In the morning, Sera opened her eyes and got out of bed.
She was the only one in the room.
Neither Arturia nor Val was anywhere to be found.
Sera left the room and went downstairs to the inn’s private bathing area.
She entered the women’s bathhouse and enjoyed some time alone.
There was no one else there besides her.
“There’s a warm pool here?
I didn’t know they had something like this.” She slowly immersed herself in the warm water.
A small fountain continuously poured warm water from a serpent statue attached to the wall.
“This is really comfortable.
It reminds me of when I was little.
My mother used to prepare warm water for me during winter, although she had to burn wood and put a lot of effort into doing it.” Sera submerged herself in the warm pool, leaving only her mouth and nose above the water so she could breathe.
Outside, several children were playing near the bathhouse.
They were chasing one another when they stopped in front of the entrance.
One of them pointed at the signs indicating the men’s and women’s bathhouses.
Then they switched the signs before running away.
Val had just returned from outside.
After making sure no one else was in the room, he climbed in through the window.
He had entered that way so no one would notice him.
He quickly changed out of his costume and put on his ordinary clothes, but then he noticed that his body odor was unpleasant.
“Doing too much in one night made me sweat.” He eventually left the room and headed downstairs toward the inn’s public bathhouse.
Without thinking too much about it, he entered what he believed to be the men’s bathhouse.
Not long afterward, one of the inn’s staff members passed by the entrance and noticed that the signs had been switched.
The staff member corrected them before leaving with an annoyed sigh.
“Hah, it must have been those children earlier.
I should nail those signs down instead of hanging them like that.” Val removed his clothes in the changing room before entering the bathing area.
Without thinking much about anything, he cleaned himself and then entered the warm pool after noticing that the inn had one.
“It’s been a long time since I last experienced a hot bath.
The last time was when I went on vacation near the foot of a mountain,” he muttered quietly.
Val immersed himself in the warm water, leaving only his head above the surface.
He didn’t realize that Sera was soaking in the pool right beside him.
Meanwhile, Arturia had just returned from outside.
She was sweating after exercising and training early in the morning.
As a knight, this had become part of her daily routine.
The habit was deeply ingrained in her life, even when she wasn’t on duty.
Because she was sweating, she decided to visit the inn’s bathhouse.
Arturia entered and removed her clothes.
The black cracks running from her navel down to her thighs became visible.
Afterward, she entered the bathing area.
When she noticed the warm pool, she immediately decided to soak in it.
‘Sera…
and who’s that black-haired woman?’ Arturia didn’t notice Val on her right.
Or rather, she assumed Val was a woman because of his long hair.
The three of them soaked in the pool together without realizing that one man was sharing the bath with them.
“This feels wonderful,” Arturia said, genuinely enjoying the warm bath after her training.
“You’re here too?
You’re right.
This really does feel wonderful,” Sera replied.
The two of them spoke without looking at each other.
At first, Val didn’t pay much attention to their conversation.
But the moment he realized where he was, his eyes immediately opened.
He turned to his left.
Arturia was there.
He turned to his right.
Sera was there.
Val stared straight ahead with his usual expressionless face.
‘I’m dead.’ Calm on the outside but panicking on the inside.
That was exactly what Val was experiencing.
He couldn’t quietly escape because the three of them were sitting extremely close to one another.
Val had no opportunity to run.
So, he decided to simply surrender, put an end to this chaos, and accept whatever consequences followed—even though none of this had been his intention from the beginning.
“You’re right.
This really does feel wonderful.” The moment Val’s voice reached them, Sera and Arturia froze before turning toward him.
“Hm?” “Y-You?!” Arturia immediately moved away slightly, her face turning red as she covered herself with both arms.
“I didn’t think you were this much of a pervert.” Sera also moved away, her face becoming slightly red.
“Wait a minute.
When I came in, the sign clearly said this was the men’s bathhouse.
It looks like someone switched them as a prank.” Val desperately explained himself so the two women wouldn’t immediately punish him.
And his explanation happened to be completely true because the children had switched the signs.
“Are you telling the truth?” Sera asked suspiciously.
“I’m not someone who goes looking for trouble.” Sera looked at Val’s expressionless face.
There wasn’t the slightest sign of attraction or interest on his face, but she still wasn’t completely convinced.
“You don’t look interested, but I’m still not convinced.
Show me something else.” “What am I supposed to do?” “My mother once told me that when men are attracted to women, something in their bodies reacts.” “Sera!
What did you just say?!” Arturia couldn’t believe those words had come out of Sera’s mouth.
“It was just part of the lessons my mother taught me about adult matters when I was little.” ‘I want to know why Sera’s mother taught her that when she was still a child.
I know that kind of knowledge can be important, but it still feels strange.’ Val couldn’t help feeling curious.
Val sighed.
“I’ll leave immediately before this causes any more problems.” Val stood up and exposed his body without any cover.
Arturia immediately turned around so she wouldn’t see Val’s body.
Sera, however, simply looked at him normally.
Val walked out of the public bathhouse, leaving the two of them behind.
He felt relieved that neither Arturia nor Sera had punished him, while his face remained as expressionless as ever.
“He wasn’t lying.
There was no reaction at all.” They both understood exactly what Sera was referring to.
“But I didn’t expect him to be that big.” “Sera!
Let’s stop talking about this and change the subject!” Arturia desperately tried to change the conversation, her face completely red.
Elsewhere, inside an abandoned building, countless people lay scattered across the floor, with weapons strewn everywhere.
Goutte stood among several of her companions as they examined the scene.
“Someone attacked one of our bases.” Goutte walked toward one of her comrades lying on the floor and checked whether they were still alive.
The people accompanying her did the same.
“Are there any casualties?” Goutte asked.
“None at all, Lady Goutte.
But their conditions are quite serious.
I doubt they’ll be able to continue with our plan.” “Tch.
Was it the city’s military?
No…
they wouldn’t leave the targets alive and abandon them like this.
Did another group attack us?” “M-Milady…” One of the people standing near Goutte tried to tell her something.
“Hey, what is it?
What happened?” “Th-that person…
M-Monster.” “Who?
Who are you talking about?” Goutte remained calm and tried to gather information about whoever had done this.
The scene returned to the previous night.
Several witches and armed men lay scattered across the floor.
Standing in the middle of the chaos was a man wearing a black cloak and a skull mask.
His crimson eyes glowed in the darkness of the poorly lit building.
One witch remained conscious.
She was completely alone.
She was afraid.
Terrified.
It felt as though she were facing something she had feared her entire life.
“W-What do you want?!” There was no response.
The cloaked man slowly approached her.
The witch was so terrified that she couldn’t move her body.
She couldn’t even use her powers to defend herself.
“D-Damn it…” She desperately tried to move, but her body seemed to refuse to obey her commands.
“W-Who are you?” The man grabbed her face and whispered something into her ear.
“I am…” After that, the witch’s vision was swallowed by complete darkness.
Back in the present, Goutte asked again.
“Who did this?” “D-…
Dreamless.” The witch spoke the name in absolute fear.