Lilia's Tale

Chapter 27: Pond

Finding where we were headed was surprisingly simple, as the building housing the pond was significantly larger than the others. It brought back bad memories of the abandoned facility that exploded because of me, but I managed to hold onto myself.

I was mostly reassured when I saw that the building was properly cleaned and tended to. We entered and were greeted by a person behind a desk, telling us to come over.

"Welcome to Pat's Pond! Are you planning on taking a swim?"

"Yes," Father replied. "However, it is our first time, so we don't know much about the place."

"It's very simple. There is a small fee for entering, but you are allowed to stay as long as you want until we close. After having paid for your entry, you will go into our changing rooms, one for men and one for women, and take a short shower, before entering the main building, where the pond is," she started, before taking a look at me. "We even have a kid's pond, for the lady here."

"Is there a different price for using either pond?" I asked, somewhat irritated at being taken for a child.

"No, there isn't. They are both in the same room, so you can be looked after by your family," she replied with an obnoxiously sweet voice.

"Then, how many people are in the pond at the moment?" I added.

"I am afraid I cannot tell you that."

"Then, can you at least tell us if there are other people?" Father added.

"That I can tell you. There currently are other people, yes."

Both Father and Kyo suddenly looked at me, as if to ask me to make a decision. I knew it was either the pond or the bath, and that people were waiting so I had to be quick. I thought about it as much as I could in as little time as I could give myself, and decided.

"I think we should go in."

"Since she wants to go in, we will. What is the fee for entry?"

"Two copper per person. For children under twelve, the price is reduced to a single copper."

"So that's five coppers for us, since Lilia is ten."

Father paid, and both Father and Kyo went right, while I was instructed by the person in the counter to go left. She asked if I knew how to go in just fine, and I replied I would find my way around. I thanked her and headed for the changing room.

The way was a single corridor, with a single door at the end, so finding my way wasn't an issue. However, when I entered, I was quite surprised at how modern things looked. There were about ten metallic boxes lined up on what looked like a large wooden box on the ground on each side of the room. Three boxes were locked out of the twenty in the room, so I picked a random one, put my stuff in it, and undressed.

I felt filthy staying in underwear, and even more filthy wearing a bra, but I resigned myself to it being this society's standards. I closed the box after putting everything inside. Upon closing the box, I noticed a name appear on the front, writing "Lilia".

I found this system to be quite convenient, but didn't ponder on it any further as I headed for the next room. It looked like a hallway, so I walked through without thinking. However, as I nonchalantly strolled through the place, I was suddenly showered. It surprised me, and I slipped, falling backwards.

I wasn't hurting from the fall, so I looked up and noticed the whole ceiling had a grid-like metallic pattern, showering water down. I figured that's what they meant with "shower" and I simply moved on to the next door.