Four consecutive days of mountain trails were absolutely no problem in terms of physical strength for the three of them. But comfort, that was truly another story.

Especially for George, it was all the more so. He twisted and turned as he said to Erwin, "I need to go to the bathhouse for a bath."

"Is there a bathhouse around here?" Erwin asked.

"Yes, I saw one just as we came up, it's right next door." Saying this, George walked to the window, pulled back the curtain, and pointed at a steaming building next to them.

Erwin sighed helplessly, "Alright, you can go, but we have to keep watch for you."

"Keep watch for me?" George felt a bit embarrassed.

Matthew interjected, "You need to take off your armor to bathe, right? When you take off your armor, that's when you are most vulnerable. If someone were to attack you then, we'd be down one man immediately."

Speaking of this, Matthew sniffed his own sleeve and frowned, "I want to bathe too, and preferably wash all the clothes and armor. We can take turns keeping watch."

"Alright..." George reluctantly responded.

...

Under the night sky, the settlement wasn't bustling, but it wasn't desolate either.

Those unloading the cargo were still busy by the warehouse, seemingly not going to finish anytime soon.

In the central open area, someone was drawing water from a well, apparently to do laundry. Occasionally, the tavern in the corner erupted with laughter, from merchants who, after four days of travel on foot, were now relaxing.

The three of them exited through the back door of the inn and went into the neighboring bathhouse. They were still in armor and carrying the big box with their swords.

"Three of you?" The bathhouse owner stretched his neck from behind the counter.

Erwin lifted his visor and quietly said, "One."

"One?" questioned the bathhouse owner, stretching his neck further to look at the two behind Erwin.

Erwin added, "He'll bathe first, we'll bathe later."

Saying this, he extended both hands to George.

"Do I undress here?" George asked in a low voice.

"Just taking off your armor, not your clothes. This armor is very valuable and has many components. If you wear it inside and it gets lost, whose fault would that be?" Matthew said beside him.

With no choice, George began to slowly remove his heavy armor, sitting on a chair in the bathhouse corridor in front of everyone.

...

"They're very cautious." From where the girl stood, she could see through the outer window of the bathhouse. George stripped down to his underclothes, handing his armor and weapons to Erwin before turning into the main bath with a change of clothes.

Of course, her good eyesight helped.

Behind her, a middle-aged man in armor who had gone to the door to say something to his subordinates returned behind her and quietly said, "We've sent people to search their room, found nothing. Whatever's useful must be on them, they're indeed very cautious."

"Then I want to see just how cautious they can be."

"Wasn't there talk of a Lich? Even if we dealt with them, it would still..."

"The Lich won't act. Or, even if the Lich acts, someone will deal with it for us. The Abyss promised me." As she spoke, the corners of her mouth slightly curled up.

...

About an hour later, George walked out of the main bath wearing his underclothes, looking very tired.

"It took this long just for a bath? My turn!"

Matthew started hastily removing his armor, while George sat beside him, bit by bit putting on the armor he had just taken off.

The pieces of the knight's heavy armor were numerous. Whether taking it off or putting it on, without help, it was quite a task.

Soon, Matthew finished taking off his armor and rushed into the bath.

George, only halfway through donning his armor, sat wearily beside Erwin.

"What's up?" Erwin asked.

"Tired." George straightened and continued slowly putting on his armor, "I'm thinking, should we take shifts sleeping tonight?"

"We can sleep in our armor, as long as one person stays awake," Erwin replied without hesitation.

George's expression suddenly looked even more fatigued.

Only after putting on all the armor pieces and draping his burlap cloak over did he softly say, "Maybe we shouldn't have come, at least not just the three of us. At this rate, we might exhaust ourselves to death before the Demon Envoy even appears."

"If being a knight were easy, everyone would be a knight. Of course, if you want the old-fashioned knights, just ignore what I said."

"You're right," George replied, resigned.

Once fully armored, he silently sat on the bathhouse corridor's chair with Erwin, waiting.

Half an hour later, Matthew emerged from the main bath.

"Refreshing! So comfortable! If only I could have a nap, it would be perfect. Well, I know it's not possible, just saying. Hahaha!"

As Matthew started putting on his armor, Erwin began taking his off.

After undressing, he grabbed his change of clothes and headed into the main bath.

Perhaps it was because today marked the arrival of the first caravan in Kapu since the thaw; the bath was quite crowded. There were about twenty people.

Five large pools were artfully laid out with tiles, one in each corner and a cross-shaped one in the center. Guests were scattered in groups of twos and threes, soaking and chatting in the pools. Some even sipped on wine or unknown drinks.

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