After that, I walked past the entrance to the men's bathhouse, only to notice that the orange-haired woman wasn't following me inside.
Hadn't he said he was a man?
"Aren't you taking a shower? Why aren't you coming in?"
"A shower...? We call it bathing here. I'll go later. I'm going to rest for a bit first...!"
The orange-haired woman hurriedly ran off.
If he wanted to bathe later, then fine. But why was he acting so suspicious? It only made me question his gender even more.
The next moment, as I walked farther into the men's bathhouse, despair washed over me.
In front of me was only a single door and a sign that read:
"Please do not enter wearing clothing."
"..."
A bathhouse...
I finally understood.
So a bathhouse was a place where complete strangers soaked together completely naked.
If that was Asrangari's culture, then there wasn't much I could do about it.
I'm the kind of man who can't stand going a day without washing, but this really troubled me.
Let me make one thing clear—I wasn't insecure about my body.
I just couldn't understand why I should let complete strangers see my private parts.
It didn't matter whether they were men or women. I hated the idea of anyone seeing me naked.
After standing there agonizing over it for what felt like forever, several people came and went through the bathhouse.
Finally, I worked up the courage.
As quickly as possible, I took off my shirt, pulled off my pants and underwear, stuffed everything into my storage hole, then wrapped a towel around my waist.
It felt like I'd just completed some impossible mission.
I was sweating.
My heart was pounding.
I breathed heavily as I slowly walked toward the door that might very well lead into an entirely new world, my hand gripping the doorknob.
Just then—
The doorknob turned by itself.
The door swung toward me.
"Huh?!"
What's going on?!
I only put my hand on the knob—I didn't even turn it!
Why?!
I'm not mentally prepared yet!!
The door finished opening.
A man stood on the other side.
So he had been the one opening it.
Without thinking, my eyes drifted downward.
He... he wasn't covering anything!
The completely naked man stood there proudly displaying everything.
I was so shocked that I instantly covered my eyes and screamed internally.
"Hey! What's with that reaction?! Is my big dick really that disgusting?!"
The naked man apparently thought I was treating his manhood like something filthy and angrily shouted at me.
I hurriedly explained.
"No! I'm sorry! I'm just not used to being... that honest with other people!"
"What kind of weirdo are you? Seriously, kids these days..."
The naked man grumbled as he walked past me.
He wasn't even that old.
Well, the door was open now.
I might as well go in.
The bathhouse was filled with steam.
Groups of bare-chested men relaxed in the hot baths with expressions of absolute bliss while chatting about crude topics.
I immediately searched for the shower area.
There had to be one.
After all, everyone had to wash themselves before entering the baths.
As soon as I found it, I rushed over, grabbed a showerhead, and washed myself at top speed.
I scrubbed my entire body with soap faster than any normal person possibly could, rinsed everything off, and, feeling as though I'd at least washed away the sweat, dried myself and left.
The entire process was completed in one uninterrupted blur.
It was, without question, the fastest—and least thorough—bath I'd ever taken in my life.
Feeling vaguely dirty despite having just bathed, I lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
The next day, April 20th, the orange-haired woman was already waiting in the lobby before our agreed departure time of seven o'clock.
I was a little surprised.
He was actually pretty punctual.
After returning our room keys to the innkeeper, we had breakfast before looking for a carriage shop.
The shop only sold the carriage itself.
The horses were sold separately.
Buying a horse was incredibly expensive, so I gave up on the idea.
Instead, we found a merchant heading toward the capital and paid to ride along in his wagon.
The fare was twenty times cheaper than buying a horse.
I was glad the merchant agreed, though I couldn't help feeling a little defeated.
A horse was actually worth more than a person.
We sat near the back of the wagon.
As I gazed at the endless snow-covered, leafless forest, the orange-haired woman started a conversation.
"Henry, why are you going to the capital?"
"Traveling."
"Then why didn't you just take a ship straight to the main island? Why come through the outer island?"
"If I took a ship, all I'd see would be the ocean. Isn't it better to enjoy the people and scenery along the journey?"
There was no way I was admitting that I'd rushed to buy a ticket without checking the destination and accidentally ended up on the outer island.
"How long did it take you to get here?"
"Two months."
"Two months?! You must have a lot of money. What do you do for a living?"
"I'm an adventurer. Whenever I run low on money, I head to the Adventurers' Guild and take on high-paying commissions to cover my travel expenses."
My occupation was real.
The part about running out of money wasn't.
I had enough savings to travel for a year without worrying.
"Adventurers are so free."
Not at all.
Being an adventurer was an extremely dangerous profession.
Sure, the rewards were high, but you always had to be prepared for anything from minor injuries to losing a limb.
The people who were truly free were those who never had to worry about money.
Most adventurers were simply people without money or specialized skills who could only earn a living through physical labor.
The strong ones might eventually save enough to retire early.
The weak ones could barely guarantee their next meal, let alone imagine retirement.
Forget it.
There was no point explaining all that.
He probably wouldn't understand.
"What about you? Why are you going to the capital?"
"To find my parents... and everyone from my town."
"What do you mean?"
"On the evening of January 16th, I returned from outside town. There weren't any guards at the gate, and the whole town was pitch-black. Not a single house had its lights on. When I got home, I found a note that said, 'We've gone to the capital.' Then I checked my friends' houses. They were all gone too. I searched every house. They'd taken all the money and food with them. It was the middle of winter. Where was I supposed to find something to eat?"
"So how did you survive?"
"I caught fish from the river."
He was actually pretty self-sufficient.
Still...
The abandoned city I'd passed yesterday...
Could that have been his hometown?
"Then why did everyone leave?"
"I don't know."
"Did anything unusual happen before they left? Some outside influence?"
"...Yeah. A missionary from another religion came. I don't know what he said, but everyone decided to convert."
Everyone converted?
His persuasion skills had to be incredible.
Religion really was frightening.
Still, the orange-haired woman wasn't praising that religion.
Maybe he hadn't attended the sermons.
"You didn't listen?"
"I was busy. I didn't have time to listen to a heretic spout nonsense. I only heard about it from my parents. They kept talking about doing whatever it takes to survive, and everyone started becoming more and more short-tempered."
That religion was obviously a cult.
Talking about doing whatever it took to survive during peacetime?
It wasn't like there was a war going on.
But what exactly made it so attractive?
How could it convince an entire town to convert?
When it came to religion, it was ultimately just people using the gods' names to manipulate the masses.
The believers became puppets for those claiming to be closest to the gods, obeying unreasonable orders simply because they were told, "This is the will of the gods."
I calmly asked,
"If your parents and friends were deceived by that missionary and died for some ridiculous reason... what would you do?"
"I'd cry. After that, I'd move on. Life doesn't stop just because someone dies."
"Wouldn't you want revenge?"
The orange-haired woman helplessly shook his head and waved a hand.
"Revenge is something only capable people can afford. I'm just a penniless commoner. What could I possibly do? I'd rather forget the past and look toward a new future."
"You're optimistic."
"That's one of my strengths. I even have a motto."
"Let's hear it."
"If you lose your happiness, don't lose heart. Go find new happiness instead."
"That's pretty inspiring."
"Right? What about you? Would you want revenge?"
"I'd choose both revenge and life."
"Greedy."
"Because I have the ability to. That said, I wouldn't devote my whole life to revenge. Whether I ever meet my enemy again depends on fate. If I do, I'll settle the score. If I don't, I'll keep living my life."
"Are you a follower of some other religion?"
"...Why would you ask that?"
I frowned in confusion.
I didn't even follow this world's largest religion.
Why would I believe in some other one?
I believed gods existed.
I didn't believe in religions.
There was no need.
People only needed to learn morality.
The orange-haired woman answered,
"Normally, people just leave things to time."
Come to think of it, that was strange.
Why was the doctrine of the world's largest religion—the Church of the Goddess of Fate—centered around time?
Still, I wasn't interested in discussing religion.
I wanted to talk about the idea that time solved everything.
"Time doesn't solve everything. Sure, people eventually die of old age, but if you just leave everything to time... can you really get over what's in your heart?"
"I can. I don't have the ability to get revenge anyway."
"Then I guess we're not compatible."
I couldn't.
Everyone dies eventually.
But if my enemy lived happily until old age...
How could the hatred in my heart simply disappear?
His optimism felt more like running away.
"So just because of that, you think we don't get along? You really do judge people by first impressions."
"Yeah. In my head, I still call you 'the orange-haired woman.'"
"Hey! That's taking first impressions way too literally! I already told you my name!"
While the orange-haired woman noisily protested, my detection magic suddenly sensed numerous hostile life signatures ahead in the direction the wagon was traveling.
I immediately took out my beloved sword.
Seeing my sudden action, the orange-haired woman asked,
"Henry, why did you suddenly draw your sword?"
I ignored him.
Climbing toward the front of the rattling wagon, I called to the merchant.
"Sir, please stop the wagon."
"Why?"
"Monsters are approaching."