Victor sat across the old madam of the bathhouse in Magnolia. He had arrived in the great city with Fairy Tail as heart only last evening and the first thing he did was grab a request off the boards. This one had asked for someone to help the Magnolia bathhouse with something that was not specified in the paper. He checked in to na inn, got something to eat and slept like a log till the morning where he had woken up remembering that he had picked a quest to do. That is what lead him to be there at the Magnolia bathhouse so early in the morning, sitting next to a blonde woman, sipping coffee from a cup.

She told him about why he was needed that day, something about a peeping tom that had been haunting the Women’s bath area. Victor’s eyes narrowed. He was a guy so he could understand the uhh urge but it was plain creepy if someone would peep on others while they took a bath. It seemed that this guy does it as something like a hobby too. He nodded understandingly. He could guess why the owner had sent out that request.

“I have closed down the women’s bath area temporarily so you can go in and do whatever you want. I just want that peeping tom caught and taught a lesson,” the owner growled, showing her real age through the magic that shielded her youthful appearance. Victor had to bite back a chuckle, opting to take a sip out of the coffee instead. “Of course. I’ll have him caught. Just don’t forget to pay me,” he said, standing up and walking towards the bath area in the opposite direction to the men’s.

Never in his life did he think that he would ever enter a women’s bath area like that but look at what he was doing now. The son of a noble prestigious house of Vanderbilt, having to enter a women’s bathroom to take care of some weirdo that liked to peep on girls. He shed his jacket and cap on the way to the bath, trying to keep himself as light as possible.

Inside, the best place he could see that could possibly hide him was the big rocks at a corner across from the large pool of hot, herbal bath. He hid himself behind it, sitting down with his knees bent, his hands resting on top of them in a laze manner. He waited a painful long hour in that posture, almost falling asleep when he heard grumbling noises coming from the other side.

Suddenly wide awake, Vic craned his neck back to look over the rocks, finding a blue haired short weirdo with a binocular coming out of the bathhouse drapes. That’s where he hid? And no one found him? He thought. Vic decided to watch the guy for a while and saw that he was visibly agitated with something. “Dammit! Where are they? It’s not even a holiday!” he exasperated. Ah, that’s what was wrong. This bloke was looking for women, wasn’t he? Well, in that case, if he didn’t get out there, he guessed that there was a high chance that the peep will run away again. But the man lingered, his eyes scanning the whole room with a fervent want. This man could have been a bigger pervert than he thought, Vic sighed. Why was it that these kinds of creeps existed everywhere?

Slowly, without making any noise, Victor rounded the bath, his hands helping him to soundlessly crawl over, using the rocks as a wall to hide himself. He made it as close as he could to the boy, only then straightening up and dashing forward to block the peep’s path. The boy seemed extremely surprised to find him there, dropping the binoculars on his hand on to the hard floor of the bath. “Damn, who are you? A peep?” he yelled. Wow, talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Wasn’t the scenario supposed to be the other way around? This boy was obviously the peeping tom that Bella had told him about. If nothing, the binoculars in his hands was a dead give away.

“I’m not the peep, you idiot. That’s you!” Vic lost his temper for a quick moment before a sigh escaped his lips. That wasn’t the conversation they should be having. His job was to capture him and hand him over to the Rune Knights, not state or establish who the pervert was between himself and that guy. “You are the one that has been giving the female customers here a bad time, aren’t you?” he asked, his hands balling into fists. The peep took a step backwards in reflex. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! You are the one who is hiding in women’s bathroom. Why are you blaming me for this?” he tried to turn the tables again, this time angering Victor enough to grab the blue haired peep by his collar and shake him violently.

“What was that?” Vic’s sound dropped a tone, sounding sharp enough to have the peep shaking. He stares at Victor’s eyes for a few seconds, paling just as the amber in Vic’s eyes deepened. But the peeping tom suddenly became aggressive, violently pulling himself away from Victor and trying to run out the door. Victor, however, reached for him, falling and grabbing him by his ankle to trip him. He quickly drew the guy to him, getting on top of him to land a punch on his face. The amn struggled under his grasp again, wiggling and kicking to get him off of him, failing badly when Victor slammed a hand over him chest and stopped him from moving. “Where did you think you were even going?” Vic scoffed, landing another punch to the boy’s gut. That should have done it.

By the time he got up, it seemed that the peeping tom was knocked out cold. Bella soon came in with a couple of Rune Knights next to her. They grabbed the guy by his arms and dragged him away but not before one of the Rune Knights recognized him. “You are Evangeline sama’s brother, right?” Vic felt proud. They knew him through her sister. “Yes, that’s right,” he said, smiling brightly with the knowledge that his sister was well known inside and outside Rune Knights.

Once Bella took care of the formalities and sent the Rune Knights away, she called for him, motioning him to follow her back into a deep chamber where there was a different kind of bath. It was unlike what he had seen around the common back area. Not only was this one bigger, it also had a strangely pale glow bursting out at the surface of the water.

“Do not worry. That is a special herbal bath,” Bella answered his curiosity, taking a small round plate off a corner and adding some more of what looked like green herbs into the water. It darkened the color of the water and the little sparkles and bubbles increased in number. “You may take a bath here as a reward. I’ll have your other reward set up in a few minutes,” she said, leaving Victor to himself. Looking at the bath and then back at the door, Vic looked curious but shrugged and decided to get his clothes off first.

He took off his shirt, followed by his pants, shoes and underwear. Slowly sinking into the water, he felt himself sigh out of reflex from the stress being dragged out of his body. He felt relaxed and a little too comfortable inside that bath. Whatever herb it was that the owner added, it was working miracles on his body. For a few minutes, Victor dozed off, letting the warmth and soothing nature of the water envelop him.

Once he got out of the water, completely refreshed and energized, he slowly pulled on his clothes, feeling a little too comfortable from having been in the herbal bath for so long. He walked out of the bath, finding Bella san standing at the doors with a small smile, an envelope in her hand that Vic guessed was his payment for the job well done.

He took it off her hands, thanking her courteously before walking out, going back to the inn to take a real nap before another quest called for him.

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