The sun had dipped low on the horizon by the time the ragged group arrived back at the Aspirants Guild. The effects of the necromancer’s poison had lingered in their systems, and their progress had been slowed by frequent rests.

  As usual, a familiar woman stood guard outside the marble building. At the sight of them, she lifted her helmet slightly and inspected the group. “No casualties again? I may have to learn your names. Mine is Seraphina, by the way.”

  Platon stepped behind Lukas and grabbed him by the shoulders. “This hero of a man drove off a level 400 necromancer on his own. Do you believe it?”

  Seraphina regarded them cooly. “Not really.”

  “It’s true,” Platon said, shaking Lukas. “We’ll all stand witness to it, even under a truth spell.”

  Piper’s eyes widened slightly at the mention of a truth spell. If she ever encountered anyone who could cast a spell like that, she would need to give them a very wide berth. Because she would probably spill some seriously damaging stuff about herself under its effects.

  “In that case,” Seraphina continued, “he may be due some additional tallies. See the clerk inside.”

  Platon led the way into the building, followed by his group. Once they had entered, Basil and Althea followed them through the doorway. But when Ophelia moved to enter, the guard held out her arm. “Only awakened are allowed inside.”

  Ophelia glared daggers at the woman. “I’m going to awaken in a week!”

  “Then come back in a week.”

  Piper watched her group disappear inside before turning back to Ophelia. “I can wait outside with you until they’re done. Then I’ll go inside to get my tallies.”

  “I’ll watch over your friend,” Seraphina offered. “Just don’t take too long. Got it?”

  “Is that alright with you, Ophelia?”

  Her friend gestured for her to go inside. “It’s not like there’s a redcap lingering in the shadows.”

  “Do you really want to tempt fate like that?”

  “Just go,” Ophelia said, shaking her head. “I’ll be fine. Maybe Seraphina can teach me how to fight with a spear.”

  Based on the woman’s cold demeanor, Piper doubted that was going to happen. But she could most likely trust the guard to watch her friend for a few minutes. She would just go inside, receive her tallies and come straight back out.

  Piper hurried past the guard and into the open room beyond. Like the previous times she’d arrived at the guild later in the day, it was almost deserted. Only a handful of aspirants stood clustered around the room. She quickly spotted the others conversing with Chloe at the counter.

  Piper trotted over to their side, slinging her bow over her back. As she arrived, she caught the end of the petite clerk’s sentence.

  “… for a job well done,” Chloe said, holding out the magical stone for bestowing tallies. She raised the stone, and then a bolt of magic shot out, giving each person their tallies in turn.

  When it was Piper’s turn, she felt her wooden badge vibrate as the magic struck it. Looking down, she counted 10 new tallies engraved on the surface, which was a huge amount. The mucklings they’d defeated had only given her one.

  “And of course, your reward.” Chloe pulled out an ironbound box from beneath the counter. “Each of you has earned one silver piece, and for discovering the necromancer’s plot, I’m authorized to give you an additional silver piece. If the group of adventurers sent out to investigate the village defeat any further undead, you will also earn a finder’s fee.”

  Selene took the two silver pieces and held them up in front of her face. Her eyes shone in the dim light of the room. “I’ve never held so much money before,” she breathed. “I don’t even know what to spend it on…”

  Basil pocketed his own coin. “I want everyone to head home and get some rest. Tomorrow is a new day, and I want to be out there early.”

  Althea rounded on the taller man. She poked a finger against his chest. “Have you lost your mind? We all barely survived today. As the group’s healer, I’m ordering everyone to rest for a few days to recover from the poison.”

  “I wouldn’t mind a day of rest,” Piper said, looking over to Selene. “What about you?”

  Selene nodded. “I’m with the others. Before we do anything, I want to enjoy my newfound wealth.”

  Basil scowled. “This wasn’t what we agreed to when we formed the group. I explicitly stated that we would progress as quickly as possible to become wayfarers. No matter what, I can’t waste a day.”

  “I understand why you don’t want to wait,” Althea said, softening slightly. “But a single day won’t make a difference with Sybil. If she truly loves you, she’ll wait for you, no matter what her father says. And we all need a rest after the last few days.”

  Piper nodded along with Althea. She knew they were on a tight timeline to leave the city. Still, all she wanted to do was sleep for a few days. But first, she needed a bath. She definitely needed a good long soak before anything else.

  “I won’t risk losing her,” Basil said stiffly. “Every day that passes is another her father may marry her off. Now, perhaps my leadership has been lacking. However, that’s something I can rectify. What if we take the easiest quest we can find tomorrow?”

  “And if there are no easy quests?” Piper asked. She keenly remembered taking the ratfolk quest, which had been far above their level.

  Basil sighed. “Then I suppose we’ll have to take a day off.”

  “I can live with that.” Piper shrugged. “Everyone else?”

  Althea pressed her lips together. “I suppose that will work for me.”

  “Me too,” Selene said. “Hopefully, we’ll just get a patrol quest or something.”

  “Now,” Piper said. “Does anyone know where the bathhouse is?”

  Basil pointed toward the corner of the building. “If you head in that general direction, you can’t miss it. If you’ve reached the armorer, then you’ve gone too far.”

  “I’m never going to find that,” Piper said. “Does anyone want to come with me so I don’t get completely turned around?”

  “I will,” Selene volunteered. “I have a few layers of grime I’d like to scrub off.”

  “Great.” Waving at the group, Piper turned and darted toward the door. She couldn’t wait to wash all the zombie slime off herself. The quick plunge she’d taken into the stream had only cleaned off the superficial layer of gunk.

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  “Don’t forget,” Basil called out after her. “Tomorrow morning at first light.”

  “I’ll remember.” Piper slipped out of the front door to find Seraphina demonstrating some basic spear thrusts to Ophelia. Apparently, she’d been wrong, and the woman wasn’t as cold as she seemed. Then again, when they called aspirants gravebait, Seraphina probably didn’t want to get attached to newcomers.

  Ophelia practiced a thrust with her stick before grinning from ear to ear. “I hope I become a warrior like you someday.”

  Seraphina nodded. “I’m sure you will with your attitude. The Holy System rewards those who work hard and take chances.” The guard turned to Piper. “Better be careful or you’ll be recruited by a guild soon. Even the hosts might start sniffing around.”

  Piper tilted her head to the side in confusion. “Why do you say that?”

  “Three quests with no casualties?” Seraphina said. “That’s almost unheard of. Obviously, your group has some unusual skills.”

  “We had a lot of help this last time,” she replied. “We barely did anything.”

  “Still. It’s pretty rare. People are going to start taking notice.”

  “I see…” Piper hoped that wasn’t true, as her entire plan was to stay under the radar. Was it really so unusual for groups to survive three quests? Hopefully, no one with the ability to see through illusions started to investigate her group.

  Still, she felt her magic score was high enough that all but the most powerful classes would be fooled by her spells. After all, the necromancer hadn’t noticed her illusions. And she’d been around numerous people with rare and epic classes who had been oblivious as well.

  “Come on,” Selene said, dancing from foot to foot. “I’ve never been to a bathhouse before.”

  “You’re having a bath?” Ophelia said. “Thank goodness!”

  Piper only rolled her eyes at her friend. “I’m not that stinky.”

  “I saw a skunk fall over when we walked past it.”

  “You did not!”

  “I did, too.” Ophelia giggled. “You probably didn’t see it through the stink cloud surrounding you.”

  Selene gestured at them impatiently.

  With one final roll of her eyes, she followed Selene through the narrow streets. They had to stop after a short distance, as a column of marching soldiers blocked their path.

  Piper slowed and watched as hundreds of armored men and women trudged past. They all wore identical blue padded armor and clasped long spears with round shields on their arms. The majority looked dejected, with their gazes barely lifting from their feet.

  One of the soldiers broke away from the column and ducked into an alleyway to hide. But a moment later, a woman in resplendent silver armor appeared on horseback and galloped through the armored ranks. When she reached the cowering soldier—who didn’t look much older than Ophelia—a silvery lasso appeared in her hand.

  The armored woman threw the conjured rope overhead, and it landed around the young man’s chest. She yanked on the lasso and dragged him out from cover. Ignoring his panicked cries, she kicked her mount into a gallop.

  Piper’s mouth dropped open as the young man was dragged down the street behind the horse. No one in the army even seemed to take notice. What was wrong with them?

  Stepping forward, she felt Selene’s gentle touch on her arm. She frowned and almost shook her off before the dark-haired woman shook her head.

  “Don’t get involved.”

  “But she’s going to kill that boy!”

  “She’ll kill you if you try anything.”

  “I can’t just stand by and watch it happen.” Piper looked up and stomped her foot; the mounted woman and soldier had disappeared. Meanwhile, the ranks of the column had closed formation again. She would have to push her way through hundreds of armed men and women if she wanted to save the boy.

  “There’s nothing you can do for him,” Selene replied. “Or any of them. Their lives are forfeit.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “They’ve been conscripted into the Iron Host. Most likely, they’re heading to the northwest to fight the Pale Crusade.”

  “They’re going to fight the undead?”

  “Not many come back from the fighting there…” She trailed off, blinking rapidly.

  “What’s wrong with your empire?” Piper exclaimed. “Don’t they care about life at all?”

  Selene scrubbed her eyes. “The empire cares about strength and nothing else. If you’re strong, then you’re useful to them. Otherwise, you’re nothing but fodder.”

  “It doesn’t need to be that way,” she insisted. “Back in my village, we all worked together to defeat threats. We didn’t send young people off to die in droves.”

  “And how many of those people received powerful classes?”

  “Well… none really,” Piper said, pressing her lips together. “But things work differently there.”

  “If we don’t take chances when we’re aspirants, then we may never receive a powerful class. It’s the way of the world.”

  Piper wanted to say more, but she could see that arguing was pointless. Instead, she’d rather try to enjoy their bath together.

  It took the army another quarter of an hour to march past, the sheer number of soldiers staggering. How large was the war against the undead in the Northwest?

  Finally, when the road was clear, they darted across. And they weren’t the only ones, as others emerged from their houses, or resumed their travels. Clearly, no one wanted to get in the way of an Iron Host here.

  They reached the bathhouse a short time later. The building stood two storeys tall and the outer walls had been constructed of solid granite blocks. A sign with a painting of a bath hung above the front door.

  Another entrance further down had a picture of a naked man and woman who looked like they were wrestling. At first, she didn’t understand what the sign meant. But when realization dawned on her, she flushed down to the roots of her hair.

  I’m never going through that door.

  Piper waited until the others had gone inside before she used [Infernal Recall]. Her bow and quiver disappeared into the Infernal Realm. She didn’t want to run into any problems by leaving Gorebark unattended while she bathed. The demonic bow would almost certainly start spouting off demonic nonsense if she left it alone.

  A second later she followed Selene inside the building and entered a spacious room. The walls had paintings depicting people enjoying different services. One showed a man receiving a massage, while another depicted a group of women relaxing inside of a steamy room. Was this like an ad for their services?

  Padding forward on the tiled floor, she stopped when a young woman emerged from an alcove. She wore heavy makeup, most likely trying to appear older than she was. Her dark hair was pulled up in a bun with gleaming gems set in the middle. Her dress was simple but far too revealing for Piper’s tastes.

  “Hello,” the young woman greeted them, flashing a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Would you like to purchase a bath?” Her gaze flickered down to Piper’s dress. “And perhaps our washing services?”

  “Yes, please,” Piper said. “How much does it cost to wash clothing?” She paused as she fingered the hole where a zombie’s spear had penetrated. “And to mend it?”

  The woman seemed to contemplate her words for a minute. Then she held out her fingers to count. "The bath costs one copper piece. Usually, the washing is another one, but for the state of your clothing I’m going to request two. And the mending is another two.”

  Selene’s eyes widened as she counted up the coppers. “You want us to pay five coppers for a bath and to wash our clothing?”

  “It’s fine,” Piper said hurriedly. “I’ll pay it.”

  “The rest of you will only have to pay three coppers for the services.”

  Selene grumbled under her breath as she handed over one silver piece to get change. “I still say that’s too much.”

  Piper smiled at her companion’s reaction. She’d been blessed by arriving with an entire gold piece to the empire. Which had meant she hadn’t had to worry about money yet. But not everyone was as lucky as Ophelia and her. Still, it was funny how much of a cheapskate Selene was turning out to be.

  “Now,” Piper said, rubbing her hands together. “Where’re the baths?”

  “This way,” the attendant said. She led them through a narrow corridor until they entered a vast room with no roof. Above, the edges of the clouds burned crimson from the setting sun.

  At the center of the room was a pool of water, large enough to fit over a hundred people easily. On the sides were smaller pools, two of which had steam coming off the surface. Thankfully, everyone inside was female.

  Piper hadn’t even thought about what she would do if these were shared baths. She would never have worked up the courage to undress in front of a man.

  The three of them quickly stripped and handed their clothing to the attendant. But Piper and Selene kept their money purses.

  The woman took Piper’s dress between her thumb and forefinger and wrinkled her nose in disgust. She then passed the dress, boots, and cloak off to a young girl who disappeared with them into the bowels of the building.

  Without waiting, Ophelia ran forward and leapt into the nearest pool. The resulting splash soaked some onlookers, who appeared horrified at her antics.

  “Darn Ophelia,” Piper said under her breath.

  Following her friend at a slower pace, she stopped at the edge of the pool and dipped her toe into the water. It felt wonderfully warm. She gripped the side and slipped in, letting out a gasp of pleasure.

  Piper gripped the side of the pool with a death grip until she realized that the water only came up to her chest. Then she walked forward, smiling broadly. The last time she’d been in a pool, she’d been confined to a wheelchair. This was a much more enjoyable experience.

  Selene splashed into the water beside her before letting out a giggle. Then, the young woman swam into the center of the pool and turned over onto her back. With languid strokes, she swam back and forth.

  Someday, Piper would have to learn how to do that. Especially if she had to keep crossing that stupid bridge that looked like it would collapse from a stiff breeze. But for now, she just wanted to soak until all the grime was gone.

  As she relaxed in the water, Piper decided her new goal in life was to earn enough coin to afford a bowl of ice cream and a bath every day. If she could do that, then she’d be truly happy. And for now, that was enough for her.