Gleam [Karma Cultivator Isekai] - Chapter 67: Golden

The bath was hotter than Chance had been expecting. It was little more than a large hot spring surrounded by tall wooden walls. Towles hung draped over hooks all along the wall, and there were several rows of wooden cubbies to put his clothes and belongings in while he was bathing.

Chance elected to keep his case of medicinal pills and money with him. It wasn’t worth risking someone stealing it while he was distracted.

He’d never used a bath like this one before, but he quickly found that he enjoyed it. The water was just a few steps below scalding, but it felt fantastic after he got used to the surprising temperature. His Essence-enforced body also seemed to handle the heat much better than he had been expecting.

He kept an arm on the ground behind him, his hand wrapped around the handle of his case. His eyes slowly drifted closed as the relaxation spread throughout his body.

A splash shook him out of his reverie. Chance’s eyes snapped open and he bolted upright as a barrel chested man stepped into the water across from him. The man towered three heads over Chance. His tanned face was crisscrossed with scars and framed by a bushy black beard. He cocked an eyebrow at Chance’s expression.

“Whoops. Sorry about that,” Chance said. “I didn’t see you coming in.”

“Hard to keep your head about you when you’re in a hot bath. I understand it,” the man replied, sinking lower into the water. He let out a slow sigh and dunked his head beneath the pool, coming up a few seconds later and wiping his eyes clear.

After a moment of watching him, Chance relaxed and let a smile cross his face. He let the warmth seep into his muscles.

“You aren’t from here,” the man said after several minutes, breaking the stillness of the moment.

“Just passing through.” Chance cracked an eye open. “How’d you know?”

“Brought your travel case with you.”

“Ah,” Chance said, glancing over at it. “Yeah, I suppose that’s a bit of a giveaway. Are you from here?”

“No.”

“Ah. How long have you been here? You seem to know a bit about hot springs.”

“Hot springs are hot springs.”

Why are you going to start a conversation if you answer questions like this?

Chance nodded sagely, then tried to relax again.

“You a cultivator?”

“Yeah,” Chance replied. “In training, I suppose.”

“No such thing as training. Either you are, or you aren’t.”

“Then I guess I am,” Chance said. “Are you?”

“Yes.”

Chance waited to see if the man would say anything else. He didn’t. Repressing a confused frown, he sank lower into the water. Even with the strange conversation, the hot springs were really refreshing.

I wonder if Gleam had anything like this. I bet a lot of people would pay good money for this.

Before he knew it, he realized that nearly an hour had passed. The pads of his fingertips were wrinkled and his hair had gotten soaked from the thick steam even though he hadn’t dipped it beneath the water.

The man quietly rose and stepped out of the pool. Despite his size, Chance could barely hear his footfalls as he left. It struck Chance that it was probably about time for him to head off as well.

He shuffled over to the towels and dried himself off, then grimaced. His clothes were still dirty. Glancing from them to the water, Chance grabbed everything and gave it a quick dunk, scrubbing them as best as he could. He started to wring everything out, trying to get as much of the water out as possible.

Better damp than dirty.

As he did one last cursory check to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, a tiny golden flash caught his eye. A small glass vial laid beneath a discarded towel, the pill just barely visible within it.

Chance glanced around, but the hot springs were empty. He walked up to the towel and knelt, picking the vial up. The pill inside looked like it were made of pure gold. While there were a lot of things that might have meant, Chance was pretty sure they all resulted in it being expensive.

“Lucky me,” Chance muttered.

The big dude only just left. I can probably catch him if I hurry.

Chance threw his damp clothes on and darted out of the bathhouse. The old woman smiled at him as he emerged back into the main room.

“Did you enjoy your stay?”

“Yeah,” Chance replied, ruffling his hair to try to get it out of his eyes and into shape. “It was fantastic. Did you happen to see a large man? I think he forgot something.”

“He just left. Your friend hasn’t come out yet, though.”

“That’s fine,” Chance said. “I’ll be right back. Thank you!”

He jogged out the door, then glanced both ways. The man was tall, so he was pretty sure it shouldn’t be too difficult to spot him in the fairly empty city. Sure enough, Chance spotted him strolling down the road just a short distance away.

“Hey!” Chance called, running after the man and waving a hand to try to get his attention.

The man turned, his bushy brows furrowing when he spotted Chance.

“What?”

“Did you happen to forget something in the bath house?” Chance asked, coming to a stop in front of him.

The man cocked his head to the side. He patted his pockets, then frowned. “So I did.”

“Could you tell me what it was?” Chance asked, keeping the vial cupped in his hand. “Just so I make sure it’s yours.”

A second of silence passed. Chance held the man’s stare as it hardened, not budging an inch.

“Pill vial. Golden.”

Chance grinned and handed the vial over. “Great. I didn’t mean to put doubt on you, I just couldn’t have known for sure. It would have sucked if the wrong person got it back. It’s owner would have been pretty pissed.”

The large man studied Chance for several seconds, his dark eyes boring into the boy. “What would you have done if I could not have described it?”

“Brought it back. What else?”

The corner of the man’s lip quirked up and he grunted. “What else indeed.”

He turned on his heel and strode off. Chance headed back to the bathhouse, arriving just as Bella emerged from the women’s side. She raised a hand in greeting, then shook her head in amusement.

“Forgot to wash your clothes before getting in?”

“Yup. At least they aren’t dirty anymore.”

“True enough,” Bella agreed. “We should go get set up at an inn.”

They both thanked the old woman and headed back out into the streets.

“How was the bath?” Bella asked.

“Fantastic. Does Gleam have places like that?”

“I’m sure it does somewhere. You should ask Ocie,” Bella replied with a grin. “But I’ve never found anything as good as this one. I used to always look forward to going to it.”

“Used to? Why’d you stop?”

Bella’s smile faded. “I think I see an inn.”

Chance took the hint and fell silent as they walked up to the building that Bella had indicated. It was a quaint, two story building built alongside the town circle. Chance could make out several wooden tables distributed within it, and a small open kitchen on the far left behind a counter.

A bell above the door tinkled as they stepped inside, and the lone person sitting at the tables glanced in their direction. He clearly wasn’t impressed by what he saw, because he turned back to his bowl of stew immediately after.

“Welcome to the inn,” a thin man said, rising up from behind the counter and nearly making Chance jump. The man had been completely hidden behind it. “Looking for a place to spend the night? Or just food?”

“Both, please,” Bella replied. She paused for a moment. “Just the inn? No name?”

“Oh, we never bothered with it,” the bartender said with a chuckle. “No other inns in the town, so there really wasn’t much need for a name. We’ve got stew tonight if that suits you. If it doesn’t, there’s some bread and cheese in the back.”

“Stew sounds great,” Bella said.

“How much for it?” Chance asked, nodding in agreement.

“How many rooms do you need?”

“One is fine,” Bella replied. Chance glanced at her but didn’t contest anything.

“Two silver for the meal and the bed, then.”

Chance fished the coins out and handed them to the bartender, beating Bella by a second. She rolled her eyes and tucked her own money back into her bag. The bartender dug an old key out of his belt and handed it to Chance.

“Room three, halfway down the second floor,” he said. “I’ll have your food right out.”

He turned around and strode up to a big iron pot resting above a crackling flame. Grabbing two bowls with one hand, he ladled several large spoonful’s of stew into them with the other.

The bartender swept up to the nearest table and set them down, then procured two spoons and handed them over.

“Thank you,” Chance and Bella said. They sat down at the table.

“Is there anything of interest happening right now?” Bella asked as the man turned to leave. “We’re just passing through, and I’d prefer to avoid getting caught up in any trouble.”

“Oh, there’s always something. We’re not in one of the Great Cities, and the roads only get more dangerous the farther you get from Gleam. Do you know where you’re headed yet?”

“Not exactly,” Bella admitted. “We’re kind of just wandering.”

“I remember doing much of the same in my youth,” the bartender said wistfully. “Alas, no longer. The wife wouldn’t have it. Probably for the best. I don’t care to think about the number of times I nearly died. If you’re just wandering, I’d suggest heading toward Brokespire. It’s a nice little town, and much more active than this one.”

“How are the roads?” Bella asked.

“No more or less dangerous than the others in the area. I’d suggest joining up with some other travelers, but I think it would fall on deaf ears if you got this far on your own. There are also some bandits in the area. The Redhands, if I recall their name correctly. They haven’t bothered us much, but there’s a bit of a bounty on their heads, so they clearly aren’t pushovers.”

“Bandits?” Chance asked, surprise. “Seriously?”

“It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?” the bartender asked, shaking his head sadly. “We’ve already got enough difficulty with monsters. There’s just no need to add other humans into the equation. But, as I said, they really haven’t bothered anyone too much from what I know. I reckon they’ll leave a couple of kids well enough alone.”

I feel like a couple of kids would be prime targets for a bandit. What kind of backward logic is this?

“Thanks again,” Bella said. “We appreciate it. How long was the trip to Brokespire again?”

“Roughly six hours. It’s fairly close. You shouldn’t have any trouble getting there in a day.”

The bartender headed back over to his counter, and Chance took the opportunity to dig into his food. It was good. Not the best he’d ever had – but nothing to complain about either. It probably would have been better if his body wasn’t still so warm from the hot spring.

“So we’re headed there next?” Chance asked once they’d both finished eating.

“Might as well. It’s as good a direction as any,” Bella replied. “And, if I recall correctly, it’s on the road toward another Scholar City.”

“Oh, that’s convenient,” Chance said. “Is it far?”

Bella laughed. “Oh yeah. Not even close. If two massive cities were set up right next to each other, they’d probably end up competing until one of them got destroyed. I’ve heard that’s what happened much earlier on, actually. There used to be a lot more on Centurion, but they basically either joined together or destroyed each other until only a few remained.”

“That’s… kind of depressing.”

“A bit,” Bella admitted. She pointed her spoon at Chance. “But it also means that the Scholar Cities are the amalgamation of everything humanity has to offer. They’re also far safer than the rest of the world. Don’t forget that part.”

Chance nodded. “Yeah. It’s on my mind.”

Bella put her spoon down and stood up. “Well, we might as well go look at our room to see how it looks.”