“Atharemine's thermal baths are certainly worth any traveller's attention. Though, I realized long ago that the reputation of the baths exceeds the truth. All sorts of men come to the baths because they imagine naked, flustered ladies and steamy encounters, because they picture the skin, the sweat and the red flushes, but they end up crushed under the heavy weight of reality and disappointment. The main clientele of the baths is, unsurprisingly, the male gender. Old, hairy men and overexcited pink teenagers, indeed. Most are here for the same unsavoury reason, unfortunately. They travel to another country, only to go to the baths, expecting to trip on some girl, sending her towel flying and conveniently groping some random body part as they fall, or something like that. Little do they know that there are rigorous schedules for gender rotation, precisely to avoid such events. But they don't bother to inquire about that. They read too many novels, probably, as I once did. Literature will be the bane of us, I tell you.

-rant, thermal baths regular”

* * *

Erin

“Mmh, they certainly do follow us around,” Azcheron remarked, though Erin was perfectly aware too. Ever since the city watch's captain, Saraela, had provided them with these armoured attendants the day before, they hadn't found a moment to themselves until now. They even had guards posted at their door while they slept in a place that had more to do with a cell than a room.

“I'm glad they have at least the decency not to stay around in the baths,” she replied as they walked through the corridors of the thermal baths. Azcheron was overjoyed. It wasn't anything new to Erin, since they had the same in the Empire, but it was something mainly reserved for the aristocracy, and so the Saint hadn't had the pleasure to experience this convenient technology. She wasn't even sure he had heard of it before.

The thermal baths were much more popular in the Free Cities, apparently. It probably had something to do with the highly advanced system of aqueducts, the magical water pumps and the thermal activity of the underground, all of which made the building of these baths much easier. Atharemine's technology wasn't that developed compared to the Imperial Capital, but you could certainly say the two cities' use of magic and technology went in different directions. The Free Cities boasted a people-friendly technology, as opposed to the Empire's focus on siege weaponry and military technology. Well, the Imperial Capital had that weather shield enhancing the everyday life during the harsh seasons, but overall the north was first in the race for comfort and lifestyle.

Maybe that's where the propaganda regarding the demons' tendency for debauchery, vice and leisure, comes from ?

“Well, I, for one, am glad that they even let us bath at all. Can you imagine us coming to the demon lord's name-day with our stinking clothes and bloodied faces ?”

“I took you for someone who didn't care about etiquette and manners.”

Azcheron clicked his tongue. “You're supposed to be the one talking about being clean and proper, anyway. You... damn lady. How come you're not bothered by the dirt under your fingernails and the stench of sweat ?”

She shrugged. “Guess I'm a bandit too ?”

Still, a bath do us good. The place looks rather nice. I'm surprised, actually, I didn't expect deserters to be granted such a privilege. The watch even emptied the whole building for us. Courtesy of captain Saraela, maybe ?

They arrived at the baths. Steam clouded Erin's view, and only a faint beam of light came through the small glass window, but she could make the shape of the large square pools. She took off her clothes and jumped in, the dirt and blood detaching from her body, floating away as she enjoyed the burning water.

“We should ask Anton to have a similar thing installed in his home, don't you think ?” Azcheron said as he stepped in the bath too. “I could use a thermal bath or two after a day of teaching idiots about raw mana.”

“What, so that Tania can faint from being over-flustered when she sees the both of us bathing ?”

“Hah ! Now that's a-”

“No,” Erin scolded him. “A bad idea, that's what it is.”

“Why does that sort of thing always happen in Anton's novels then ?”

She sighed and leaned backwards, letting her half-submerged body float. “I don't know which possibility is worst : whether he purposely gave you the poorest literature he could find, or if he honestly believed his books were good.”

“But they are good, aren't they ?” Azcheron wondered innocently. “It's the world that's wrong, I think.”

Huh ? The hell does that mean...

“Well, forget about the thermal baths in Anton's house,” she dismissed his idea with a wave of her hand. “He would never accept something like that anyway, he doesn't even allow us to lit the fireplaces.”

“True. Then I'll use the Palace's baths, I guess.”

She lifted her head and stared at him, not sure if he was serious or not. She wouldn't be surprised if he was, though.

“I wonder what the Emperor's baths look like. They're probably twice the size of these ones.”

“Hmm.” He came floating next to her, and they both gazed at the ceiling through the steam. “You know we would have access to the lord's baths right now if we had revealed your name. It's not too late. I'm sure they'd want the lady Verald to be as comfortable as she wishes for.”

“They'd want to put me in chains, you mean. I would be the perfect hostage if they learned of my name. From their perspective, anyway. We can't very much explain to them that Karia won't care about hostages because we specifically tricked her into acting that way. Hah... You buried us in a thick layer of lies, I'm not sure we can keep deceiving everyone for long...”

“That's why we have to gain the demon lord's favour before they grow suspicious of us.”

She turned her head slightly to see him also looking at her. “You sound disappointed. Thinking about the tournament they mentioned ?”

“I wish you could have taken part in in.”

“We should have come sooner then. It's your adventuring episode that slowed us down.”

“Well, I find it insulting that they didn't accept your last-minute participation,” he complained. “You defeated Kalithazar in single combat after all, they can't very much afford to refuse you the honour of smashing everyone in a contest !”

“That's how it is, no point in brooding. We've been invited to watch it, at least.”

“I know. We'll have to use our cover and our knowledge about Karia to pique the lord's interest... But winning a tournament would have been flashier.”

“Had I taken part, would you have cheered for me ?” she asked in a fake imploring tone.

He laughed. “Hah, who do you take me for ? I would have given you the loudest cheer the continent had ever heard.”

* * *

Erin leaned on the balcony's ledge as she observed the clashing warriors from the upper floor.

A knight wearing a black cloak slammed his iron mace against a soldier's breastplate, making a crushing sound and probably breaking a few bones under it. The soldier was thrown on the ground, and could barely put his wooden shield up as the knight came upon him, hammering his weapon on him. The shield was shredded to pieces, and finally the man surrendered. “I yield ! Stop !”

The black knight put the visor of his helm up, revealing a ginger beard, then raised his arms, as the herald proclaimed his victory. “The victor of this duel is lieutenant Vraxil, of the city watch !”

The spectators cheered. Erin looked around, to see all sorts of people both in the courtyard around the arena, and in the balconies. Ranging from squires, smiths and peasants, to wealthy merchants, officials and high-borns.

“So, how good are the demon knights ?” Azcheron asked from behind. Erin turned around to see him still seated at their table, surrounded by the dozen of guards, nonchalantly sipping wine from a gilded cup. He had an atrociously arrogant posture, and with the escort around him, the fancy cup and the usual eerie smile, Erin would have thought he was the demon lord if she didn't know any better.

“This Vraxil guy is alright, but not as good as me,” she said as she looked back toward the courtyard. Seeing that the next duellists were still preparing themselves and hadn't stepped in the arena yet, she let her gaze wander around the castle. She felt somewhat uncomfortable, with all these unknown faces. At least in the capital, she knew the nobility. She hated them, of course, but it was always a boon to know the names of the people you hated, and the rumours about them.

Erin glanced at the largest balcony, shaded by some red clothes hung above it, protecting the demon lord of the afternoon sun that gave an unusual warmth here in the north. She could still make out his face however, thin and pale, contrasting with his long raven hair. His lips formed into a confident smirk as he seemed to have noticed something of interest in the courtyard. She looked down where he was staring, and understood why.

The herald announced the next competitors. “Mercenary Rudolph, and captain Saraela, of the city watch !”

The crowd cheered loudly at the mention of the captain's name. She really is popular here, eh ? So it's true that she's the daughter of the well-liked demon lord. Erin sighed. This is the kind of important thing I wish I knew beforehand, especially when I'm letting Azcheron negotiate our entry in cities...

Hmm ? Rudolph ?

Erin turned to Azcheron, who was already approaching her, raising a brow. He had also heard.

“Now, now, don't we know that one ?” he said, as he observed Saraela's opponent. They just had time to see the slicked back hair and the badly shaved jaw before it all disappeared under a fully enclosed helm, but they were sure of it. It was Rudolph indeed, whom they had last seen when they returned from the western expedition.

Azcheron frowned. “That's curious.”

“I think so too.” Wasn't Rudolph supposed to be one of Ravilna's men ? Why would he join Atharemine's side ? Unless...

“Let's be careful around him. We don't know his motives yet.”

She nodded. Maybe he was here on his own accord, maybe he had been sent on a 'mission' or something similar to what Erin led Karia to believe. Maybe the countess was just being herself and had sent one of her men to cause chaos ?

A horn was blown and the duel started. Rudolph, clad in black-painted plate, took a stance with his longsword, while Saraela, having only mail under a brigandine, a sword and a small shield, began to circle him. Strangely, her gear wasn't so different from that of the bandits she seemed to despise so much. Well, it would probably anger her if someone pointed it out.

They exchanged a few blows, but both kept a safe distance. Saraela was trying to keep the sun at her back, as to blind Rudolph who had already a poor visibility because of his helmet, while aiming for the gaps and the joints to disturb his balance.

“She's smart. And fast. This is like Erin versus Kalithazar, round two !” Azcheron exclaimed, attracting a few stares from the guards and the spectators close enough to hear him. The bandit must have been really infamous.

“Well, it's the basics,” Erin commented. “If you're not going to wear armour, you better make good use of the environment and everything you've got. There's no point otherwise.”

Azcheron nodded furiously with a wide smile. The hell are you doing ? And you know these things... You also use the environment when you fight with magic.

“Keep commenting, master Erin,” he whispered. “Please, enlighten this crowd of fools with the science of swordsmanship.”

She exhaled deeply. “You... really like swordsmanship.”

“I also like it when you talk about swordsmanship.”

“Hm !” She smirked and focused back on the duel. Nothing worthy of awe had happened, they were just fencing nicely. Saraela was cautious and quick, but Rudolph too was fighting very carefully, which, added to his armour, must have made him a very annoying opponent. An annoying defender against a harassing attacker, however...

“Saraela will lose,” Erin said casually. Of course, a large number of glares immediately fell upon her. The captain of the city watch was the favourite of the tournament, she was fast and skilled, she couldn't possibly lose to an outsider, a clodhopper in armour, and what's more, from the Empire ! Oh, but she will.

“I would have bet on her.” Azcheron leaned on the balcony's ledge and supported his head with his palm. “If we had money to spare. Saraela has speed, Rudolph only has his armour.”

“You mean, he has his armour, while she only has speed...”

Despite their different gears, Saraela was tiring at a faster pace than Rudolph. Because she had been circling and dodging, attacking and retreating quickly, while he just stood here, defending without too much trouble, taking a few steps back when necessary. It looked like he was being pressured, yet in truth it was Saraela who was in a dire situation.

“I thought speed was better ?”

“There's no point if you just jump around like a monkey, especially when you don't have the stamina. Having armour and strength will be enough to fend away most people. Why do you think soldiers started to wear plates and trained their body to wield heavy weapons ? It's a tried and tested method for killing people without getting killed in return.”

“What about you ? You won against Kalithazar and his armour, with your skill and speed only.”

Erin smirked. “That's because I'm better than most people.”

And she's not.

Saraela slashed at Rudolph as he suddenly stepped forward. Her sword hit vainly his armoured flank, and he simply locked her in that position, blocking her weapon and her hand against his flank with his own arm. Then he just punched her in the face with his free hand. Before she could get up, he was pointing his blade at her throat.

“...I yield,” she said, biting her bleeding lip.

The crowd wasn't cheering, oh, certainly not. They probably expected their young prodigy to win in a flashy way, instead they had a long, not very entertaining fight, which their champion ended up losing. Only a slow clap could be heard. It was Azcheron, of course, always in need of more glares. Erin wasn't sure whether it was Rudolph's win or Azcheron's clap that most angered the other spectators.

“And the victory goes to mercenary Rudolph,” the Saint spoke in a soft, mocking voice. Whispers and groans of discontentment echoed from the courtyard and the balconies. The herald seemed bewildered, but then again Erin couldn't know if the reason was because Saraela lost or because Azcheron stole his job. Congratulations, you managed to attract more attention than the winner himself.

Rudolph took his helmet off, revealing a smirk on his ageing face. He nodded toward Erin and Azcheron before leaving the duelling grounds. The man was probably at least in his forties, but he looked as if he had barely broken a sweat during this fight. I suppose you learn how to fight while managing your stamina, as you grow older.

She hadn't had the opportunity to see him fight when they explored the Desolate Lands – he rode his horse and fled the golems, mostly –, but he wouldn't have been selected by Ravilna for the expedition if his age was an issue for him. He used to be a bounty-hunter, he was bound to be resourceful and skilled, at least.

Erin glanced at the demon lord's balcony. She expected him to wear a displeased or disappointed expression, but he kept still on his seat, elbow on the armrest, head supported by his fist. An amused smile, and eyes full of curiosity pointed toward the conspicuous 'deserters' – his daughter had probably told him about them by now.

“What did you say about gaining the lord's favour, again ?” she whispered to the Saint.

“I think we did a good first impression. You managed to show off your knowledge about swordsmanship without even having to fight, and I managed to... hm...”

“To show off, period.”

“Precisely.”

The demon lord leaned toward a servant, who immediately disappeared into the castle. A few moments later, the servant arrived at Erin and Azcheron's balcony and spoke to them in a discreet but solemn voice.

“Lady Verald, Saint Azcheron.” Their eyes widened at the mention of their real identities. “Lord Sazael would like to invite you for dinner this evening, as guests of honour.”