Martial Kim lost track of time when he returned to the cabin. He had been making frequent trips to and fro the nearest river, dragging and hauling a wooden bucket he found in the cabin’s shed.
Good grief, he mourned in his heart, Who ever thought preparing a bath by themselves would be this difficult. Even in my youth, I always paid an inn staff or tavern servants to prep the bath for me. When I return to my homeland, I truly cannot take small luxuries like a hot bath for granted!
Although Martial Kim was a martial arts by profession, it didn’t necessarily meant he was a strong man. Talented warriors like him utilize their inner energy and spiritual force, to deliver devastating attacks and to make a single swipe of a sword to blow away a quarter of an army. Energy over brawn. Not everyone can lift wagons above their heads with raw muscles, that was an entirely different form of training altogether.
Not to mention, his status in life allowed him to rely on the automation of others, so he can free his time to focus on bigger things such as solving murders and mystery.
So, it took longer than most people to bring water back and forth in the house.
After pouring the bucket of water into a pot he found on a shelf, he carried it to the fire pit just outside the kitchen door. Thankfully, not all doors required fiddling with exotic keys—some had simple hooks or loose chains that could be undone with a flick of a finger. Furthermore, there were plenty of finely stacked kindling across the cabin’s wall – ready for use.
It took a bit of effort to get a flame going, but soon he had two kettles and three pots of water boiling. It wouldn’t be enough to fill more than a quarter of the tub at first, but by the time it was full, the mix of lukewarm and boiling water would be just right.
As the young master waved a frond of leaves to fan the flames to make them hotter, he heard a door unlock from inside of the house, “Ah. Miss Keekee, the hot water is ready. I will bring them in—”
“Kim? What are you doing?”
The young master spun around, then immediately cringed and looked away! Keekee was standing in the doorway, dressed in a revealing tank top and shorts that left nearly 80% of her skin exposed. The sight of her bare thighs, firm calves, smooth arms—everything—made the modest young man flush with embarrassment.
“Kim? What’s wrong?” She asked while rubbing a towel against her long wet hair. “I finished my shower so you can go ahead!”
...Finished her what?
“Kim why are you staring?...Oh sh—I’m so sorry!” Keekee suddenly sucked in the air and slapped her hands over her breasts. “Ahaha...y-you probably can see them, huh? Ahaha. S-sorry. I usually don’t wear a bra when I am like, alone, you know? G-gotta let the girls out and take a breather after a long day, hahaha...be right back.”
...The girls? Cover up?...Why was she blushing and why did she cover up her---Wait...Oh dear gods, my eyes!!
Realization hit Martial Kim like a dagger to the heart. He quickly covered his face, desperate to erase the indecent image now burned into his mind. The only way to cleanse his soul, he thought, was to recite a Buddhist prayer over and over:
Amitabha, Amitabha, Amitabha, Amitabha, Amitabha, Amitabha!
Fortunately, Keekee came back looking ‘proper’... but it didn’t help the young master’s wits when she kept thumbing the straps of her bra and tank top to get comfortable. “Why are you playing with the fire? Are you roasting a game animal or something? Y-you know you are more than welcome to use my stove!”
“Your bath,” blurted Martial Kim as he didn’t dare to look at the young and beautiful girl in ‘scandalous clothing’, “I thought—”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Oh crap!” Keekee herself blurted out and she smacked her palm to her forehead, “That’s right! Dinner! My fridge is broken!”
“M-Miss Keekee? Wh-where are you going?”
Keekee didn’t bother to put on socks as she jammed her half-wet feet into her shoes. She raced out the front door and hopped onto her bike, “I’ll be right back with some dinner. You go ahead and take a bath and wait for me!”
“Wait, Miss Keekee! At least let me accompany..........you... There she goes.”
Martial Kim sighed to himself when he was left all alone, This girl is too energetic for me to keep up, he mumbled to himself. Accepting the offer to use the bath chamber, he would pick up one of the pots of hot water he prepared for Keekee’s bath with him. Might as well not waste it.
...This...is a bath chamber? Everything looks so out of place...Why is there a white flower pot in the shape of a chair? Can you even sit on it?
Martial Kim expected to find a simple wooden tub and nothing else, but what greeted him was the complete opposite. The tub was made of a white material that resembled delicate china, yet felt as solid as brick. Above it, a metal fixture shape after a battle horn with tiny holes pinched across the fact and suspended across a rack. A transparent curtain dripping with water, swaying quietly from a metal bar as it hung across a series of rusted rings. Something moved on the wall, catching his eye, and he squinted to focus on it.
Is this a mirror? Why is it silver, and not bronze like the ones back home? I can barely see my reflection...is it fogged up from condensation? Actually come to think of it, it is oddly moist and warm in here. Curious, I was not able to prepare the hot water for Miss Keekee’s bath and she never came out since she entered... So...Where did she get her own hot water without my help?
The young master searched around to see if there was some sort of miniature furnace or some firewood powered contraption hidden inside. Even checking behind the door there was nothing to suggest as much. This mystery of where did the hot water come from made him scratch his head.
I wonder, what is their bath culture in this world?... Too bad, Miss Keekee is not present for me to ask for clarification... Sigh, this is all to much for me to think right now. Might as well try to relax and compose myself.
Thus he graciously poured the pot of hot water he was carrying into the bath tub and turned to fetch a second round of--
Glug, glug, glug.
Is someone drinking water?...Wait.
Martial Kim whipped his head around, back at the bath tub. He knew a single trip would not be enough to fill a bath tub to the brim, but even common sense would say there should be SOME water sitting in the bottom of the tub.
But, the tub was completely empty.
...Am...I hallucinating?
To be sure, he grabbed a second kettle from the fire pit and conducted an experiment. He tipped half of the content into the tub and waited for a reaction.
Glug, glug, glug. The water drains away instantly.
A hole? In the bath tub? That should not be there, at least in the bath tubs back home! Is it a crack? A defect?...But it makes no sense, Miss Keekee came out fresh. Even her hair was still wet... Did the bath tub break after she used it...or had it always been like this?
The mystery of this hole in the bathtub drew him in. He activated every part of his brain to figure out the most logical answer to this conundrum. The more he tried to figure it out, the more it felt like some sort of grand paradox.
Miss Keekee miraculously had hot water without my help. The room is warmth from finishing her bath. Yet, there is this hole in the bath tub that is devouring my hot water... Is this really defect? It looks intentional, what random crack could grow a steel ring around it. A perfect circle... A plug? To stop it perhaps?
Once more the young master who loved to chase down the truth of mysteries conducted his investigation. He searched high and low and could not find anything resembling a wooden cork of some kind.
I wonder, if there is a trick to it. Like a martial arts manual, where the contents of a critical technique are hidden across several pages of the book like some sort of puzzle. Maybe I should try angle, height of pouring, speed maybe? Surely there must be a way for someone to properly use a bath in this world!
One attempt after another were made through the day. He tried many methods and strategies from stuffing the hole with a cloth from the kitchen; cap it with a tea cup; have a heavy pot sit on it; even pouring it without looking thinking it was some sort of trick question test.
Glug, glug, glug.
Glug, glug, glug.
Glug, glug, glug.
Glug, glug, gluuuuuuuug....Blurb.
“You...” Martial Kim wagged a finger at his confounding mystery, “You win this round.”
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