‘No, it seems unnaturally smooth?’

As if it had once been touched by human hands to become this flat, though now less maintained.

Thinking this as she went further in, an even more surprising sight unfolded.

‘…A building? No, is it like a temple?’

This wasn’t simply an isolated island.

There were remnants of architectural structures here and there. But they weren’t modern-style buildings.

Though she wasn’t sure, they looked quite old.

Somehow like ruins…

‘…Ruins?’

‘You know? There are still undiscovered ruins remaining in Kramer territory?’

Could this be the place Constantine mentioned?

“Oh-?! No way?!”

“Kyang?”

“Is this that place? The Arles-Promesa ruins?!”

Seeing her expression brighten instantly to the point of almost jumping up and down, Yolly shook his head.

“This is amazing!”

“Kehehng.”

It was a head shake that seemed to say ‘Here we go again’ or ‘You never change.’

After wringing out her wet hair, Saena began eagerly exploring the surroundings.

Though her clinging riding clothes and matted hair were hardly presentable to anyone, there didn’t seem to be any sign of people, probably due to the barrier.

“There’s Arlesian writing everywhere on these pillars!”

“What’s this device?”

“It’s still intact after hundreds of years!”

As if she had never been depressed, Saena was busy looking around everywhere with a flushed, bright face.

“Kyang!”

But Yolly grabbed the hem of her pants with his teeth.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

Yolly pulled her along, let go, walked a few steps in a certain direction, then turned to look at Saena.

“You want me to follow?”

“Kyang!”

“Oh, okay…”

Well, it was Yolly who led Saena here. He must have had some purpose.

“But where are we going?”

“Kyang!”

Though asking was pointless since Yolly could only answer with ‘kyang’, the question came out anyway.

Even though his responses were limited to kyang, kyaang?, kyung, etc., it had never felt like a one-sided conversation. Though Yolly could only give simple answers, she soon discovered what his purpose was.

Following along a stone wall and turning a corner, they suddenly came upon a spring.

As soon as they reached the spring, Yolly jumped right in without hesitation.

“Yolly!”

“Why do you jump in whenever you see water?!”

Though she was less surprised than when he jumped into the lake, since the spring was small enough to take in at a glance.

But that didn’t guarantee it was shallow, so why did he act so recklessly!

“Kyang! Kyang kyang!”

Yolly stuck his head out of the water and barked at Saena.

“What? You want me to come in too?”

“Kyang!”

After crossing all that water, he wanted her to get wet again?

What could he be thinking? At times like this, she really wished he could talk.

“…Hmm?”

Come to think of it, something seemed… different?

She saw heat waves rising from the water’s surface. And seeing that suddenly made her feel the cold rushing in. Actually, even in midsummer, it would be normal to feel cold after being in wet clothes for a while.

Moreover, it was spring now, and being spring in the north meant it was much cooler compared to the capital.

Saena shivered at the belated realization of cold.

“Kyang!”

As if telling her to hurry and come in.

Saena put her hand in the water.

“Oh, it’s… warm?”

What was this? A hot spring?

Yes, it must be a hot spring.

Then was this area volcanic too?

‘But the lake water outside was cold?’

How strange.

Come to think of it, the water color was different too.

While the lake water was closer to blue, the hot spring water looked more like pure water in its transparency.

But something was odd about calling it transparent. Though it looked clear, when she put her hand in, it appeared very blurry.

Even Yolly was clear above the water’s surface, but below it looked blurry like smeared colors.

‘How is this even possible?’

It was fascinating yet suspicious.

“Kyang?”

But Yolly’s urging question of why she wasn’t coming in quickly dissolved her suspicions.

Saena had a strange but certain trust that Yolly would never lead her somewhere dangerous, so the peculiar water quality that was transparent yet not soon transformed into an advantage in her mind. The advantage being that it wouldn’t matter if she went in without clothes.

Though her clothes were already wet, it would be too uncomfortable to take a hot spring bath in riding clothes.

“Hey, Yolly. Turn your head away.”

“Kyuang?”

“I’m going to take off my clothes.”

“…Kyuhu.”

He pretended to swim while turning around and headed to the opposite bank.

Saena took off her riding clothes and spread them on nearby rocks. The rocks felt warm, seeming perfect for drying wet clothes. Still feeling uncomfortable going in completely n*ked, she kept her underclothes and slip on.

Saena carefully stepped forward until she reached a depth where she could sit with her body fully submerged.

“Ah, it’s warm.”

Once she got in, it felt wonderful. The warm water seemed to instantly raise her cooling skin temperature as it enveloped her entire body.

It felt like it was even releasing muscle fatigue that had built up somewhere.

Ah, so this was why people took hot spring baths?

Last time, before she could appreciate the charm of the hot spring, there was that creepy licking(?) incident, and then the commotion over Constantine’s injury left no room for afterglow.

Saena languidly relaxed her body and swished her arms around.

The water quality was definitely unique.

‘No smell either…’

It felt like there were some unknown particles in the water.

The water sparkled strangely, not like surface reflection from light, but literally as if there were particles in the water that sparkled.

It gave a pretty feeling just looking at it.

Perhaps that’s why, despite seeming transparent, her body wasn’t visible in the water.

Only faint shapes showed through, making it difficult to determine exact depth or form.

‘With this level of transparency, it might be fine to take off even my underwear.’

No. Still, that felt too hesitant.

Though there were no people around, it would be really embarrassing to make eye contact with Yolly while completely n*ked.

‘That guy definitely has awareness.’

Didn’t he clearly show embarrassment during the last pajama party?

Saena looked at Yolly with narrowed eyes.

“Kyahang?”

Swimming back this way, Yolly cried out upon seeing Saena’s gaze. It sounded like a protesting bark.

“I was considering whether I could take a hot spring bath completely n*ked. Because of you.”

“…Kyu, kyu?”

“You definitely… Ah?!”

Saena forgot what she was saying and rushed to grab Yolly. He had grown quite big now so it was hard to lift his whole body, but she held his cheeks firmly and brought their faces close together.

“Kyau?!”

That color again.

The violet color blooming in Yolly’s eyes.

“Yuri?”

“Kya, kyang?”

The same eye color as Yuri.

“They changed again!”

“Kyahang?”

“What are you really?”

“Kyahang?”

He quickly pulled his head away and plunged into the water with a splash.

Disliking Saena’s interrogation, he wriggled free and swam far away.

‘Sigh. Will I ever find out what he is?’

She was really curious. Though she didn’t think he was dangerous, which was fine, her curiosity grew larger each day instead of diminishing.

Saena enjoyed a very satisfying midday hot spring bath with Yolly for quite a while before getting out of the spring.

Thanks to the sun-heated rocks, her clothes had dried more than expected and weren’t completely damp. She probably wouldn’t have to shiver from the cold on the way back.

‘No, wait. I have to get into the lake again?’

Then they’d get wet again…

This was troublesome. Saena pondered for a moment.

She decided to carry her outer clothes instead of wearing them.

Though the lake was beautiful, she had never seen any other people there. So it should be fine to put on clothes after crossing the lake… right?

‘If I see anyone, I’ll come back and put on clothes first.’

After making such calculations, Saena put her plan into action.

Fortunately, her prediction was correct.

Saena emerged from the lake swimming with one arm while holding her clothes up with the other hand, and quickly surveyed her surroundings.

‘I didn’t even tie up the horse! Wow, that could have been bad!’

She had been in such a hurry following Yolly earlier. Thankfully, the horse hadn’t run away and was just grazing nearby.

Good thing it was a well-trained, gentle horse. Otherwise, she might have had to walk across the fields for hours in wet clothes. Though she wasn’t particularly weak, that surely would have made her quite ill.

Belatedly, Saena led the horse to a tree and tied it up, using the tree and horse as a screen while she changed clothes. She took off her wet underclothes and slip, wrung out her handkerchief to wipe off the water from her body. Then she put on the relatively dry riding clothes.

The feeling of outer clothes directly against her skin felt strange, but it was better than wearing dripping wet fabric.

Saena stuffed her removed underclothes roughly into the saddle bag and untied the reins from the tree.

Then she mounted the horse.

“Yolly!”

Yolly’s dehydration(?) was relatively easy.

She could see his fur becoming fluffy after just a few vigorous shakes.

His eye color had also returned to normal.

“We need to head back, let’s go!”

They had been out much longer than expected.

She had only meant to take a short ride around the area.