Future and bath

Morning, once again, to think it hasn't even been a week since I got here.

I got a room in the cheapest inn I could find, half a coin a day, by the way half a coin is exactly that, a coin cut in half, I had to pay for two days since I had no halves.

I don't feel like moving right now, and the temperature doesn't help, they were not kind enough to provide me with a blanket, cheap bastards.

So here I am fully dressed laying down on a wooden board covered by dry grass with a piece of hard leather on top, funnily enough, I had it worse.

It is about time I made a list of priorities, I can't run around blindly, not after I got all this coin, if I use it wisely it should last me at least one to two months.

The first one is easy, survive, it is likely that I would die in a ditch somewhere if I'm not careful, probably eaten too, knowing the rumors going around.

The second one is knowledge, libraries should exist, the problem is if I am allowed inside, so I have to clean myself and get some new clothes.

Public baths exist, in my world, they existed for thousands of years, it is likely that they also have them here.

Clothes should be easy, visit a tailor, no that would be too expensive, I saw some stalls in the square selling basic clothes and should look at those first.

What else is there, food and a proper living area, I can't just stay in an inn with no security, I can't leave any items here, the door has no lock you just push it open. If my coin gets stolen I would be in big trouble.

How expensive would a house be, oddly enough I could possibly afford a small one, in a poor district where all the thugs reside, let's not do that.

Exploring the city is also very important, but it is too dangerous right now, while there seem to be plenty of guards around it is not safe, I can't risk losing everything I own.

I have all the coins in the backpack, it needs to stay on my person at all times.

What else is there?

Work, I need to make coin, I said I would look into the mirror problem, I guess that's somewhere to start, it gives me a reason to visit the artisan district if there even is something like that.

Then there's the port, I couldn't see any fish being sold in the square so it must be in the port area, there is a possibility of fish being extremely cheap which would solve the food problem.

This should do, for now, let's make sure I got it right, get clean, get food, get clothes, look for a library, find a way to store my money, look for a blacksmith or something, inspect the port, don't get robbed and lastly return before nighttime.

I have to hurry, daylight's burning.

So I go down to the first floor and the caretaker greets me. He is a kid, looks like a street urchin, probably hired by someone to keep watch.

It was easy enough to ask him where the baths were, nothing special about the kid, dirty, malnourished, and with a funny accent.

As I go down the almost empty streets I take out a handful of coins from my backpack and stick them in my pocket, people don't need to see me take the coins out of the bag.

After a while of walking, I reached a long flight of stairs, the kid told me the baths are at the top, judging by how many people are going up the stairs right now he may have been right.

The bathhouse if magnificent, tall columns with a wide entrance and lots of armed guards doing their job, hopefully.

As I head inside there is a pretty lady carrying a basket standing by the entrance flanked by two guards, all of them are dressed the same as the gate guards so I guess this bathhouse should be public property or at least belong to the same person that owns this city.

It seems she is collecting money from the people.

As I get closer to her she extends the basket towards me so I ask.

''How much for a soak''

''We do not offer such services'' I just asked for a soak, what services is she talking about.

Nevermind, I get it, my bad, at least I know this place is not a brothel.

I shake my head as I say.''You must have misunderstood me, I am a traveler, I had no intention of offending you''

One of the guards scoffs.

With a small frown, she says while pointing at the basket with her chin.

''Entrance fee is three coins'' Three godforsaken coins, I could eat for several days with that.

I just take them out of my pocket and throw them in the basket, they make a clicking noise as they land.

The basket is full of coin, I now understand what the guards are here for, they probably make hundreds of coins a day here. They are here less for the safety of the people, more for the safety of the coin.

As I head further inside the air changes from mildly cold to comforting and warm, they seem to have warm water here.

Question is where should I leave my stuff, coin specifically.

By following other foul-smelling people I found a washing area, dozens of people were kneeling by the waterside cleaning their clothes, they even have soap.

Let's get to it then.

With no fear nor shame I get fully naked and start washing my clothes while sitting on my backpack like a dragon sitting on a hoard of gold, only mine is not a mountain nor is it gold.

It took longer than I wanted to clean my clothes, dirt is quite hard to take off.

There is no drying area so I carry my soaked clothes in hand while looking for the bathing area, it was easy to find and thankfully you could leave your belongings on the side, as long as they did not get in the water, so I did just that.

I got the still dirty backpack on the stone covered ground then covered it with my wet clothes and got in the water as close to them as possible.

I am ashamed to say I spent an excessive amount of time in the water, long enough for my hands to look like sponges.

Getting out of the water I tried drying myself a bit, it went quite well as I still had no hair.

The clothes are wet and the weather outside cold, I just hope I don't get sick. So I follow the other people walking out until we reach a small door, taking into account that the hallways were big and beautiful, such a tiny door that only allows one person to pass at a time is quite odd.

Maybe it serves as a checkpoint of sorts.

I, too, line up and get ready to go through the door, it doesn't take long for my turn to come.

With no hesitation, I walked forward and as I got to the other side I felt as if someone squeezed me in a suit several sizes too small, it was both uncomfortable and constricting.

As I exit on the other side, fully dried, there is one thing on my mind.

They have a magical hairdryer.