153 – Hot Springs
With a buzz, Arya returns with someone.
“It’s been a while, everyone.”
Kane said from behind. I turned my head, regretting that the hand that had been stroking my hair was moving away. I thought only Kane would be there, but there was also Lacard next to him.
Maybe they met by chance at a station and came together.
Meeting their gaze, Lakar waved his hand with a smile.
“Director, haven’t you changed too much in just two months?”
Lacardo, who said that, must have trained hard during the vacation, and the atmosphere became a little harder. The expression that the density has increased is appropriate.
I got up and gave a friendly hug. As we were patting the backs of Lacar and Kane, Aria, perhaps envious, quickly came over and embraced us.
“I missed you too!!!”
Aria’s words made everyone laugh. Luna also came and leaned on my back and hugged us tightly.
“I missed everyone too….”
Everyone nodded at Luna’s words. There was not a single person here who did not miss each other.
Like small animals sharing warmth against the cold wind, we rely on each other in a small society called the academy. Thank you for being together
“Everyone seems happy to see you after a long time. I prepared a delicious lunch, so let’s all talk while eating.”
At the words of Lisa, Aria’s mother, the members who were surrounding me pulled away. Meanwhile, someone secretly pinched my back. I lightly fed honey chestnuts to the back of Arya’s head, who pretended not to know.
“Not me!”
I smiled as I saw Aria screaming in an unfair way.
“You never said anything?”
Arya, who rolled her eyes, laughed bashfully, then she yelled.
“… Let’s have lunch!”
***
It was a pleasant meal. Maybe it’s because we haven’t seen each other in two months, and we continued to talk for over an hour even after the meal was over.
If it wasn’t for Arya’s mother’s words, we would have stayed until evening.
At her mother’s words, Arya brought out her forgotten plan and explained it to us.
To be honest, the schedule I worked hard on in my notebook was a tight schedule that was no different from training, so in the end I changed it to something simpler after a meeting.
Let’s change the plan that we prepared diligently according to our worries. Aria puffed out her cheeks, though she expressed that she was pouting.
Thanks to Kane, who drew her aggro by saying, ‘You look fatter by doing that,’ Aria’s anger was focused only on Kane.
With Aria’s words of having dinner at a hot spring, we left Aria’s house and headed for Bald Snow Mountain.
As the name suggests, it was a pure white mountain covered with snow, but since there were many tourists, it felt like white drawing paper was sprayed with colorful paints when viewed from a distance.
“There is a hot spring run by my family in the middle of Bald Snow Mountain! It’s so big!”
As Arya explained, from the entrance of the snowy mountain, a wooden building boasting an enormous size caught my eye.
The size is large, but the craftsmanship is felt in small parts, which shows that a lot of effort has been put into attracting travelers.
The building in the middle of the snowy mountain was divided into two buildings. There is the main building “Bold Hot Spring” With a hot spring and the “Bold Hotel” Annex where travelers can relax.
I prefer popular things that have brought satisfaction to many people. The word popular means that it is a stable choice that does not require gambling.
Of course, sometimes they hit me in the back of the head. It’s really infrequent
Seeing that there are a lot of users, I think it would be good to look forward to the hot springs.
As soon as we entered the main building, a friendly looking employee approached us.
“Welcome. Lady Aria, I’ll take you to the reserved room right away.”
“Yes, thank you!”
I followed Arya, who walked confidently. It was a wooden building, so there was a creaking sound every time I walked in the hallway.
It wasn’t a harsh sound, but a sound representing the unique atmosphere of a wooden building, so it sounded good too.
The interior design, which is simply decorated with wood, is cool, maybe that’s what you think.
The place we were guided by the waitress was a fairly spacious room. Judging from the fact that there are 5 futons in the corner, it seems that Arya was thinking of camp.
Unfortunately, the passionate reunion with Luna has been postponed again.
“It’s a wooden building, but this building has as much magic as our club room. Noise prevention, space expansion, temperature control, heat resistance reinforcement….”
Listening to Arya’s enthusiastic explanation, I looked around the room. Certainly, as explained, something like a circuit diagram was beautifully engraved on the pillar.
A magic teapot and cup to make tea simple.
A magical refrigerator with cold drinks and a gray bathrobe. Almost everything is there.
We immediately changed into our gowns and headed to the hot springs. Fortunately, there was something like a movable wall in the room, so Luna and Arya were able to change clothes behind it.
“Then see you later!”
At the fork in the hallway, Arya waved her hand at us and disappeared with Luna and her arms crossed.
Unfortunately, there was no mixed bath here. However, it was quite satisfactory that other men could not see Luna’s hidden body.
I was worried that it would be inconvenient to enjoy the hot springs because there were so many users, but fortunately, that was unfounded.
Befitting the huge size of the main building, there were several types of hot springs inside.
There is even a cold bath with floating ice that is essential at the end.
When I entered the locker room, there were detailed instructions on using the hot springs on the wall.
As I sat down and took off my clothes, I felt someone’s blatant gaze.
Inadvertently turning my head, I met eyes with Byeok-an, who was hiding behind a cabinet.
Pretending to be a coincidence, I secretly averted my gaze and thought.
Why is he here?
The person secretly spying on my body with an observing gaze was an unknown man who had been fighting over Luna from the station.
Could it be that they were targeting me, not Luna… ?
The man who was observing my naked body lowered his gaze and nodded his head as if something had passed, which intensified his anxiety.
I left the locker room first as if I was running away. Fortunately, I don’t think I’m going to follow you here.
With a sigh of relief, I briefly washed my body and entered a nearby bath.
I don’t know if it’s enchanted to expand the space or if it’s basically large, but it’s about the size of a swimming pool.
The various stones were carved nicely, and the water looked hazy as if white powder had been put on it. It was a typical hot spring.
I closed my eyes for a moment and felt the heat of the hot spring. She opened her eyes at the sound of someone coming in and saw Kane with her long hair in a ponytail swimming away like her frog.
I was soaking in the hot spring up to the bottom of my chin, and Lakar belatedly soaked himself in the hot spring.
As I glanced at La Carre, my eyes caught on the numerous scars on his forearms. It was something I hadn’t seen before, and it caught my eye more.
As if he noticed my gaze, Lakar said with a smile.
“It’s a trace of being trained by my father. I want to show you my achievements during the vacation, but I’ll put up with it today. But you can look forward to seeing how strong I have become.”
“I’ll give it back to you literally. I am not the me you knew before.”
Lacar grinned and, like me, took a deep dip into the bath. The ceiling was open, and the sunlight floating in the sky was warm.
The heat of the hot spring spread throughout my body, and I felt drowsy.
Just when she thought she wanted to sleep with her eyes closed, Kane approached with the sound of swimming through her steam.
“My body has improved a lot over the summer. Do you want to look better for Luna?”
“Luna takes good care of me.”
It’s Luna who finds strengths that I don’t know about and praises them.
I liked it even more because it was an unadorned, sincere compliment.
Luna isn’t just pretty with her face, she’s also pretty with her words. Unlike me, she is a person with many strengths.
“I can’t argue with you because they’re such a good couple.”
Coming to my side and submerging her body up to the bottom of her chin like I did, Kane looked at her steam and continued her words.
“… When I got home, I knew how good it was to be with you guys. In fact, I’ve been waiting for the vacation to end since the first day.”
At Kane’s calm words, I dipped my mouth in the hot spring water and exhaled.
Pogeulpogeul, water droplets appeared and disappeared.
After thinking for a while, I spoke out of the hot spring water.
“Then winter break is at the academy. If you want, I will pay for the tuition.”
During Lycan’s training, I experienced the penalty of continuing the battle several times.
The simple repetitive action of picking up marbles is a good thing to think about, so I thought about Kane like the other members.
“… Thank you. But it’s okay. I must go back to my family in winter. I have work to do.”
The reason why he had to return to his family was because Kane had grown up as an illegitimate son.
I was curious about what life was like during vacation, but it was a sensitive topic, so it was difficult to talk about it without alcohol.
I didn’t even seem to want to talk about the family.
I thought for a moment, then spoke in a cautious voice.
“I see, but I didn’t just say it. Let me know if you change your mind anytime. You don’t have to be burdened. I’m a commoner, but my brother’s girlfriend is the Crown Princess. Thanks to you, I got a lot of pocket money.”
In order to lighten Kane’s burden, I deliberately brought up Bella’s story as a joke.
“Or you can become the chief of the pension department next year and receive a scholarship.”
After looking into the distance for a while at my words, Kane smiled and turned her head to me.
“Yes, next year… I wish you well. Director”
He smiled next to me, but for some reason I felt like I could hear Kane’s voice from afar.