"Now let's get this party started!", Lechter's voice echoed inside the Phoenix Wings, still as upbeat as ever.
Lechter is completely ignoring the fact that there was a slight, purple bruise covering one of his eyes. Someone sacked him good after we all freshened up for the day. After we got dressed for the day, Angelica punched him right in the eye. It was pretty funny to watch. Lechter didn't put up any defenses whatsoever, and took it right in the face. Props to him I guess.
But was it really such a surprise to see Lechter again, of all people? Father likely learned that we're staying in Ymir for an extra day, and saw Lechter doing nothing, he sent him my way. I don't mind it. If Ikaruga is lurking around here, it's an added layer of security. I just can't help but think Lechter is jumping the gun too much here. Isn't he looking forward to these hot springs even more so than Angelica?
Either way, I gave Lechter a deadpan stare the moment he exclaimed that.
"You want your other eye blackened, Lechter?", I asked, retorting him.
"That's right. You have two of them, dont'cha?", Angelica replied with a grin. She even raised one of her fists outward, and cracked her knuckles, acting like she was ready to go for another round. Lechter raised his hands up and did a gesture with them, trying to calm Angelica down.
"I-I think I'm good, Lady Rogner.", Lechter replied. Hearing that, Angelica's grin became even wider.
"Hehe, at least you know the position you're in. You can't even go up against that Young Master of yours, or even someone of my standing.", Angelica replied, giggling. That cause a wave of laughter to spread around us. Angelica knew we were just joking around. Or did she?
Before long, a group of kids with a scarlet-haired boy in tow slowly made their way toward another black-haired boy and a black-haired girl. Rean and Elise had already met up with us, as did Shizuna and Anelace. To our surprise, Rean decided to take the lead this time. This place was practically his backyard, making him very familiar with the Phoenix Wings lodge. Once Rean's group joined up with ours, we saw an aged man walk out, much older than Lord Teo. He was wearing a butler suit and some had some glasses on. He's one of the workers here who works at Phoenix Wings. We saw him looking at Rean with a polite smile.
"Thank you for visiting the Phoenix Wings, Young Master. Lord Schwarzer has already given us advance notice. You and your friends are welcome to enjoy the day here, all expenses paid for. Some of you have already stayed the night, but I hope you all continue enjoying your stay here at our Phoenix Wings. Breakfast will be ready in a little while. You all are more than welcome to enjoy a quick soak. Many people often soak more than once during their stay here.", The old man explained to us. After welcoming us, the old man looked at Elise. "And it is good to see you in good health, Young Missus."
"Hehe, it is a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Baggins. Thank you for all the work you do. We'll have to thank Lord Father later for renting out the entire place. It isn't often he splurges on us like this.", Elise said with a smile, only to look back at us. "We'll have to make the most of today."
"Haha. I couldn't have said it better myself, Elise. I must say, we keep telling you to stop addressing us like that, Mr. Baggins.", Rean said, looking back at the butler before us. The butler laughed.
"The Young Master and the Young Missus will always be the Young Master and Young Missus to me.", Mr. Baggins replied, keeping a calm look in his eyes. "Anyway, if you feel like taking a dip now, the entrance to the baths will be located to the right hallway beside us. If you want to take your time and enjoy a good soak, lunch will be prepared at a later time. Both breakfast and lunch will be served to the hallway you see on your left. The second floor and above is for authorized personnel only. Do any of you have any questions so far?", Mr. Baggins asked us.
"None so far. For some of us, it is our first visit. We can rest assured the entire open air bath is reserved for our group only, right? We don't have to worry about someone wandering inside?", I decided to ask.
"It is. You all have it reserved for the next four to five hours until the appointed lunch time. It will be up to you if you want to have breakfast before then. Food will be ready regardless. Once you have gone inside the hallway to your right, you will see to entrances, separated by gender. Lockers will be available inside to store your belongings. There will be an indoor washing area to wash off your bodies. For those not accustomed to public bathing, it is common courtesy to wash your body off before you take a dip inside the open air bath. We do recycle our water here. Any time you want to take a breather outside the bath, we have some foldable chairs. There's also a sauna if you feel like sweating it off.", Mr. Baggins continued.
"Excellent. Sounds like we'll enjoy ourselves quite nicely here.", I happily replied with a nod.
"Which by extension to what Mr. Baggins said here, Phoenix Wings is open to mixed bathing. That means no peeking, alright~?", Anelace added in with a playful smile.
"Oho. I almost forgot about that part. This place welcomes all travelers.", Angelica also said.
"M-Mixed bathing?", Emma uttered. Her cheeks turned a little red.
"Oh you'll get used to it quickly, Emma. Thank you as always, Mr. Baggins.", Elise said, smiling at him while giving a slight bow.
With that out of the way, our group split into two. The girls became one group while us boys became the other. It was Lechter, Rean and I while Elise led Anelace, Shizuna, Emma and Angelica. Since Lechter was now with us, our group of seven became eight. One hall had a blue-colored banner while the other had a pink-colored banner. While this may seem weird in some cultures, mixed bathing was common practice back in Japan, and that culture is what these games are based off of. I'm not one to judge, I'm just going with the flow here.
Plus it's a good way to connect with people. The power of friendship. That's right, this is one of those so-called Connection Events~
"It looks like we'll all see each other on the other side. We could take turns, but seeing it isn't restricted, I don't mind if everyone wants to join in together.", I said to everyone. "Will that be alright, Rean?"
"Yeah. We practice this custom here in Ymir, even though I know it isn't all that widespread in other cities.", Rean replied with a nod of his head. So he was cool with it too.
"I don't see a problem either. Anelace and I are used to bathing here. More the merrier as one would say~", Shizuna happily said. "And yet I say that, both of you are nobles, right? Your standing won't cause any implications, will it?", Shizuna continued to ask.
"Oh you needn't worry about us. I can't stand all that commoner this commoner that bullshit and all. Naoto's the same. He's seen as Naoto here, as am I Angie. Don't mind us.", Angelica answered.
"What Angie said. We're all on even footing here for the time being.", I said, which earned a laugh from Angelica. "We'll see you girls on the other side."
It looks like everyone with agreement as the girls nodded t heir heads. Each one vanished into the pink banner, leaving the three of us behind. It was then Lechter turned around to face me. A weird grin appeared on his face. I don't like where this is going...
"Shall I wash your back, Young Master~?", Lechter teased.
"Hell to the NO. Let's ditch this idiot, Rean.", I immediately retorted.
"Haha.", Rean replied, letting out his iconic laugh. We soon left Lechter behind while the two of us headed into the men's side.
"Hey man, that's not cool.", Lechter responded, seeing that he was alone now. Still, he shrugged his shoulders before he headed on inside as well.
We still had a few hours before lunchtime, so we could enjoy the hot springs here to our heart's content. No one else was here besides our group of eight. Lord Schwarzer rented out the entire place. Arriving at the lockers, we began to strip of our clothes. Thankfully for me, it will still register my Equipment as Stats. It's just a visual effect, you know the drill. Just in case we happen to get attacked inside the hot spring, or something. Not that I'm saying it will happen, but such a scene took place in Sky when Estelle's group visited Elmo, so I can't say it won't happen.
We saw bath towels prepared inside the lockers before us. How nice. That's another part of Japan. With it being mixed, you can keep a towel around your body, even if you take a dip in. In the games, it acted as censorship, and here it's pretty much the same thing.
With towels in hand, the three of us then made our way to the next area, the washroom. Lechter voiced another complaint at me before he wandered off to the first washing station we saw. I ignored him, and instead, looked at Rean. I suggested to Rean that I washed him. To my surprise, he wasn't against it. This deepened our bond a bit as half-brothers, even though Rean wasn't aware of that fact anymore. We all did a full rinse. Then, we wrapped towels around our bodies, then made our way to the next area. It was one of those old-school sliding wooden doors.
Once we arrived, we were greeted with Ymir's cold air despite it being summertime. Then the hot steam of the hot springs began to elevate the temperature of my body. It's a weird sensation at first, but it feels nice once you adapt to it. Such is the beauty of an open-air hot spring.
Boy I am I glad I can enjoy hot springs here in Zemuria. I'm not going to turn into an onsen connoisseur now, am I? Haha!
It looks like we were not the first ones to arrive. A voice reached out to us. We saw five figures already on the opposite end of the hot springs.
"Heh, you guys are last after all. Come on in, the water's great.", Angelica said, calling out to us. We just watched on. Elise, Shizuna, and Anelace already had pink towels covering their body while they were inside the water. Emma did too but she could be seen somewhat fidgety. They did have open-air bathing back at Eryn too and its hot spring was quite lovely. It's been a while since Emma has used it, and with Ymir having mixed bathing, it's no wonder she's feeling nervous. How cute.
But the one who took the entire cake was Angelica. She was acting all casual, and even had both of her arms out around two rocks. The steam was already spreading around the springs making it hard to see the girls, but I could make Angelica's outline, apart from her head. She wasn't...exactly wearing a towel like the rest. It was too steamy to see her glory and all that. Still, Angelica behaved like she was having the time of her life in here. I wanted to do a facepalm seeing this play out. I won't lie either, Angelica was definitely pretty. The only problem she has...is her demeanor toward the same gender.
"Now that's definitely how to enjoy a dip.", Lechter said, giving Angelica a thumbs up. Doing a diving gesture without actually diving in head first, Lechter jumped into the hot springs, creating a big ripple of water. After that, from out of nowhere, Lechter pulled out a light metal tray that allowed it to float on the water. On it were some non-alcoholic drinks. Even he was a year or two off from getting that luxury. He's four years older than me, so that makes him sixteen this year. I'm sure his studies are well underway already at Jenis. I have no idea how the guy becomes Student Council President. We'll get to see all that play out in Lechter's final year of studies when Kloe and I will start our first year. And you even see this during one of the Doors in Sky the 3rd, letting you control Kloe.
But right now, Lechter's acting as carefree as ever. Both he and Angelica have very similar playful natures. I can't determine who is the worse one here.
Regardless, I disregarded Lechter's behavior, and went at my own pace. The hot water felt really nice to the touch. It wasn't overbearingly hot. Hot springs were meant for relaxation after all. It was to let the stress of one's body relax.
The three of us found a nice spot, keeping some distance from the girls. Common courtesy. We began to make light conversation to pass the time while enjoying a morning soak. Despite our varying backgrounds, the eight of us became fast friends. So weird. This little get-together isn't event supposed to happen in the games, and yet, my influence is causing this to happen once again. Such is life. I don't think it's anything bad. It caused many laughs to be shared, and we even shared a few stories here and there. The topic of the future was also brought up. The road to the future has yet to begin for any of us. We didn't know what was in store.
Anelace went first, and expressed her desire in becoming a Bracer, just like in the games. Hearing that surprised Rean and Shizuna. It looks like this topic wasn't brought up much. She wants to follow the same path Estelle and Joshua will take in the coming years. The two of them, if it's going the way it should, should become Junior Bracers in less than four years, in S1202. Then, all of Sky will take place. I will probably be watching that happen from the sidelines, considering I will be in Jenis at the time.
As for Elise, her studies at St. Astraia are going smoothly, and she is enjoying her personal circle. It looks like she is on a small vacation, which prompted her to return home for a little while, likely to spend some time with Rean. Bet she didn't think she would come across all of us at the same time, haha!
After that, perhaps it was Shizuna who gave us the most surprise. She wanted to start her own journey throughout Zemuria, with Calvard being her primary focus. She left out the Ikaruga part, but it looks like it was time for Shizuna to face her own destiny, as cringe as that sounds. Becoming the eventual Divine Blade of Silver, as I recall? We get to see Shizuna's result in a little backstory in Reverie, but it wasn't a lot to go off of. I probably won't see Shizuna again for a while. Rean didn't cause any outbursts in response to this. Instead, he actually supported her decision, which caused Shizuna to smile.
The path of becoming a Divine Blade is arduous, most likely.
As for Angelica, she will be staying in Roer for the next couple years to align with the goals we have set. She has to take care of some business inside House Rogner. What I didn't expect was for Angelica to say she had some private business with me once we finish our bathing. Just the two of us. I couldn't help but wonder what it was Angelica wanted to talk about, considering this is Angelica we're talking about here. With that said, Angelica also expressed her interests in studying at Thors Military Academy, and plans to enroll in the next four years or so in S1202. This will cause her to become an upper-class student by the time I begin my studies at Thors in S1204. The hope is for me to join her class when Class VII forms, and likewise, for me to become an upper-class student to Rean when Cold Steel begins.
I want to be in the same class that holds Angelica Rogner, Crow Armbrust, George Nome, and Towa Herschel.
Regarding Emma, she is still continuing to act as my supporter for the time being. For some reason, I saw a resolute look in her eyes. It was easy to miss, but I saw it. She sensed that gaze and simply smiled at me. Emma will be returning with me back to Liberl once this trip is over.
I didn't need to talk about Lechter. Lechter does whatever Lechter likes to do. He likes to make a hassle out of everywhere he goes and shows up at the most complete random times, like in this event here. He acts way too carefree sometimes. Still, I know I can trust Lechter. I'm not on Rean's side when it comes to the Ironbloods. Father is actively assigning them to me for an extra layer of protection. I can trust Lechter's skills, even if his behavior is wonky a lot of the times.
We passed the morning here in the hot springs happily chatting away with one another. I received more Gamer Notifications, causing me to smile. No one reached 100% yet. I have received a bunch of new connections within this last year thanks to all of my travelling. I am quite curious to see how expansive that list is now, considering there's a whole bunch of characters you can meet here in Zemuria. As the sun rose over the mountains, we caught a good glimpse of the snowcap mountains behind us. The cool air made it the perfect temperature, allowing us to stay in for a longer period of time.
We all decided to skip breakfast. Noon quickly approached, and that was when we all got out. For some reason, Angelica wandered out first, which made me catch a glimpse of her glory. Was she doing that on purpose? I'm not sure. Of our group, she kept her eyes on me with a playful grin while she headed on inside. Seeing that, I'm pretty sure she was doing this on purpose. Oi.
Then I reminded myself that Angelica had something to talk about with me and no one else. Where is this going to head to? Either way, I was next to get out, bidding everyone farewell for the time being. I told them they could go onto lunch without the two of us. I wasn't sure how this was going to take. They acknowledged me, and also got out one after another, making their way to the left side of the Phoenix Wings.
It was time to see what Angelica was up to. It isn't often she's like this, even in the games...