I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 190

“You’re crazy.” A group of men broke into laughter over the man’s declaration. “Why have I not heard of a prestiged sage beast just a day from us?”

“Prestiged beasts don’t go around announcing themselves.” He frowned. “They have their territory, and they both with others unless they encroach on their territory.”

“Yeah, well, if what you say is true, then there are about to be a lot of people encroaching on his territory. I have a mind to check it out myself.”

“Boss, that’ll be suicide! If we’ve heard about it, there are bound to be others who have heard well. Some of them might be from major families!”

“Maybe… but even if we don’t see the monster at all, we might be able to loot all the dead humans that go!”

Everyone at the Lou table was stiff as they listened to the conversations. They weren’t the only ones either. Other tables had quieted down and were also listening to this. Some of them might have been hearing it for the first time, but a few were eyeballing the other tables as if realizing that many of the people in this inn were potential competition.

“Uncle…” Fate looked over at Fortune.

“It seems like our source was not as reliable as we hoped,” Fortune spoke quietly. “The information is already spreading…”

“No spreading…” I spoke up, causing all their eyes to turn to me. “Broadcasting.”

“What do you mean?” Lot asked.

“I refuse to believe those men leaked this secret out in a drunken rant,” I spoke quietly after sipping my beer. “Do you see their outfits? Cloth clothing, leather boots. Not armor. The clothing of laborers.”

“They could have just gotten changed before coming to the common room.” Lot tried to argue.

“And they decided to wear all-new clothing? Almost like they just came into some money.” I shrugged.

Fortune looked over at me, his eyes a bit brighter. “You’re saying it’s a setup?”

I shook my head slightly. “Not necessarily a trap. However, I’d bet one of my portions that someone is trying to get more people to approach the sage beast. They’re trying to turn this into a bloodbath.”

Fate scowled. “Who would do something like that?”

“Our enemies?” Lot looked worried.

“Possible.” I sipped from my glass again. “However, there is nothing to suggest they’re targeting specifically the Lou family. I’d say it’s more likely an opportunist. Someone who lacks the strength of a paragon family. He wants as many groups as possible to fight with each other. This creates the best opportunity for him to swoop in and obtain a reward.”

“They’re gambling with our lives.” Fate’s hand tightened into a fist.

“Uncle.” Lot glanced toward Fortune. “What do we do?”

“First off, we’re going to stop talking about what we can’t help,” Fortune spoke quietly and methodically. “Then, you’re all going to get cleaned up and get some sleep. This might be the last full night of rest any of us get until we have to fight, so rest up. Once we’re there, we’ll decide how to proceed, but the expedition continues for now.”

His words were finally, and even the younger men didn’t look like they wanted to argue with him. He took his drink and then finished it all in a few gulps before standing up. He gave everyone a nod and then headed off toward his room. As if this was permission, the others began to part ways as well. The women headed for a room reserved for them, and I ended up in a room with three of the young Lou guys.

The room turned out to be not much bigger than the dorm room in college. There were two small beds and a bit of room to sleep between them. A single oil lamp flickered in the corner, producing the only light.

“Splice for the beds?” One of the guys declares.

The two men began making various hand gestures. After about five minutes, one of the men laughed.

“I win, molars crack shells.”

“Yeah, but I got camouflage. You don’t have heightened senses!”

“True, but I have rapid production. I outnumber you!”

“What is that?” I frowned.

“Hmm?” The one who wasn’t playing noticed the other two arguing. “It’s called Splice. You pick five evolutionary traits and then decide which species wins in the direct competition. It’s a game paragons like to play. Half the time there is no clear winner and it’s just whoever articulates their argument the best. You want to learn?”

“I’ll hold back.” I coughed. “I’ll just take the floor.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

The other two men resolved their game, one getting the bed and one getting the floor. The one I talked to was the one in the third realm already. He got a bed automatically because of his evolutionary level and didn’t need to bother. The fight would have been between the three of us who were evolutionarily in the second evolution. They’d never guess what my real evolution was, but I had no intention of outing myself there.

I found a corner to sit in as the other three took off their armor and got ready for bed. About ten minutes later, the door suddenly opened and the one who had lost the game of splice stepped into the room looking extremely excited. He had left earlier to find some water, but he hadn’t returned with it.

“Guys, guess what I found out!” He declared with a hidden grin on his face.

The two who had just lied down in their beds looked up. “It better be good. I was just about asleep.”

“This place has outdoor baths!” He declared.

The one in the third realm frowned. “What do you mean by outdoor baths?”

“I mean that they have this giant pool, and in the center is a boiler. It heats the water, making it hot.”

“So… it’s a hot spring?”

“It’s man-made…” He explained. “But I didn’t say the best part. The pond is cut in half by a wall, but the boiler and water are shared for both the guy and girl’s sections!”

“Shared?”

He looked at the two other bewildered men with a big smile on his face now. “Lady Lou is assuredly using it right now! If we hurry, we can bathe with her!”

“Aren’t you guys cousins?” I asked before I could stop myself.

“We’re distant cousins!” He declared. “Half the marriages within paragon families are of closer relations than we have to Lady Lou. Come on, when else would you ever have a chance to see her naked?”

“You won’t see her naked though.” The third realm guy seemed a bit calmer. “There is a wall remember?”

“So? It’s the same bathwater! And maybe the fence has holes. Look, you all can miss this opportunity. I won’t!” He turned to leave, but the other guy who won the bed jumped up too.

“Ah… a bath couldn’t hurt before bed. I got sweaty with all that running.” He quickly made an excuse and fled the room with the other.

The last Lou remained and I exchanged looks. It looked like we were both men of culture. We ended up down at the pool a short time later. It was the backyard of the inn, hidden by very tall fences. In the middle was a large, wooden tank that held a lot of water. A metal pipe carried the water into the tank, and the water was slowly bubbling up. There was a wooden deck and a path along the wall. A couple of people were already bathing in the pool, but this was the men’s side, so they were naturally all men.

“I wonder if Lady Lou is over there now?” The boy who had led everyone quickly jumped into the pool after stripping down.

The others quickly joined him, and I was helpless but to follow their lead. There was just one difference between them and me. They were just visiting this pool, but pools were my natural habitat! As soon as I stepped into the mildly warm waters, I began to allow a few cells to explore the boundary.

“Is there any hole in the fence?” The youngest one who had brought everyone along was already touching the fence as if looking for a way across.

There weren’t any holes, but there were quite a few cracks. I spread myself out through the body of water in a way I hadn’t experienced in a while. I found that Fate Lou was in fact in the water. She was also developing quite nicely into a beautiful young lady. I wondered how she could support those large melons without the water to hold them up. It must hurt her back, especially when she tried to practice martial arts.

“A crack. I-I think I can see… something…”

At that moment, the door leading in slammed open, and a man stepped into the pool area. “You’re all already here. Good. I was going to mention it to you later if you hadn’t discovered it on your own.” Uncle Fortune declared.

He tossed his towel aside, revealing his entire naked, muscular body. He then jumped into the pool with the rest.

“Haaa…” The one at the fence leaned back, sighing.

“What’s with the sigh?” Fortune frowned. “You don’t need to worry. We won’t travel this far without plans.”

He thought the guys were all melancholy over the trip being leaked. In reality, they were bummed because, with the uncle there, there was no way they could keep trying to sneak peeks at their cousin through the fence. A bit later, Felix and Lot arrived as well. This about killed the last hope they had of Fortune being quick.

Lot leaned toward me, as I was the only one who didn’t look half-dead. “What’s with them?”

I shrugged and leaned back. “I guess they were expecting a nicer view.”

He cocked his head in confusion as I smiled and leaned back. The view was pretty nice from where I was sitting.