The Witch's Relay

Chapter 18: Bathhouse

I flick the blood off my blade and sheath it. It took a solid eight passes until the snowboard finally collapsed, and then I finished it up with a stab through the neck artery.

I grab the dead boar by its tusks and pull it to the edge of the field, that way the farmer owning this land doesn't have to deal with it.

Once that is done, I pull my hunting knife from my pouch, and holding its mouth open I cut off the tusks as proof for the guild that I actually completed the task. After wiping the blood off in the grass I stuff the tusks into the same bag as my knife.

I stand up and wipe my brow with my sleeve. I should be able to kill at least four more today at this rate.

Fortunately snowboars are just as aggressive towards each other as to humans, so I will never encounter two of them together, which would have caused me some problems.

...

After having killed enough snowboars to be content I head back to the guild to collect my reward.

...

Out of breath I hand the guard at the city gate my guild-id card.

"Kade Adler." He hands it back. "Welcome back. Any reason you're in such a hurry? These gates don't close you know." He laughs.

I must be quite the silly sight looking all sweaty, ragged and with blood splattered on my closes. One would think that a random traveler caked in blood would be a suspicious sight, but really, it is a common sight to see adventurers like this. Minus the hurry that is.

I make myself smile and reply to him in the most humorous voice I can. "Haha, no, not really. Just hoping to have time for a bath before meeting a lady friend." I wink.

I seem to succeed because the guard laughs as he hands my card back to me. "Somehow with all this-" He pauses gesturing towards me. "I find that story a little unbelievable, but you tell me what you gotta do to keep your dignity. I ain't gonna judge."

I mirror his expressions and laugh with him. "You got me! Really, I was just trying to get some training in on my way back, in addition to being slightly impatient."

More travelers start filing up behind me, forcing my new acquaintance and I to have to part ways.

...

Walking through the guild's doors I notice a group- well, it would be harder to miss the group of adventurers gathered around the notice board in the left side of the main hall.

The notice board, not to be confused with the quest board, is just what it sounds like, a board where the guild posts notices and news. It is the most important source of information for both commoners and nobles regarding acquiring news from both within and without the kingdom.

I decide to ignore the crowd for now however, and head towards a different part of the guild-building, the bathhouse.

The bathhouse, which is reachable by walking through a door the the far left corner from the entrance, a little past the notice board. Once one enters through the first wooden door they will come across a small room with two more doors labeled "Gents" and "Ladies". Between the two doors is a counter, behind which a butler with white hair and in a black suit, standing next to a rack of towels.

"Baldwin. How do you do?" I politely nod my head to the butler.

There are two butlers and a maid in charge of running the bathhouses, and below them are a number of "lads and lassies", as they would say, who help out in exchange for spare coin.

"I am well. And you young sir?" The way he speaks somehow gives off the air that he should be in charge of a wealthy household, or an expensive restaurant at least rather than a bathhouse.

"Doing just fine." I send a smile his way thinking he deserves it.

He hands me a towel and I proceed through the "Gents" door and strip down to just a towel. My clothes and weapons go onto an empty slot on a shelf.

Proceeding forward though the very last door I finally reach a room containing a single large heated bath, and along the walls are cold showers which you are expected to use before entering it.

There are already a few men in the bath, but everyone pretty much just ignores each other except for two men who seem to be close friends locked in eager conversation.

Once all cleaned up, I get out, dry up, and head towards the main hall to claim my reward as well as see what the commotion by the notice board is all about.

...

"Hello, I am here about the snowboar extermination quest." I place my pouch containing the tusks on the counter.

"Aalright, looks good. Oh wow! six snowboars in a day!? Thats pretty impressive. That'll be three gold coins. Not a bad payday." The clerk I think named.. Caroline? says placing the payment on the tray.

"Thank you." I reply receiving the coins.

"You're Kade right?" She asks without waiting for an answer and continues. "Linda said to come meet her."

"Come meet her where?" I tilt my head.

"No idea." She seems to mentally roll her eyes. "She said you'd know where."

Hmm.. I'll have to think about that one.

"Well uhm, thanks I guess?"

"No problem. Have a nice evening." She picks up a pen and is instantly distacted writing something down, as I slowly turn away and push my way through the group of people which has shrunk a bit by now.

Time to find out what this news is all about.