Attaching a long chain to the handle of a wooden pail, previously wrapped around something like a scaffold erected above the well, I drop the bucket connected to it into the well. 

After a pause, there’s a loud splashing noise from below. Turning to the crank, I wind it up, feeling my muscles start straining and burning the higher I hoist the filled bucket. My heart beats quickly as I work. Bret nods with an approving grin, holding his own pail of water. He’d already taken the time to demonstrate how to draw water from this well, so I’d know what to do.

Ela watches my laboring with twitching ears, having forgotten to maintain her disguise. Her hands are clasped over the front of her dress’ skirt. As I crank the handle and the bucket climbs its way up, I feel sweat bead on my forehead from the effort at fighting gravity. The soft breeze caressing me helps only a bit to mitigate the effects of the sun beating down on my head at noon.

Continuing to crank, I curse softly under my breath. “Exactly how deep is this well?” I mutter as I continue to wind. The chain rattles as a new layer wraps around the previous.

“The water’s been getting a mite more scarce lately, so we’ve been digging it deeper lately,” Bret answers. “If the monsters don’t chase us out from these mountains first, maybe a drought will force us out in the end…?” 

With a scowl for Bret, I continue working. “And we’re wasting precious water that could instead nourish crops for the sake of regular baths?”

Bret gestures dismissively with a shake of his head. “I’m probably gathering thorns to plant my posterior on, as they say, hahaha.”

“What makes you so sure? What you said implies that I shouldn’t be…” My hot breath exhales heavily between my teeth.

Bret claps on my shoulder and shakes his head. “I’m sorry about that. Everyone takes baths as they want right now and there’s no order down from the Mayor to conserve water. We’ll keep digging our wells deeper if we have to before cutting down, since there’s at least a lovely lake near to draw on. Bathe to your heart’s content. We’ll just pour the water out later and it’ll rejoin the water table.”

With a gape, I stare at him, stunned. “Bathwater is just dumped on the ground?”

“More or less,” Bret says, shrugging and giving me a look like I’m the strange one.

“But that’s unsanitary!” I blush furiously. How many people will I be having second-hand baths with here?!

Ela’s ears twitch as my bucket finally reaches the lip of the well, sending water splashing out around and back down as it jerks to a stop when the chain can’t wind any tighter.

“Ordinarily, that would be true.” Bret chuckles. “... aha! But the wells are spelled for purity by the few specialists we have. That prevents the spreading of plagues and the ground itself filters it first before it can rejoin the reservoir below.”

My eyes widen at Bret’s revelation. The ground filters the water? And magick is used like that? Not just for fighting and like… big enchantments? Well, at least how the earth itself filters the water of impurities is pretty much elementary knowledge! Even though the water has touched most everyone’s bodies for centuries at some point, it’s been filtered by the layers of sediments and stuff along with the use of special spells. 

Laughing lamely, I notice Ela’s thoughtful expression as she tilts her head.

“I get it! The purest water always comes from deep down underground.” Ela smiles warmly. “But, you know, it’s not so bad to drink directly from rivers. It’s usually all pure enough.”

Looking at Ela with mild horror, Bret scratches his head.

Does Ela actually have a working knowledge of water purification? With pursed lips, I unchain the pail and lifting it, I find that the simple task of cranking up and then hauling the water might be more challenging than expected.

Ela grins. “It looks like you’re having fun, Hana. If you have another pail, I’d like to help!”

“No!” I shake my head negatively as I trudge back towards Bret’s home with my burden weighing me down. The handle starts making my fingers feel like cheese must feel while sliced by wire. “This is my training regimen, Ela! Thank you, though.” With a wink, I rush forward, sloshing a bit of water onto the road, and Ela rushes to catch up to walk beside me. Once there, she takes her time while my trudging becomes more forced, one heavy foot in front of the other. ,

Did this girl have a religious excuse to not work? How could Halima do laundry for her village and not hardly build up muscle? Thinking back to how much the first goblin I met had overpowered me, I sigh. I have a long way to go. With a resigned and forced smile, I try to stop dragging the bucket so close to the ground. Watching me, Bret sighs behind me.

“I feel bad for helping you draw water for your baths now. I don’t know why I thought you might be a mite stronger than you look.” Bret sounds disappointed. “You have far to go than I thought, but I know you can achieve your dream of bein’ an adventurer! I’ll leave my bucket at the well for you to fetch later, after you get this one to the tub.”

“Just pour it back.” I huff and puff stubbornly. “Cranking them up is part of my training. I think I’ll see if… if anyone needs help with heavy lifting in the village. I’m going to volunteer to do work like that, too.”

“Don’t overdo it.” Bret mutters as he dumps the bucket of water back into the well. The splash is very faint when the liquid rejoins the water below with a slight echo. Moments after, he catches up in a blink with his pail held in the crook of his arm jauntily. “And while you’re working at drawing all the water, I’ll help Ela clean up the kitchen.”

“NO! Don’t take my work from me!” I groan at him. 

Bret blinks and facepalms. “Gals sure are hard to read… This one’s a mite stranger than all the rest I ever met,” he mutters as I trudge up the alleyway towards his home’s welcoming gate. A marathon I’d be repeating as many times as necessary.

“Our competition can wait for when you’ve enough muscles for it,” Bret says, sounding cheated. 

Once I’ve hauled the last bucket of water for the day back to the house, sweat is pouring from my whole body. I’m exhausted, fuming with sweat, but more importantly, I’m pleased that I’ve completed a fine job. 

At one point, catching myself nearly tearing my shirt off, an elderly man walked past with a shaggy silvered beard on his chin and glanced at me. I turned beet red midway through the act and embarrassedly got back to my work.

With gritted teeth, I look at a concerned Bret, now waiting at the doorway leading into the room that holds his bathtub.

“Ugh. The way I feel right now, even cold water will feel heavenly. Shoo, get out!”

Bret shakes his head, gesticulating with his hands. “You’ll catch somethin’ awful if you did that.”

I scowl at him. “What am I going to do, then? Haul this all somehow to the hearth in the kitchen?” I never thought about how the water would be heated, so caught up in my exercise and training. What have I been doing all this for, not thinking ahead?” I sigh and groan, resigned to taking the risk of catching a cold or whatever else people experience here.

“Don’t worry.” Bret chuckles. “Now, this is the fun part. Have a peep under the bathtub.”

Creaking and aching, I get to my knees and look under and see something I didn’t expect when I first entered. There’s a fireplace down here with signs of old char and ash. There're bricks set over it and the tub is laid on that. I blink, realizing. Wiping more sweat from my forehead, I grin. “Alright then, show me how to set a fire before you go.”

Bret laughs out loud. “Don’t get so much ahead of yourself, Hana. We’ll need to haul the firewood in here from the woodpile next.”

My body aches at the mention of more intensive labor. Yay! More training. 

Bret goes on, “We’ll have to split some more in the future for the kitchen since I keep only so much of it ready to go, but I seem to have gotten ahead of myself last evening when I was cutting wood for the next day. You’re very lucky, aren’t you? There just happens to be some wood in my kitchen pile, particularly some that will fit in this oven. We should have the bathtub heating up in no time.”

I shoot Bret a glare for stealing my training again! While I was hauling pails of water, he must have been hard at work splitting the wood. Hmmm.. where’s Ela? I look around as I climb up off the floor, soaked with sweat. 

He looks at me with a too innocent expression and adds, “Let’s go get the wood.”

Rolling my eyes, I sigh. “No. My work. Don’t help me! My training.” I scurry out, aching to the kitchen where the wood waits for me.

“Fine.” Bret heaves a heavy sigh and offers a wry smile as I trudge out. Out there in the kitchen, I spot Ela standing there, leaning against the sink, currently looking away from me.

What’s gotten into her? I look at her quizzically, but Ela doesn’t stir from that position. It’s like she’s staring off into space like Halima used to do. After staring a long period at her, she blushes prettily. So she does know that I’m here.  What’s she been up to? 

My eyes on her become suspicious. Looking around the kitchen, I could swear that something changed, but I can’t put my finger on exactly what. Everything seems to be neat and in place, just as it should be.

“I hope you enjoy your bath, Hana!” Ela finally looks into my eyes.

My lips purse. Walking over to her like a sweat cloud of doom, I put my hands on her shoulders and say, “Don’t think you’re getting out of taking a bath with me.”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeee…” she gives a little whinny-like complaint with a resigned expression.

I’m sure of it. She’s been cleaning. Probably inspired by this do-gooder. She looks a little sweaty too. Looking at Bret over my shoulder, I think that he’s looking a bit too self-satisfied right now. He thinks I didn’t notice anything.

Despite their deceptions, I don’t comment on it. It’s true that I’m getting more and more exhausted and their efforts are appreciated. I resume my focus on my task at hand and bend painfully to gather an armful of wood. Righting, I shuffle back to the bathroom like a zombie and this is only one quarter of all the wood I’ll need, remembering the size of the chamber under the bathtub. When I get back, I drop my load and carefully spread out everything, tinder and small branches to cover the whole length of the tub. 

You have to crawl in here to put it all in. I bet the heat will evenly heat the tub of water. I hope it doesn’t get so hot that it’d burn. I don’t need a blistered butt on top of everything else.

After three more trips, I’ve collected the rest of what I need to get the fire started and exhausted, I sit up, looking for some flint and steel. Bret, who had followed me unnoticed, holds them out to me, kneeling beside me.

“Scoot over, Hana. You can’t do everything. I’ll show you how.”

“No — I need to learn how to do this too.”

Bret chuckles and pats my shoulder. “Then I’ll demonstrate.” He moves some of my neatly laid wood nearest and by the light of candlelight, he shows me how to rub the sharp edge of the rock against the steel and create sparks. “This kind of motion and holding it at this angle, see it here?”

I peer closely at the angle as he holds the steel against the flint and nod, thinking I get it. “This done right will make these sparks. Do it like this over and over until it catches close to the tinder.” I nod thoughtfully. This isn’t too different from what I did with the campfire Vayne left… Although I restarted that fire by blowing on it.. 

Taking the steel and flint from his hands I repeat his motions, but sparks don’t fly right away. With a frown, I squeeze out some more force from my screaming arm muscles and experiment with changing the angle and soon enough, I’m making sparks consistently and after many strikes, bending down to the tinder, it starts to smoke and then a weak flame springs up, spreading.

Bret laughs. “Good job. Now you need to light the kindle along the length of the tub. Three more spots and it’ll be cheerilly burning and the water will soon be steamin’.”

Wiping my forehead, I nod determinedly as I set to setting a few more fires as he suggested, repeating until I’ve started it all burning except for a few spots in between the fires. When I feel I’ve finished, I stand unsteadily, feeling very much ready for my bath.

“A well-earned bath, Hana. Enjoy it!.” Bret winks and moves to the door, looking over his shoulder. “I hope you’ve learned that you shouldn’t do everything yourself all the time. It’s important to make use of the people that want to help you.” 

Thinking about learning how to swordfight from Bret after the bath, that and all the work I have yet to do.

“While I wait for the bathwater to heat up, let’s spar. Please teach me!” I bow, wobbling on my feet.

“Damn it, woman.” Bret laughs. “My duty is to look after you right now. I kind of feel like your keeper already. In the role of your teacher and host at least, I’m going to ask you to stop working until you’ve rested. Get some well-earned rest. The world isn’t going anywhere while you have your bath. You’ll work yourself to death before your bath. Abed, you won’t build the strength you’re after.”

Thinking back on a doctor’s observations about me when I grudgingly told her about my day-to-day life back in Tokyo, I sigh.

You idiot! Just because you’re young and healthy today doesn’t mean you can keep going without experiencing some kind of breakdown, sometime! You’ll start having a series of crises sooner than later. You keep this up, you’ll get what you’re asking for. Lean on others a bit more.

Basking in a bathtub, I luxuriate in my lovely hot water. The aching in my muscles eases under the gentle ministrations of a warmth that soaks right into my bones. Ela watches me anxiously, glancing at the bathtub and me licking her lips.

“Have you never had a hot bath? You’re missing out if you haven’t.”

Ela shakes her head negatively. “My people don’t do it like that. It seems like a lot of trouble just to sit in some hot water.” The light that refracts from the half-out fire under the bathtub and a couple of candles set on nearby tables fully refracts at me off the brick walls with a sheen of moisture by now. Steam fills the lovely, warm air.

“Get your clothes off, silly girl,” I say sleepilly. “Enjoy this too, otherwise my hard work will go to waste.”

“You’ll drown if you fall asleep in there, Hana.” She leaps forward and gets a hold of my wrists.

Contentedly sighing, I murmur, “I could die happily right now.” I’ve thought that before, haven't I?” All this wonderful full-body warmth after a long period of the bone-chilling chill of the mountain air, making me feel halfway in a grave. This is what I’ve been longing for for what feels like a week. Get in this heavenly water!” I slap the water, splashing Ela. She whinnies and backs off, letting go of my wrists. “Do I really have to get out of this wonderful bath just to drag you in?”

“Eeeeeeee…” She shakes her head and, with a bright blush, she pulls off her dress.

Oh wait… what have I been saying? I've just been nearly hallucinating, woozy and asking her to… I didn’t think about how it means that she’d have to…

*badump*

Her dress hits the floor, and she pads forward on the balls of her feet gracefully to lift a long leg once she reaches the side of the bathtub. I swallow hard and sink under the water, glad that I’m not a man right now, while the largest part of me punches the rest of me square in the face for suggesting that I’m better off being a woman right now.

When I rise for air, Ela looks at me shyly as I wipe my eyes and with a little gasp she steps down into the water, wincing the whole time and finding that the bottom doesn’t burn her feet, she lifts her other to stand in the tub with a curious expression. She sinks in and her expression becomes bewildered, the whole time not losing the little blush staining her cheeks. Wrapping her arms around herself, she leans back on the opposite side. After a moment, her head leans back, and she gives a contented little whicker, more horse-like than yet.

What? I blink at hearing her make that noise. I hadn’t really thought about her noises like that. Beastkin, huh? I guess they’re a bit like animals while still being human. Come to think about it… nah… I’m just hallucinating from overworking. I push myself so hard because I’m used to being able to get a certain amount of things done each day with my muscles and not being able to do much of it just outrages and frustrates me. Those feelings fuel my desire to work all the harder.

Having achieved my goal of getting Ela to enjoy this bath with me, I let my eyes glaze and still my mind. I was worried that this world didn’t have heated bathtubs, but I now see that this world has its own charm, even though everything is far harder and far less convenient, assuming it’s not just a dream. 

This fact of life that at this level of civilization, much of it is earned by hard work, will help me build enough strength to learn how to use a sword, too.

While dozing off, my bath’s temperature rises alarmingly. With a gasp, my eyes flicker open and widen when I feel something slide along my thigh. Turning my head, there are two blue eyes beneath pale blonde hair peering up into my face, wreathed in the steam rising off the bathwater. 

Ela smiles warmly at me. “You drowsed off. At least I thought so. I’ll keep you from drowning, so sleep without worry, Hana. I sure could imagine sleeping here, but if it’s too long, we’ll just get pruny, right?” she murmurs in my ear as her leg rubs against mine.

W-wai… is her leg swung over mine? Is she almost straddling me?

I gasp, sinking again into the water with a furious blush. With surprising ease, she tugs me out of the water and looks seriously into my eyes, pouting and huffing as she says, “Are you actually trying to drown yourself now? I see that I need to hold you all the more securely.” She wraps her arms lightly around me and the world explodes into light as all the heat goes to my head.

I’m rushing along a corridor of darkness and, with a rush, I sit up, blushing madly.

There’s a beeping noise nearby, and it’s blooping rapidly, matching my thundering heart.

*BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep*

“Are you okay after all, Haku?” Kairi, sitting next to me, bounds to her feet, and she throws her arms around me. She wears a blouse showing off too much bosom, far more than she normally would. What? Was I really just asleep?

“Why is your blanket tenting up like that?” Kairi asks me softly.

Blinking and still blushing, my heart still pounding and my veins suring with arousal, my eyes land on my waist where my… my… SHIT!

The door opens, and a nurse eyes us with a raised eyebrow. “Ah… don’t let me interrupt you.” She laughs and closes the door with a loud clicking noise.

“Um…” Kairi looks at me with a little smile. “Where were we?” She hops up onto the bed and I yelp, passing out from sheer exhaustion and perhaps very little energy left from blood loss.

 My eyes roll up and I fall over onto the bed again to rush back through the dark corridor and gasp as I’m held firmly in Ela’s breasts above water-level.

As I open my eyes, my face fills with blood and mortification eats me on the inside. Did Kairi really see me like that? So… did she… Oh… My skin tingles. 

“You’re back with me, Hana! I was so worried about you!” Ela squeezes me even tighter, rubbing my face more furiously between her bosoms. What have I DONE?! Acting like some kind of a dominant guy with his young wife, demanding her to come into the bath with me?! What was I even thinking?! Where’s gone, my sweet, innocent Ela?

Feeling far from a hero, I faint again, this time hovering in the darkness where I can escape my awkward emotions. Why did I want to dream so badly when I was younger? And now thanks to wanting that and after playing the hero. Was I just dreaming about going back to the real world, or is my brain generating a series of fantasies before death? Now my brain is rushing to throw every damn trope at me because I’m so damned repressed? 

God, Goddess, Devil or whoever you are, I’m ready to go home. Dreams can go to hell. I’ll take my dry and mundane existence over this confusing mess of a life!

No answer comes in response to my plea, so I hover onwards in emptiness. Maybe this in itself means that my mind rejects the dreams and when I wake up, everything will go back to normal! And then…

Someone roughly shakes me awake. 

Who is it? Who’s shaking me? Ela wouldn’t shake me so violently. Would she? 

If Vayne somehow reappeared, he would. He slapped me to wake me up on the riverbank before. Was I really so out of it that that was necessary?! Would Kairi slap me to wake me up? Since we haven’t been married yet, I don’t know.

Taking a very deep breath, I groan, admitting that I’m awake and the shaking stops. Reaching up to rub my eyes, I sigh. My muscles ache and throb. I guess that means…

Opening my eyes, Bret’s looking down at me with an amused expression. “Looks like you’ve finally come to. Not used to taking baths, I gather.”

“Ugh…” I slap a hand up to my head, shaking my head. My damp twirling hair sends little droplets around, sparkling.

“By any chance…” I’m not sure how to finish this question, so I decide on a change of subject, “Erm… I’ve had baths most every day of my life, I’ll have you know.” I want to ask if he hauled me out of the bath, assuming Ela called for help with getting me here. Looking downwards, I see the simple quilt loosely wrapped around me that I’d seen on Bret’s parents’ old bed.

“Did I see your naked body? You want to know?” Bret asks me with a smirk. I transfix him with a suspicious glare.

“Did you?” I demand, but catching myself reacting like a girl would, I smooth my expression with supreme effort.

 “Nah.” Bret barks a laugh, rushing on to reassure me, “I’m too much of a gentleman to peek at passed out girls’ naked bodies, not that I’ve ever been in such a situation before today. Though I can’t say that I wasn’t tempted.” I stifle a sigh of relief as he adds, “Actually, it was Ela, herself. Hauled you out of the bathtub and like an oiled lightning bolt, she dashed into this room, leaving a wide trail of water behind the two of you and slammed the door. I knocked at the door, but she barred my way by peeking out, sayin’ that she’d do some very unladylike things to me if I came into this room until she said you were alright.”

I blink uncertainly, and finally ask with a raised eyebrow, “... Ela carried me from the bath, herself?” My voice is laced with skepticism. Thinking about how much I struggled to haul buckets of water to fill the bathtub, I can’t imagine Ela doing much better since she’s a girl like me and doesn’t look much stronger..

“Certainly…” Bret laughs, running fingers through his slightly greasy-looking hair. He looks like he could use a proper bath, not that he has anything but simple cake soap to wash it with. “Funny thing about that.” Bret scratches at his hair, making me think that he might have lice or a flea. “I think that girl, Ela, is stronger than she looks.” His lips twist as he finishes, “Stronger than a horse. I’m betting that with the right kind’ve motivation, she might be of some help to you.”

Tilting my head, I consider the possibility of Ela being more than a simple, beautiful companion. My lips purse with consideration. “Are you suggesting that she should train with me?”

“Maybe. Thing is… hrm… I asked her about how she was able to haul you here so fast, but she was very skittish around the question. I guess it’s just a beastkin thing.”

Leaning back, I frown. It’s up to me to figure out who Ela is and what she’s capable of.

“Now that you’re up, come have some of what I fixed for us for supper while you were in the bath. Long as you’re not knocked out cold again after a hearty meal, we can start some of those lessons you want.”

My lips spread in an eager smile. My body will hate me and it will be a reciprocal thing, but I’m eager to build up some strength.