps… With the assistance of the healing effects of the Brotherhood Pharmacy, we might be able to easily break through the 45th floor, which is considered the realm of evil."
"We may be able to defeat that dog-like Lycan monster Thunder Slope!"
Soon, the battle guild's adventurers that entered the dungeon became addicted to the Brotherhood Bathhouse. It became so popular that the order of using the Brotherhood Bathhouse had to be decided, to manage the crowds.
"Did Master Evan design this place? He's great."
"While having an infinitely high status, he made such a facility in consideration of the explorers who struggle in the dungeon."
"20 silver coins? That tiny amount may not be enough for maintenance costs after all. "
"Master Evan should be the next Marquis. He is a blessing to this country!"
Those who had criticized the Marquis had to change their opinions and realized that it was a miraculous experience for a reasonable price.
Voices praising the Marquis, especially Evan D. Sherden, rang out endlessly through the dungeon city.
At that point, the people who had been cursing and denouncing the Brotherhood Bathhouse had to bite their tongues. One by one, they entered the Brotherhood Bathhouse. A new sensation had been created in the dungeon city!
"So what are you drinking? You're not drinking strawberry milk like a kid, right? Real men drink coffee milk, son. Master Evan also affirmed that he is a firm coffee milk drinker."
"What? Of course, it's coffee milk. What are you going on about?"
"Some stupid people drink strawberry milk after bathing in secret. Ha, I can't get along because of the difference in the level of their thinking."
As a bonus, the popularity of various beverages sold at the vending machines had also increased, and many people were largely divided into milk wave and beer wave. They were divided into various other factions within the milk wave, and a fight had begun among them…
"Puh! Beer is the best after bathing!"
"I feel sorry for Grandpa. Coffee milk is the best!"
"What? This is coming from a kid who can't even drink yet, ha!"
"But that's a completely separate matter!"
A small argument started between the legendary alchemists on the minuscule issue of whether beer or coffee milk was better after bathing…