I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm

I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter 11

"Please don't be sad, Mr. Flippers. You can play with the ball again next time we go train," I tried to cheer up the penguin who waddled slowly behind me while looking down at the floor.

Escaping the dodging arena took way longer than it should have thanks to the two pranksters throwing balls at me as I tried to navigate out. Despite their best efforts and possibly to their disappointment, I somehow got out unscathed. Afterward, the penguin attempted to bring one of those golden spheres out with him to play with later, however, it somehow teleported back inside the room every time he passed through the door.

"I'm sure we'll go back there together soon, little one. There might even be something for you to play with in the bath," Julia added.

"... I'm not sure I want to know what you're referring to," I muttered taking a step away from the elf girl.

"It sounds like someone super seriously needs a punch, doesn't he?" the elf girl asked rhetorically with an innocent smile on her face.

"If you keep smiling like that I might let you throw one."

"Ew..." it was the elf's turn to take a step away from me.

"Hey- that was a joke! I'm not into that kind of stuff I swear," I defended myself as I rescinded the step I used to move away earlier, "Besides, you can't punch me even if you tried- you saw those sick dodges yourself,"

"Oh really~" the elf girl grinned and quickly threw a weak punch toward my head to test me.

It was both predictable and purposely inaccurate, so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity. I effortlessly turned my body, caught her wrist, and pulled her close to me in one smooth motion. The elf girl's face immediately turned red and she looked away in a pitiful attempt to hide it.

"If you wanted a hug, you could've just asked," I teased.

We stood there in silence for a moment as Mr. Flippers looked up at us blankly.

"... You smell," she mumbled.

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"Ah-"

I let go of the embarrassed elf who took a step away, but a smile appeared on my face as I couldn't help but notice her distance to me stayed a lot closer than it was prior to the punch.

"Well we are going to the showers for a reason," I finished.

Indeed, I worked up a bit of sweat after that training. The penguin and I originally planned to meet Julia at the bathhouse after using the training facility, so I didn't reserve my energy and went all out with my swinging. Technically speaking, even if I held back in the sword practice, these two would've exhausted me anyway with their antics in the dodging area.

The bathhouse was right next door to the training facility, so it may seem weird that we were able to have such a long conversation on the way. There were two reasons for this: the penguin and the sheer size of the training facility.

Mr. Flippers was waddling while pulling a massive bag of sadness behind him due to losing the sphere, which made him follow us at a snail's pace. Eventually, I was forced to pick up the sulking penguin and carry the tiny creature the rest of the way.

Thanks to the dueling arena in the training facility, there had to be a massive gap between the two entrances. It was roughly the length of a football field between them. Of course, we quickly closed this gap after I began carrying the penguin.

We finally stepped into the entrance and were greeted by a stunning room in the shape of a giant octagon. It seemed to have some sort of white-tile flooring that was completely spotless despite the massive herd of creatures that came through earlier. In the center of this massive room was a giant fountain covered in lush and beautiful plants that seemed to bask peacefully in the warm water. Sunlight came through a glass-like window on the roof above this fountain which illuminated the entire area in warm natural light.

"Wow..." I couldn't stop that word from leaking through my lips.

Julia smiled at my reaction before saying, "I know, it's beautiful, isn't it? Seeing this actually made me a bit thankful for being brought here."

"Yeah, I can see why. I think this is the first time I've seen sunlight since we got here"

"Now that you mention it, I think you're right! We explored the academy together that first day and I don't remember seeing a single window..."

Is that intentional? Is whoever brought us here worried about us escaping or something? If they were, then why the heck would they risk putting a glass ceiling in here? I guess it doesn't matter... there's no way for me to get up there anyway.

During my pondering, I noticed that Mr. Flippers' gaze was completely locked on the sunlight shining from the roof. Although he stayed silent, the expression on his face needed no words to portray his thoughts.

"... I'm sorry," I muttered, holding the penguin a bit tighter.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Julia turned and asked.

"No, it's nothing. I can definitely see why you couldn't wait for Mr. Flippers and me," I said changing the subject, "Would you mind giving us a tour of this place?"

"I was going to do that anyway, but sure. Just follow me!"

If we chose the entrance of the bathhouse to be the southern face of its octagon shape, its northern face opposite to us would house the actual baths, the eastern face would be where the showers are located, and the western face would be where the sauna sits. Each of these rooms were connected to the main area through a very small entryway with a silver sign hanging above it that clearly stated what each path lead to.

Julia led us counter-clockwise starting with the showers. Unlike the baths which were both open and co-ed, all of the showers were located inside their own individual stalls for total privacy. Inside, there were a ton of different tools -many of which I was completely unfamiliar with- as well as soap, shampoo, and a few towels of different sizes provided. What surprised me more than the stockpile of supplies was the size of each stall itself; each one was practically its own small bathroom.

While we were already here, Mr. Flippers and I took a quick shower. I was a bit reluctant to do so in the middle of the tour, but Julia insisted so that we could all use the sauna together at the end. I brought the penguin into the stall with me and washed him first, completely covering him in bubbles to the point where I couldn't even see his flippers under the pile. My failure to contain my laughter at the sight made him mad and caused him to chase me around the stall until I finally calmed him down. I then quickly rinsed him off before sending the clean penguin to wait with Julia while I washed myself.

Even this quick shower made me feel a world of difference as the last of the cold saltwater that remained on my body was washed away. When I came out a few minutes later, I saw Julia standing there wearing a giant towel and Mr. Flippers with a tiny one next to her. She must have taken a towel meant for a much bigger creature because it was practically like she was wearing a dress.

After a bit of discussion, I was forced to also change into a towel while we were here to avoid needing to change for the sauna later on. Doing as I was told, I came back with a towel covering from my hips to a bit below my knees. I was greeted by a gaze directed towards my stomach once I stepped out.

"Julia, my eyes are up here," I teased.

"W-what? You just have a bit more muscle than I thought you would," Julia mumbled as she adverted her eyes.

"To be honest, I was surprised when I saw it too," I smiled looking at her flushed expression.

Though Julia did her best to look away, Mr. Flippers stared boldly at me without a hint of embarrassment.

"Squawk."

"Don't be jealous, Mr. Flippers. For all we know, you might have a six-pack hiding under all those feathers." I joked.

This somehow seemed to cheer up the little creature who straightened his posture with a smug look on his face. I somehow managed to hold back my laughter as we began making our way toward the baths.

We quickly reached our destination and to my surprise, instead of one giant bath, there were actually three different baths all next to one another. This area seemed to fit the natural theme hinted at by the fountain with giant rocks completely covered in plant life being used to separate each individual pool of water. The shape of each bath was slightly different from one another but they all seemed to mimic the look of a natural spring and were supplied water through a stream in the back.

According to Julia, each bath was a different temperature: the leftmost one was cold, the middle one was a bit warm, and the right one was hot. Steam was very clearly rising from the right bath and a quick dip of my hand let me estimate it was a bit above 100 degrees Fahrenheit and comparable to a hot tub. Though a few creatures relaxed in the middle and right baths, the left one was completely open so we let Mr. Flippers swim around for a bit.

"You weren't lying- the little guy is a crazy swimmer!" Julia couldn't hold back her astonishment seeing how fast he did laps under the water.

"I told you! Penguins can actually swim much faster than this, but the bath is a bit too small for that. We're definitely going to need to bring him back here often."

Although he fought us a bit when we eventually tried to get him out, Mr. Flippers looked insanely happy and refreshed after finally getting to swim again. Any remaining thoughts about losing the sphere seemed to vanish from his penguin brain and he was in a good mood as we made our way to our final destination: the sauna.

"Here it is!" Julia announced to the closed wooden door in front of us, "I was super curious about what's in here, but I wanted to wait for you two before I looked inside."

"You've never seen a sauna before? How'd you know we had to wear towels in there?"

"Well, everyone I saw go in there was wearing one so I just assumed it was some sort of rule..." she muttered.

"I guess that makes sense," I paused and looked down at the small penguin at my side, "Saunas are pretty hot though, so I don't think Mr. Flippers can stay in there too long."

"That's okay. We don't need to be there for long, I mainly just wanted to check it out with you guys since I kinda did the rest alone. Let's go in!"

With that settled, Julia opened the door and a flow of white steam flowed out of the entrance. 

Yeah, this really might not be the best for the penguin. It's too-

My thoughts were cut short by a pair of flippers holding onto the back of my leg.

"Hey, what's wrong Mr. Flippers? Are you hiding from the steam?" I asked the slightly shaking penguin.

There was no answer.

I peeked into the sauna through the open door and quickly locked eyes with a red scaley figure sitting on a wooden bench in front of us. 

"God dangit."