The first thing they noticed about the building was that its ceiling was tall, and the walls and floor were made of some sort of white marble; notably the faint scent of steam could be felt all around. In front of them was a reception desk, and behind the desk, there were three doors leading to what he presumed were the bathing areas. Surprisingly enough, the whole place wasn’t crowded as he had expected, as a matter of fact, it was fairly empty. But he didn’t mind that, at least, that was one worry out of the way.

A bored looking man wearing glass sitting at the desk was tending the establishment.

As Beowulf approached him, the clerk gave him a scrupulous look.

“Well aren’t you an odd one?” he said with bemused tone in his voice.

“Hmm?” Beowulf looked at him with questioning eyes.

“Uh, nothing. It’s just that, it’s a tradition that people bathe in the morning on the day of the festival. At evening, everyone is out there celebrating”, he explained. “I’d like to go and make merry too”, he sighed. “But I’m stuck here, tending to my oldman’s place”.

“What is the rate?” Beowulf inquired, not responding to the clerk’s woes.

“Five coins for Men’s hall and ten coins for the mixed bathing hall”, he laid out the prices. “Which one do you want?”

“Men’s”, he said without sparing a thought and handed him five silver coins.

“Alright in you go, it’s the door to the right. You get the entire bathing hall to yourself and that’s rare in Entradel”, he moved the coins around in the palms of his hand, making a distinct noise.

Well, technically he was not by himself.

As he was about to enter the bathing hall, he noticed something was amiss.

Hold on.

Where was the damn leopard?

Azlan glanced at his left and saw it heading to another direction.

“Stop right there”, he said while grabbing its tail. “That’s the women’s bathing hall”.

[And?]

Wait a moment.

He technically didn’t know its gender.

“...Unless you’re a female”, Beowulf said with uncertainty.

[Please do not joke about that, I am a male. Can you not see that by my size, and I even went through the trouble of emulating a masculine voice.]

How the hell was Beowulf supposed to know the sizes of females and males of its kind?

“If you’re a male then you’re supposed to use the Men’s side”, Beowulf elaborated.

[I see. Humans bathe in segregated areas based on genders. We bathe together, males and females, in the pond on the mountain.]

Humans technically did bathe together, that was what the mixed bathing section was for. But Beowulf wasn’t going to open that can of worms by telling him that.

[Also, during the season of mat-]

Beowulf didn’t want to hear the continuation.

He went through the door, and was greeted by a changing room, he took off his dirty clothes and placed them on the floor, and put his newly bought clothes on the shelfs meant for keeping clothes. He would throw the dirty ones away on his way outside, after he was done.

Soaps were also lined up on an adjacent shelf. He grabbed one as he passed by, but stopped in his tracks and grabbed another one for the snow leopard.

At last, he opened the door of the bathing hall, and was greeted by three huge rectangular bathtubs, made out of ceramic tiles. One a few meters in front of the door, one on the left and one on the right.

Fresh water was pouring into them from a lion’s face sculpture.

Someone certainly had a taste for theatrics.

Beowulf wasted no moment and went into the one on the right.

He let out a satisfied sigh as he slowly submerged himself in the warm water.

The three claw marks on his cheeks stung but, otherwise this was soothing to his soul.

Hm?

He noticed that the being wasn’t moving after entering the hall. His claws were coming out from his paws and clutching the ground.

[The floor is slippery, I fear I may fall.]

“You won’t”, Beowulf gave an uncaring reply as he was using the soap on his body.

The leopard lowered his body as if he was amid stalking, took one step, then another and jumped into the bathtub on the left, resulting in a splash and causing some of the water inside to spill out.

[It is warm.]

Azlan held the soap he had grabbed earlier and threw it towards the Ghost, it dropped into the bathtub creating a plopping sound.

“Rub that on your body for cleanliness”, he explained.

He was somewhat curious about how the Ghost would rub it on his body. He would have no choice but to call Beowulf for help, resulting in being in his debt.

[Hm.]

Without wasting a moment, he roared with a low voice, and the water around him started to take a humanoid shape. The soap was floating in what appeared to be the figure’s hand, and it started to clean his body.

Beowulf had, without doubt, lost this one.

The rest of the bathing was fairly uneventful. They eventually got tired of being in the hall and exited after some time. The leopard shook his body and paws like a cat to shake off the excess water, meanwhile Azlan changed into his new clothes.

As they exited the changing room, he came to a sudden halt.

A woman was standing outside the women’s hall entrance, drying her hair.

The same woman from the inn.

Beowulf hadn’t noticed before due to her attire but now she was wearing a thin casual attire, and he could see that her naturally well-proportioned body was in quite a fit shape, likely due to her hard work of training.

He had been right about her, but now he was even surer.

Beauty is a matter of perspective and viewpoint, one person’s attractive may not seem attractive to another person and vice versa.

For Beowulf at least, this woman was both extremely alluring and deadly.

[Beowulf, you are staring too much. You will draw attention.]

Unbeknownst to himself, he had been starting at her.

However, the Ghost’s warning was too late.

She took notice of him, and after a moment, gave a smile.

And a captivating smile it was, for Beowulf knew it was a genuine smile.

He was used to seeing people smile, but those were usually business smiles, only meant for the moment, like the reception girl from the inn.

However, something felt off.

And he noticed it immediately, for she was no longer looking towards Azlan, but at the Ghost standing right next to him.

---------------------------------------------