The Dragons' Bathhouse: A Reverse Harem Enemies-to-Lovers Soulmate Romance

11

"Excuse me for sounding rude but what's going on?" Eden gasped, her eyes flickering to her tag and back to her boss. "I definitely don't have the necessary skills to be a five-star—"

"Nonsense, your exam results as a masseur and bathing attendant will suffice." The Grandmother waved her off simply. "Lucille will brief you on your work post. Although, I'm sure it's nothing new since you know them."

Know who? Eden tried not to gape at her boss. The situation was incredulous. It was impossible for one to jump up to three stars. Impossible. The stars were also attributed to hours worked at the bathhouse and five-stars were for people who had worked at Ukiyo for at least five years. And even then, the worker that had been promoted was a very powerful mage. Eden had only been here for three and she was just a measly human!

What was going on?

"Alright, I will have to give a speech soon to our esteemed guests. Fantastic work my dear and congratulations." The Grandmother grinned, revealing her sharp teeth. "Go on back to work now. Your items will be shifted to the five-star staff living quarters."

The medusa slithered away from her office and Eden could only bow numbly to her disappearing silhouette. She was ushered out by the manager and his guards, taken quickly to the upper-level staff room. She gulped. She was still confused over what the Grandmother had said and a little shaken that instead of being punished she had been promoted.

She didn't even have time to wrap her head around it before she was greeted by a fairy at the door.

"I'm Lucille! It's very nice to meet you, newbie!" Her new supervisor chirped, bouncing about in the air. The fairy was completely blue from her dark navy skin to her fluttering pale cerulean wings and she seemed a lot nicer than the satyr. "We don't have time for new outfits. We really didn't expect you! A spell will have to do."

Eden gasped as the fairy took out a wand and waved it over her, giving her clothes a cleaning spell and a glamour spell. The glamour transformed her robes into one that was embedded with tiny crystals at the hems. She yelped as the fairy spun her about, tapping her head to tie up her hair with a diamond hairpin, attaching tiny crystal studs to her ears.

"L-Lucille, I don't understand. What am I supposed to do?" Eden spluttered. She felt at lost, like a toy ship tossed out at sea and expected to brave the waves of an incoming storm. She had never felt more unprepared in her entire life!

"You're requested for a bath," Lucille replied simply. A bath? Eden's brows knotted tightly together, she must be talking about her bathing attendant skills. "It's easy! Just listen to their requests. I'm sure you know what to do since you know them personally."

"Know who?" Eden cried out desperation tinging her voice. The fairy turned giving her a curious look, she furrowed her brows.

"Your friends! They told me you were friends," she chirped out, tilting her head. "That was why I gave the order for the manager to get you."

"I have friends?" Eden blinked, her mind darting to Seri. Lucille laughed then, clearly not taking her seriously.

"I'll teach you the ropes later, but for now. Come on! We don't want to keep them waiting."

She pulled her hand and Eden was moving through the hallways of the staff room at the upper tier. It was nothing like the lower tier work areas with its fiery candlelit walkways. These were modern architecture, with classy rows of lights and fast-moving walkways. Eden was pulled from travellator to travellator, taken deeper and deeper into the upper levels.

"There are paths with differing speeds," Lucille explained. "In general the ones at the innermost right are the fastest." Eden started as a couple of ghosts zoomed past, a blur of movement to her eyes. "They're for staff who desperately need to get to their customers. You need to learn to get off them without hurting yourself, and you will but not now. At the moment, you should only take the slowest path to be safe."

"This is the slowest?" Eden gasped as she held on tightly to Lucille. It was moving a little too fast for comfort and she wished they had handrails.

Lucille giggled. "Don't worry you'll get used to it! There are also multiple doors for us to get to where we want to go. I'll tell you about them, but for now, you don't have to worry about it!"

Lucille pointed to the doors situated at the sides of the moving auto walk. Eden gaped at the tiny little gnome carried a huge roasted whale in one hand, watching as he hopped off the moving walkway and escaped via a huge automated door. She yelped as Lucille pulled her off the walkway and she stumbled shakily behind the fairy.

"We're here!"

Lucille threw her hands back to gesture to the black door. Eden frowned glancing at the gold symbols on the dark wood. It was very different from the automated translucent doors in its foreboding colour and detail. Instead of a doorknob, there was a handprint scanner put in place for maximum security.

"This is the door to your customers at the Moon Ice hot spring," Lucille explained. She bounced over to the wall right beside the door. Lucille pressed a finger to the panel, and it lit up with a soft blue glow. "You can come by here to request for things they need. We have staff stationed 24/7. Just select what they need and confirm your order. Everything will be tied to your fingerprint so we know that it's you and we can get it to you in time."

She demonstrated, placing an order for iced water. There was a soft ringing sound from the panel and Eden inhaled sharply as the glass simply appeared right before Lucille, hanging in the air atop a silver tray. The fairy took the tray, handing the glass to Eden who took a shaky sip of water.

"Whatever you order will appear in front of you wherever you are. It'll be transported to you even when you're running to get to a customer, so that should be pretty handy. You can also click on the intercom to request for anything." Lucille pointed to the panel and Eden noted the bell symbol.

"There are panels like these situated all over the place. They will be marked by the symbol of our bathhouse. You will just have to slide your fingers over the symbol to unlock it." Lucille turned the panel off and Eden noted the tiny golden, gilded moon symbol on the wall. How convenient.

"You'll be able to hear the customer's bell when they need you which should sound like—"

The tinkle of hundreds of wind chimes rung out from the distance. It was a soft sweet sound that reminded her of bells in the wind. But while the sound was soft, it seemed to surround and pull at her feet, calling for her to move towards a certain direction.

"That!" Lucille nodded. "Okay, long you have to go," she urged, pushing her to the door, and pulling it open for her. "Just remember that if the symbols are beside a wall, there's usually a hidden staff door!"

"G-go? But Lucille—"

"Perfection Eden, perfection! Just do what you've been taught as a bathing attendant!"