"Is it My Lady herself?"
...My apologies, I was wrong. A mere 20 copper pennies? Not expensive at all.
Don Quixote swallowed hard, admitting he was a little tempted.
Lady Ella's face changed as she chuckled:
"If My Lord has Gold Dragons, it's not impossible for me to bathe you myself."
...Another motivation to make money.
Don Quixote certainly wouldn't admit he was broke. He smiled confidently:
"Of course I have Gold Dragons. I just wonder if My Lady can handle them?"
Lady Ella glanced at the worn, rusty mail Don Quixote was wearing. Without being impolite enough to point it out directly, she replied smoothly:
"Then I'll wait for My Lord to take out his Gold Dragons~"
...Damn it!
Don Quixote blushed suddenly, thinking of who knows what.
He hurriedly looked left and right, pretending to inspect the room's environment.
...Oh, looks like he's still a virgin.
Seeing this, Lady Ella smiled inwardly with surprise.
The customs of this world were generally quite open.
Nobles didn't deliberately suppress the needs of the smallfolk in that regard.
Or rather, most nobles played fast and loose themselves and never bothered to hide it.
So for someone like Don Quixote, a man in his twenties, to still be a virgin...
It certainly surprised Lady Ella.
In her eyes, since Don Quixote chose a private room, it meant he had some status.
After all, even some destitute knights chose to squeeze into the common room with a dozen other people.
Since he had status, or at least money, it would have been easy for Don Quixote to have a chaotic private life if he wanted.
Thinking about this, Lady Ella waited quietly for a moment.
Then she said:
"Does My Lord want a private bath or the public bath?"
Don Quixote lowered his voice:
"Private bath."
It wasn't that he wanted someone to help him wash; he just wasn't in the habit of bathing with other people.
Yes, that was it.
Lady Ella smiled slightly:
"Please follow me, My Lord."
---
In the small, circular stone pool, steam from the hot water blurred his vision.
Don Quixote stripped off his clothes and immersed himself:
"So comfortable. Taking a hot bath in this freezing weather is a true luxury!"
At this moment, his mind began to empty.
He no longer thought about those strange ideas, nor did he ponder his future.
He just wanted to zone out and let the pool of hot water drive away the physical and mental exhaustion of many years.
"It's good to have money. If you have enough money, even the bitter cold of the North can feel like spring all year round."
Closing his eyes in the bath, Don Quixote sighed deeply with emotion.
Suddenly, his eyes flickered open.
A light-footed figure drifted closer.
...Not a man, but a girl.
Don Quixote glanced at her, felt relieved, and closed his eyes again to relax.
Half asleep and half awake.
The girl slowly knelt at the edge of the circular stone pool and gently scrubbed him with soft hands.
Don Quixote felt as if he were lying in a meadow in spring, surrounded by a gentle breeze and soft grass.
...It was so comfortable he really wanted to fall asleep.
Don Quixote moved a little.
"Don't move, My Lord."
The girl reached out and held his hands down.
She wouldn't let him move again.
On the outskirts of Castle Cerwyn.
Three figures on stocky horses hid quietly in the darkness.
The night wind was biting cold.
After holding his temper and waiting a while longer, he couldn't take it anymore.
A sturdy man whispered in dissatisfaction:
"York, did you see wrong? The bastard you want to teach a lesson doesn't live in the city, does he?"
York, the drunkard who had been beaten by Don Quixote, cursed under his breath before saying:
"Impossible! I watched outside the Iron Axe Tavern yesterday, and I saw that bastard leave Castle Cerwyn with my own eyes at sunset."
Another person suddenly said:
"Could he have gone back into Castle Cerwyn?"
York shook his head firmly:
"Absolutely impossible! I waited a while longer until the gates closed before going home. That bastard definitely didn't go back; he absolutely lives outside the city!"
"Maybe you weren't sober and missed him," the sturdy man frowned.
"We've been waiting here for four hours this time, and we haven't seen the person you mentioned leave Castle Cerwyn."
The other person chimed in:
"Exactly, York. You might have missed him yesterday because you were still drunk! Now the gates are closed, and there's no sign of him.
"The bastard you want to teach a lesson must live in the city."
...Was I really not sober yesterday? Did I really miss him?
York watched the gates of Castle Cerwyn slowly close, confusion filling his eyes.
"Damn, it's freezing!"
The sturdy man cursed:
"York, we should go! There's no point waiting any longer.
"By the way, if the person you want to teach a lesson really lives in the city, count me out next time!"
"Me too," the other person added.
Starting a fight in Castle Cerwyn was different from doing it outside the city.
They were all small-time figures making a living under House Cerwyn; they didn't want to provoke House Cerwyn over a trivial matter.
Besides, the captain of the Castle Cerwyn watch was the backer of the Iron Axe Tavern.
Causing trouble in the city was asking for it.
"Damn bastard!"
York cursed inwardly again, then said helplessly:
"Let's go. I'll let that bastard off this time. But if we run into him outside the city next time, you have to help me!"
"No problem!"
The two men had waited in the cold wind for four hours for nothing and were full of anger.
York looked unwillingly in the direction of Castle Cerwyn one last time. Finding nothing, he reined his horse around and said:
"Fck! Froze all night. Let's go get warm."
"Hehe, good idea," the sturdy man beamed.
"I know a wild inn where the girls are nice."
"Let's go then. It's really cold!"
---
"So warm."
Don Quixote, who had suddenly fallen in love with bathing, took a bath every day for a full month.
During this month, there were three more incidents of drunken trouble at the Iron Axe Tavern.
Don Quixote resolved them easily.
Aside from that, it was very routine and boring—mostly just slacking off and resting.
And at night, to wash away the "smell of work," Don Quixote chose to continue bathing.
Hehe, bathing is truly comfortable.
Not something to be shared with outsiders.
Of course, he didn't neglect improving his strength.
Most of the random rewards from the thirty-plus quests were monetary.
The lowest was 5 silver stags, the highest 20.
He had obtained a total of 215 silver stags.
But his expenses were also high.
Don Quixote was now not only the order-keeper of the Iron Axe Tavern but also its biggest customer.
Good wine and meat for every meal cost him nearly a hundred silver stags in a month.
But it wasn't a waste.
With the good conditions of meat at every meal, his physique gradually made up for past deficits.
Plus, the random quest rewards included Blood Apples a few times.
His personal stats had changed significantly.
[Name: Don Quixote]
[Identity: Knight]
[Spirit: 1.85]
[Vitality: 1.47]
With the changes in spirit, energy, and the increase in vitality, Don Quixote felt that the current him could beat two of the him from a month ago.
---
After finishing another comfortable bath, Don Quixote waved to the girl he had become familiar with:
"Adele, see you tomorrow night!"
The petite girl in the dim light smiled too:
"See you tomorrow night, My Lord."
...