Chapter 212

Chapter 212 - Fury River

Rumble rumble.

Right after Eugene's army withdrew to the Divide, heavy rain accompanied by thunder and lightning poured down.

"We were lucky. If we were a little late, we would have been thoroughly soaked."

Eugene smiled at the sight of the ferry, which was full of vitality perhaps because of the victory reports they heard in advance.

"Getting wet is fine. Since we are already used to it, you know. But it seems it would have been hard to walk."

"Goodness, our feet are on the verge of sinking deep since we've put on a lot."

The subordinates also had joyful faces.

The jungle war, the worst environment among expeditions so far, has ended, and a situation where only returning to cozy homes remains.

Besides high-ranking commanders like Rex and Cassandra, ordinary warriors also hung spoils in clusters on their necks and arms.

Even Queen Picard of the Rakshas, who wielded absolute power, didn't have a solid faction in the early days. Providing precious metals to the Rakshas who love shiny things was essential.

Due to a lack of technology, they weren't high-purity gold, but they wore ornaments sufficiently worth money. Those were entirely taken by the subordinates.

"Slowly getting attached to this gloomy village too."

"If it's a rainy day, it's quite atmospheric, right? It's cool, the bugs disappear, and the air is refreshing."

The riverside base Divide where they stayed for a long time and added various convenience facilities. Some were also feeling regretful about leaving now.

Since it is a place densely overgrown with plants to the point that no forest or mountain can follow, the air is really refreshing. Breathing in feels like oxygen enters all the way to the brain and washes it.

"You're going to the Vagrant Castle in this weather?"

"Yes. Lord. The subjugation is also finished, and it's not that far of a distance either."

There were also many warriors wanting to return to the Vagrant Castle right away without minding such things.

Most are Blackhand Tribe members. It seems they want to feel the embrace of their families who must be waiting at the castle even a moment sooner.

Returning from a tough business trip and casting 'Daddy's home!' is a refresher for heads of households working outside.

The Blackhand Tribe has particularly strong bonds between families. As a warrior tribe, it's because they don't know when death might separate them.

Fathers or mothers who return after finishing work are always greeted affectionately by their children. Just like right now.

"Daddy! Daddyyy."

A child speaking with a lisp runs hoppingly and is lifted in the dad's hands.

"Welcome back! I missed you!"

A daughter who entered puberty and was maturing into a lady also ran barefoot and greeted him affectionately.

Like a young monkey held in its mother's embrace, she jumps and clings to the upper body of her father wearing armor.

"What is this undignified behavior from a fully grown maiden?"

Though he speaks like that, the father's face is full of happiness. The fact that the clinging daughter's arm and leg strength is becoming stronger and her weight is also increasing makes him physically realize she is growing rapidly.

"Ew. You got a wound on your face, Daddy."

"It's nothing."

Smooch.

Though he grumbles with words, receiving a kiss his daughter gives on his wound makes his mouth hang on his ears.

Much less if it's a state where they hung spoils in clusters on their necks and arms like now, it's natural for the heads of households' spirits to rise even more.

Like squires taking off knights' armor, families take off the head of household's armor.

The spoils retrieved by the families' hands at this time correspond to the 'chicken dad bought on his way home from work' in Eugene's memory.

- Your wife must be close to giving birth? Why not just wait inside the castle?

- I am honored you remembered. But I cannot be the only one staying behind when everyone else is fighting.

Since there were also those who left their pregnant wives behind, most returned to the Vagrant Castle without delay.

Those who remained in the Divide with Eugene are mostly Dwarves.

"..."

"Smack."

The Dwarves sent envious gazes at the empty spots of the Dark Elves. With half of the expeditionary force gone, it feels truly empty.

"Don't worry since the next destination will be heading to your hometown."

"Thank you! Excellency!"

Led by Rampage, the Dwarven centurions cheered.

"Are there not also those who haven't been able to return for over 2 years at the longest?"

That was the case for the Dwarves who had been active in the Appen Peninsula from before meeting Eugene. They were those who originally planned to return to their hometowns after earning money for about a few more months.

- I can't miss this opportunity to make money!

- Commander Rampage is calling? Of course I must go!

Intoxicated by the repeated victories and the mystery of the Vagrant Castle after joining, time flew by in a flash.

"Usually, if it drags on for over a year, we tend to make some time in between to temporarily go back. But when we snap out of it, we find ourselves in places like Britannia or the Snow Country..."

Under Eugene's command, an angle to return in between simply couldn't be found. Meals, equipment, medical care, compensation, welfare benefits. It was the only bad point under Eugene who takes incredibly good care of them.

"Family is the best. But since it's my first time in the East, I don't know how it will be."

"It is a good place to live. The territoriality is a bit severe starting from the mountains, but if we take the lead, no one will be able to treat Your Excellency disrespectfully."

Thinking about introducing their hometown, Rampage smiled radiantly.

The eastern part of Roman, the hometown of the Dwarves, has distributed mountainous terrain that is neither high nor low. Even if the continent suffers from wars and plagues, this place always enjoys stable abundance.

And the Hammer Brotherhood warriors bathed in sweet dreams thinking about the spoils and achievements they will show in their hometown. Because they produced tremendous accomplishments that would make any seniors in history cover their beards in shame.

* * *

The disaster that swept through was enormous, but there were few things Eugene's army could do as postwar processing.

Pillaging occurring in humans' wars ends at the level of looting food and wealth, but the Rakshas were much more frugal and tidy.

Except for some to be taken as slaves, they completely deboned everything up to the bones and put them in their stomachs. Consequently, there are not many refugees to help.

"The Raksha bastards disappeared?"

Those who had been hiding and gathered at the Divide having become a mess like beggars. Those rescued while living a miserable life in Acran.

Both sides started a fresh start making the outposts Eugene's army constructed as temporary camps.

They lost many things, but there isn't only misfortune. Among the succor received from Eugene's army, there are also things capable of changing their lives themselves.

"They are fellas that eat anything well. Raise them well."

"They are much bigger than tapirs! But they are super docile!"

The Cat-folk men surrounding the pigs exclaimed in continuous admiration. This large livestock, which hadn't existed in their land, harbored tremendous potential even at a glance.

"Hehe. Soft and squishy."

A Cat-folk boy smiled while touching a pig's nose.

"Here. There are many poisonous snakes. Many poisonous insects too."

"Nothing to worry about."

At the worry of an older Cat-folk, a tribal warrior showed himself stroking the pig's thick lips and neck flesh.

"Since their skin is so thick, the fangs of passable poisonous snakes or poisonous insects don't even penetrate. They'll rather catch and eat them as a delicacy."

The livestock Eugene gifted weren't just pigs.

Plop.

"Uwaat!"

"■■■?!"

The Cat-folk children cheered at the sight of hens laying pure white eggs.

When a girl placed a frog she caught in front of it as health food, the hen pecked it with its beak and ate it.

"Kyaak!"

At that sight, the children convulsed with laughter again. Since the reaction was this good, a smile also hung on the lips of the tribal warrior introducing it.

Unlike adults, the children, having nothing to do and finding it dangerous, had only circled around the camp anyway. They began catching all sorts of insects as presents for the new family members.

Peck peck.

Peck peck peck.

The sight of the hens and chicks snapping up and eating anything given well. That brought back the smiles of the children that had disappeared during the chaos of war.

"Same as pigs, they eat passable things all well. From now on, you must gather fish bones instead of throwing them away."

The tribal warrior gathered the Cat-folk women and taught them precautions.

"Bones?"

"Because seeds or insects alone are not enough to lay good eggs. Pound the fish bones to make powder and feed it to them. They will lay eggs more frequently, and the shells will become sturdy so they won't break vainly."

The supplies left over from this expedition. Things with limited shelf life like combat rations and medical supplies also had to be consumed anyway.

Generously bestowing them made the Cat-folks' reaction to Eugene's army reach the paramount level. They were being praised as an army of gods in many meanings.

However, Eugene wasn't merely distributing charity purely from a humanitarian standpoint. The survival of the natives was also connected to his interests.

"Excellency. Will you perhaps mobilize them for the gold mine development?"

Yakson asked cautiously.

He knows there is nothing free in the world. It is a fact that Eugene's succor is absolutely necessary right now, but it was also troublesome to just snap it up without thinking.

"What would guys who haven't even swung a pickaxe once in their lives know? If we are to develop it, we must use professional miners."

This is the reason Eugene chose the Dwarf kingdom as his next destination. Apart from picking up the families of the Hammer Brotherhood, he needed professionals to develop and operate the gold mines.

"However, having villages where we can receive supplies of food and materials is much better. Including laborers to help with miscellaneous chores."

What Eugene desires is for healthy villages to exist at certain bases.

"Whether receiving food or workers, I will always pay a fair price, so do not worry about that."

"Thank you for your grace!"

Compared to the greedy nobles of the old continent, it is too merciful a treatment.

However, honestly speaking, Yakson wasn't pleased with this either. No matter how mercifully Eugene treated them, there were too many elements of instability in a situation where the hierarchy of the strong and the weak is clear.

Moreover, he was also concerned that the purity the Cat-folk natives possessed would become tainted in front of the conveniences of civilization received from Eugene.

'Cannot hope for more things here.'

Yakson buried his inner thoughts and bowed his head deeply. It was a crazy act to make demands crossing the line just because the other party came out generously.

Being saved from the threat of the Rakshas alone is an unbelievable miracle.

* * *

After the vicinity became safe, Eugene set out on an exploration through the watercourse connecting from the Divide. Yakson, acting as the guide, pointed to one of the tributaries branching out from the wide river.

"If you follow this watercourse, the Fury River will appear."

It is a place Eugene had continuously harbored interest in since arriving in the new continent. Hearing it wasn't far from the Divide, he immediately went to find it.

"Thanks to your invention, we are moving much more pleasantly."

"I am honored. Excellency."

The Dwarf blacksmith Walker who joined from the castle developed new oars. He reduced the weight to less than half by utilizing light yet sturdy materials instead of solid wood.

With the Dwarves' unique strength and endurance added here, a speed unbelievable for a conventional boat came out.

"Excellency. You must be careful from here. If you fall in by mistake, it doesn't end with just swallowing some water. If things go wrong, you might be boiled just like that."

"It seems so. The water changed suddenly."

Most rivers meticulously moistening the vast jungle are turbid. However, passing a certain boundary line, it suddenly became clearly lucid.

"Oh, it's hot."

When Eugene reached out and touched the river water, it was the perfect temperature to soak the body. It is water where life cannot live in a different sense from the Dead Sea.

"Damn it."

"M-My hand doesn't reach."

The Dwarves also wanted to experience that wondrous feeling, but regrettably, their short arms couldn't reach the water surface.

The exploration members who descended on the riverside after arriving at the destination like that.

Bloop bloop bloop.

"..."

The Dwarves lost their words in front of the boiling river. One centurion muttered.

"Last time an ice mountain drifted in the sea."

Even though they had experienced all sorts of wondrous things while adventuring following Eugene, there is a limit also to that.

For them, who had only seen boiling water at the level of a pot at best, the sight of an entire river spewing steam was close to massive magic.

"Excellency. The length is about 9km, and deep places are close to 10m deep."

"Amazing. There isn't even a volcano, so where on earth is the heat coming from?"

"I also searched everywhere for 30 years but couldn't find it. It might be the only place in the world."

It is an era where geology hasn't developed that far, but experientially, hot springs are known to form in volcanic regions. However, the Fury River was a place honoring such common sense.

"Could it perhaps be a place the natives consider sacred?"

"No. Rather, they fear and avoid it. The people here believe the reason the river is hot is because the netherworld is beneath it."

"True. If it were a sacred river, they would have attached a more sublime name instead of Fury."

For Eugene, it was a fortunate matter. If it were a river the natives considered sacred, what he was about to do now would become tiring in many ways.

Yakson guided Eugene to a rocky area where the hot tributary flowed and formed ponds large and small.

"This place is the closest to the conditions you mentioned. How is it?"

"Excellent. This is exactly what I was hoping for."

Close accessibility including the Divide and native camps.

Appropriate water temperature and space to accommodate a large number of personnel.

Wide open grounds advantageous for securing safety and standing guard.

"There is also a waterfall to use as a cold bath in an area about the size of three or four parade grounds. Just perfect."

Eugene was conceptualizing this world's first hot spring spa.

* * *

Most of the vassals showed a positive reaction to the returned Eugene's explanation. Because it is Eugene who always consumes practically, everyone showed signs of welcoming this rare display of luxury.

For nobles, especially a Great Lord of Eugene's level, frugality wasn't a virtue but a symbol of lacking virtue.

It is just nicely packaged because Eugene is an overwhelmingly great figure as a knight and conquering monarch.

For the subordinates, they also wanted to see their Liege Lord proudly displaying his majesty while slowly scattering silver coins.

"A hot spring! A hot spring!"

Marbas stroked his beard with a satisfied face. No old man hates soaking their bodies in heat. Given the situation where he almost died from a severe cold, his heart was moved even more.

"Please leave the barrier installation to me. I will perfectly fortify it so we can enjoy it peacefully inside."

Rampage presented a guard post plan he stayed up all night making with dark-circled eyes.

However, there were also those who felt regretful.

"To think of construction in such an outback. Isn't it a bit of a waste? If you're going to do it anyway, in Britannia..."

"Even if it is built here, who will see it? It will probably be hard to use it even a few times."

The point was that it was construction carried out in a place that isn't the main stage of activity.

"Building a spa at the Fury River isn't for my luxury. It is welfare for those who will work in the mines in the future. It would be problematic if the only thing we could give to those who leave their hometowns and come all the way here was money, right?"

"Ah..."

A hefty compensation and the desire to explore the gold mines of a new world.

It is definitely a good bait to stimulate the miners' spirit of challenge, but this alone is not enough.

"The spa is just the beginning. I'd also like to build facilities where one can enjoy sunbathing and sea bathing at the ocean."

Unlike the hot, humid, and dangerous jungle, the ocean here is the best candidate for a resort.

The average water temperature is high, so it is warm all year round, and the sand is a white beach that draws admiration just by looking. Various ingredients were caught at the boundary where freshwater and seawater meet.

"Well, things like this aren't important right now. Shall we get up slowly? There's a spot I had my eye on in the Fury River. Everyone needs to loosen up their bodies, right?"

* * *

Looking anywhere, steam and more steam!

Rather than a limited indoors, the Dark Elf women let out exclamations at the pure white veil covering the whole world.

The tributary Eugene had set his eyes on was a place reachable on foot from the Divide.

Splash splash.

The rocky area stepped on barefoot is clean without a single blade of grass or grain of sand. The entire area is even being heated by steam, so it's as warm as an ondol.

"Ahahaha!"

"Kid! What are you doing on the ground... Kyaak!"

Whether they liked that hot sensation, the children rolled around on the ground. A mother who was scolding and chasing after slipped and fell.

"Don't go into the areas with red flags! Because it's too hot there!"

"The Hammer guys said a massive snake lives there, will it be okay?"

"Since it's a tributary here, it's at this level, the river over there is much hotter. You don't have to worry about that."

"Aah! So refreshing! Last time at the Snow Country it was truly..."

The Dark Elf ladies and mothers stripped off their clothes and entered the water.

Fitting for a nomadic tribe, they are not used to exposing their naked bodies to others, but they have become accustomed to public baths in the Vagrant Castle life.

The ponds formed on the rocky area receiving the tributary of the Fury River varied. Ranging from small ones the size for one family to enter, to large ones bigger than a parade ground.

It's a structure where it doesn't pool and flows to other tributaries, and the temperature is high, so there are no worries about hygiene issues.

"What are these numbers?"

In front of each pond, a sign displaying numbers is hung.

"It's the temperature the advance party measured. The higher the number, the hotter it is."

Some women with strong spirits of challenge dipped their toes into the high-numbered ponds.

"Ah hot!"

And then tasted the spiciness and fled hurriedly.

There are also women who laid wide towels on the rocky area and lied face down on top of them to heat their bodies. Generally preferred by the older age group.

"Ah, it's raining!"

A rain shower fell.

"To think of being struck by rain while bathing. Somewhat feels good."

"Feels like getting a massage?"

The rainfall isn't that strong either. The Dark Elf women reached out their arms towards the drizzling sky and closed their eyes.

For reference, the ponds with red flags, where entering the water is impossible, also had their own ways of utilization.

"Did you bring the eggs?"

The women looked at the eggs contained in baskets with holes poked loosely for water to easily pass through. Getting hit by the hot water flowing along the pebbles, they are rolling around hither and thither.

"The Lord taught us this. He said it's good to boil and eat them here."

At the words of tribal knight Luden's wife, everyone looks with envy. It's not because of the eggs, but envy regarding having a husband capable of directly communicating with Eugene.

"Heuaaang! Sis!"

"Idiot! That's why I told you to be careful?!"

The younger sister who entered the hot water without thinking and burst into tears. Her older sister holding that hand quickly led her to the cold bath of the waterfall.

Splash!

Though it's called a cold bath, it provided the perfect coolness thanks to the surrounding steam and the heated earth.

"Please come this way."

Valda, Cassandra, and Homi were guided here to the best spot. An unblocked view offering a sight of the entire river, proper water temperature, and a safe place with a guard post right nearby.

The female warriors standing guard climbing up high rocks are completely naked. It's a situation where one can't even wear armor in a place with humidity and temperature incomparable to the jungle.

Holding bows or spears with bare bodies and unnecessarily patrolling with sharp glares, they exuded an atmosphere hard to describe.

Trickle trickle.

Homi groomed her tail. The abundant fur is bound to tangle if left alone, but there is a risk of getting it torn out if just brushed recklessly. A process of soaking and untangling it in water like this is necessary.

"Cute."

Seeing her spotted pattern stretching out wet, Valda smiled softly. It is a proper rest time as a reward for finishing a fierce war in an unfamiliar land.

They also luxuriated in the most special place of this pond. The place where the women are soaking their feet, small fish like killifish are swimming busily.

"Amazing. To think of fish living in warm water. Ahaha it tickles."

"Eugene said they only peck and eat dead skin cells."

When Valda and Cassandra also soaked their feet, the small fish approached. They go back and forth between the two ladies' toes and service them diligently.

Peck! Peck!

Valda enjoyed the sensation of the small fish lips continuously presenting kisses with her eyes gently closed.

"My husband also often used to do this for me when we had our baby."

"Ugh! Pervert!"

The conversation of married women chatting and giggling transitioned into unreserved dirty jokes in the blink of an eye.

"..."

Valda stiffened at the curiosity-filled gazes gathering towards her as the noisy chattering dwindled.

No one dared to ask first, but everyone had faces looking like they would die of curiosity about how the marital harmony between Valda and Eugene was.

* * *

Meanwhile, the men's bath area where Eugene was, was noisy in a different sense.

"Damn it!"

"Hair! This fucking! Hair is floating around! Don't you manage it?!"

The Dark Elves who leaped into the hot spring together with the Dwarves stepped back in astonishment.

In a place receiving the buoyancy of the bubbling water bubbles, unidentifiable hairs are floating around. They fell out from the Dwarves.

"This is beard hair. You guys are too much too. Do you know how cleanly the Dwarves usually manage their beards?"

"Right! Anyway, those smooth-faced guys think only their bodies are clean. Tsk tsk."

The Dwarves leveraging Eugene as backing clicked their tongues as if taking this opportunity.

"You guys haven't done well either. It's a bath shared by everyone, so what is this combing? That's why hair pours out."

"Uh, umm... hehe."

"Because it's my first time coming to a place so good for grooming beards."

The triumphant Dwarves stealthily set down the combs each held in their hands.

Their beards, thanks to the warm water and steam, have become a straight shape reminiscent of Taoist immortals.

"The capture traps and nets will be completed soon."

"The grasp on the Vertigos' habitats is also nearly finished."

And as always, the men's bath transitioned into talking about work. This is the last objective in this jungle.

- We shall return triumphantly to the hometown as cavalry.

It was time to keep what Eugene promised the Hammer Brotherhood.