Chapter 74: Interlude – M-monster!

In the heart of Valhalla City stood a 24-hour bathhouse. Old and run-down, built entirely of creaking wood, the bathhouse was cloaked in an eerie silence. Its door creaked open as we stepped inside. However, what welcomed us was an empty room.

“

Huh

? Looks like we’re the only ones here.”

“Well, it is pretty late.”

“True. We did drink for quite a while.”

It was already past midnight, closer to 1 a.m. This bathhouse was also just a humble, aging neighborhood joint, not a massive one that could host hundreds. At this hour, it was rare for anyone to still be soaking here.

I opened a glass door leading outside and saw a small open-air tub, steam curling into the night sky. “Oh hey, it even has an outdoor bath?”

“By the way, where’s Yuren?” Berald asked.

“He said he was heading to the bathroom a bit ago.”

“

Hmm,

you don’t think he ran away, do you?”

“

Pfft!

Who do you think I am? I figured he might pull something, so I hid his clothes in a different locker,” I replied.

“

Oho!

That’s our big bro!”

Honestly, I did wonder if we had forced him a little too hard. He clearly hadn’t wanted to come. But it was for his own good. In my past life, Yuren and I had spent a whole decade together. We were best friends, more like family. Yet, even then, I had always sensed a sort of wall around him. It wasn’t just that he liked being alone. The reason was deeper. It was a fear of letting people in, of opening his heart.

Sometimes, he would look at Berald and me goofing off, with this quiet envy in his eyes. Still, he would keep his distance. And I was not letting it happen again, not this time. I wanted to tear down even a part of that wall in this life.

As I was lost in thought, the bathhouse door opened again. Yuren entered, a towel clutched tightly around him. He glanced around nervously, like a kitten abandoned at a riverbank.

“A-are we the only ones here?” he asked.

“Yeah. The whole place is basically ours tonight,” I replied.

His tense expression softened just a little in relief. “R-really?”

I led him over to the outdoor bath where Berald was already waiting.

As I lowered myself into the steaming water, a pleasant shiver rippled down my spine. “

Aaah

, this hits the spot!”

My lower half warmed like I had sunk into a thick duvet, while my upper body, exposed to the chilly night air, tingled from the contrast. Soaking like this, beneath the open sky, I couldn’t come up with the words to express just how luxurious it felt.

“Man, I can feel all the fatigue melting away!” Berald said.

“Well, you did work the hardest this time around,” I replied.

Everyone had done their part, of course. But Berald had taken the lead in most of the fights, which made his role physically the most demanding.

“Come on now. What are you saying? The one who had it the roughest was Yuren, wasn’t it?” Berald said.

Yuren lifted his head in surprise. “M-me?”

He was huddled in a corner of the small outdoor tub. Honestly, the space he occupied was so small that calling it a corner was generous.

“From combat to strategy, you almost ran the whole show,” Berald said.

Yuren replied, “Well, I was at the front, so I kind of had to...”

“If that’s your logic, then you and I were both at the front.” Berald flashed him a grin and held out a fist. “Thanks. I learned a lot thanks to both of you.”

“Yeah.” Yuren slowly reached out and bumped his fist against Berald’s.

Berald then turned to me, “By the way, Dale, were you in another party before this?”

“Another party?” I asked.

“It just feels like the stuff you taught us came from someone with real experience.”

Experience, huh! If you count it that way, then yeah. I had been part of the best damn party imaginable

, I thought.

Nevertheless, I just smiled bitterly and shook my head. “Nah. I just taught what I picked up from the textbooks.”

“You saying that just makes it sound less believable.”

I waved it off with a smirk. “Shut up.”

“

Heh

. Well, either way, I’m really glad you’re with us.”

“Glad?”

Berald gave a self-deprecating chuckle, his sigh thick with frustration. “Who else would’ve taken in a loser like me? Over ten years of studying magic, and I still can’t properly cast a Mana Bullet.”

“Who says you can’t use magic?” I replied.

“

Huh

?”

“You cast that Stone Arrow or whatever just fine.”

“Well, yeah, but...”

I threw his words right back at him. “Remember what you said? ‘Any sufficiently advanced physical power is indistinguishable from magic.’”

Berald chuckled, his shoulders trembling slightly. “Thanks, Brother.”

With a wide grin, he clenched his fist. “All right! Now that I’ve got your seal of approval, I’ll go ahead and keep developing my brand of ‘magic’!”

“Go for it.”

That gloomy look didn’t suit Berald at all. The Berald Ryu I knew was a man who kept charging forward no matter how grim the odds.

Suddenly narrowing his eyes, Berald gave me a scrutinizing look. “

Hmmm

. That aside, Dale, have you been working out or something? Your body’s looking insanely good lately.”

“

Huh

?”

Berald stared in awe at my upper body, clearly recognizing the changes that had occurred when I had become a furnace. “I couldn’t tell while you were wearing clothes, but now? Damn! What the hell have you been eating?”

“Just... training hard, I guess,” I replied.

“

Mmm

. That kind of body doesn’t happen from training alone,” Berald said.

Maybe curious about what Berald was seeing, Yuren, who had been avoiding looking in my direction the whole time, finally glanced over. “What, is it that different?”

His eyes widened as if he had seen something unholy. “

H-huh

?”

His face turned bright red as he let out a string of breathy gasps. Right in the middle of that, I saw it; he gulped. He actually swallowed. It felt a little weird. No matter how I tried to spin it, having two other guys stare holes into my body was not a pleasant experience.

As I tried to look around for a distraction to change the subject, my eyes landed on something around Yuren’s neck. I asked, “What’s that pendant?”

“

Eh

? T-this?” Startled, Yuren quickly cupped the pendant in his hand, hiding it as if trying to shield it from view. “I-it’s... It’s my younger sister’s keepsake.”

“I see.”

He probably meant Yurina Helios, the girl who had died in that tragic accident eight years ago. The fact that he wore her keepsake now, nearly a decade later, was touching, even worthy of tears.

Yet, something felt off to me. Having known the Yuren of the future, I couldn’t help but tilt my head in doubt. I had never once seen him wear a pendant like that before. Ten whole years we had spent together in our past lives, and never, not once, did I see Yuren wear that so-called keepsake of his sister’s around his neck.

If I tried to think of a reason, he could have lost it before we became a party. Our graduation and the day we reunited in the same party were ten years apart, so he could have lost it in that period.

However, that was not like Yuren. This was the guy who still kept the uniform from his cadet days in pristine condition, folded and stored with care. And he lost something as precious as his sister’s memento? I couldn’t buy it.

Nevertheless, that was something for another life, in the future. Asking him about it now wouldn’t get me any answers. So, I let the curiosity melt away as I leaned back into the bath, enjoying the hot water soak into my skin and ease the fatigue.

That was when Berald perked up. “Oh, right! Brother, I saw before we came in, this place sells roasted eggs. Interested?”

“

Ooh

, must be run by a Republic native,” I replied.

Overhearing us, Yuren tilted his head in confusion. “Roasted eggs? Why would a bathhouse sell roasted eggs?”

“

Hah!

You country bumpkin. Just wait till you try one, you’ll be hooked,” I said with a grin, then turned to Berald.

As if he knew exactly what I was about to say, Berald sprang to his feet and shouted, “I’ll grab some right now! Just wait!”

“And get three cups of sikhye too,” I said.

“

Haha

! Of course!” He dashed off with a skip in his step.

Berald soon returned with a tray stacked with a basket of roasted eggs and three chilled cups of sikhye, a sweet Korean rice drink.

Eating inside a public bath was considered rude. But since we were the only ones there, it felt fine to do so. No one was here to complain.

And just like that, our surprise late-night snack party began.

Soon, Yuren’s eyes sparkled as he popped egg after egg into his mouth, alternating with big gulps of sikhye. He exclaimed, “T-this is delicious!”

“Right?”

He said, “Yeah! It’s so chewy, totally different from boiled eggs! And this sikhye drink! It’s so sweet!”

Seeing his reaction made me think I really was a Republic guy through and through. I remembered from my past life that around this time, it was trendy back home in the Republic to film exaggerated reactions of Empire or Holy Empire folk trying our food for the first time.

Honestly, now I kind of understood why we found it so damn entertaining.

After we finished the meal, we were full, warm, and satisfied. It was time to head back to the inn and get some rest.

“Well, shall we call it a night?” I asked.

“Haha. Okay, Brother!” Berald replied.

Yuren immediately nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

He seemed a little too eager, like he couldn’t wait to get out of here. It made me want to mess with him a bit more, but I held back. There was no need to push him too hard all at once. If breaking down emotional walls were easy, they wouldn’t be called walls in the first place.

“All right, then.” I stood up from the bath.

Suddenly, Berald let out a strangled cry. “

HUAAAH!

”

I turned toward him in confusion, only to find his eyes locked onto my lower half.

He said, “B-Brother, it’s not just your upper body that’s been training,

huh

?”

“Dude!”

Where the hell are you even looking, man?

He continued, “

Ahem

! I thought I was doing pretty well myself, but clearly the world has many hidden masters.”

I flipped him off. “Master, my ass!”

Standing to full height, I gave him a once-over, head to toe. Yeah, mine was bigger.

“

Ahem

.” Feeling a bit smug and awkward at the same time, I turned away from Berald and toward Yuren.

He just stood there, eyes wide, jaw slack, face glowing red like a boiled lobster. “

Ah!

”

“Yuren?” I said.

He didn’t move even when I called out his name; he just trembled like a statue with a malfunctioning nervous system.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Yuren yelped, clutching his towel as he scrambled backward. “S-stay back!”

“Huh?”

He shook his head furiously, face pale as if he had seen a ghost. “I said, don’t come any closer!”

Concerned, I moved toward him. “Wait, what are you—”

However, Yuren let out a choked scream, and his eyes rolled back into his head. “

Ah!

Ugh!

Aaaah

! M-monster! Blblblb!”

Then, with a splash, Yuren collapsed into the bath like a rag doll.

I immediately said, “Yuren! Hey! Snap out of it, man!”

In the moonlit outdoor bath, beneath the quiet stars, the sun had sunk beneath the surface of the water.