Herald of Steel

Chapter 1338 Famous Bathhouse (Part-3)

Claude would go on to show Alexander and his company that for Cairians, bathhouses were far more than simple utilitarian establishments.

It was a way of life, covering all aspects of it.

"My lord, this way," Thus the large man first gestured towards a large pair of oak doors placed in the corridors, introducing, "This is the gymnasium."

Entering through the gate, Alexander found the interior to be much bigger than it appeared from the outside.

It was nearly the size of a whole football field, with bright natural lighting illuminating every speck of it courtesy of the massive holes in the roof.

Beneath, the stone tiled floors were painted bright red, and being tread upon by a bustling crowd of both men and women of all ages.

"Ahhhh! Ancestors!" And it was the state of the people they were in that caused Lady Parthia to suddenly let out a gasp of utter incredulity.

Because the people here were all semi, if not completely bare!

The men at most wore a kind of linen wrapping around their privates, while the women had a type of makeshift bikini made of similar linen wraps.

Although this perhaps revealed more than it hid, showing off just enough to get one's imagination tingling. It made anyone anticipate to know what magic lay underneath that flimsy cloth.

Many however chose to not even have that, completely forgoing everything and letting it all 'hang'.

So the men and boys freely let their 'little brother' dance around as they walked, while the women and girls unabashedly allowed both their upper and lower magnificent curves to jiggle and spill out without a care in the world!

For the very conservative Tibian queen, this went past being just too shameful to look at and reached the point of mortifying.

She wanted to instantly cover her eyes and run out.

Even Lady Nanazin who was next to her felt her horizons being broadened seeing this.

And this was despite her being far more experienced than most in seeing large groups of people without clothes. The wild and 'mature' parties held in the capital palace were rarely this large and even the bathing ceremony during the annual pilgrimage- Jtaama would be more reserved.

The only person who did not seem at all bothered by this was Claude, who nonchalantly continued commenting on what was going on here,

"This is the gymnasium. This is where people first usually enter after paying the fee. They take their clothes and place them in one of those lockers there."

As Claude said this, he pointed towards the lower half of the walls, which were fitted on all sides with very large wooden cabinets that were divided into many small boxes.

From there, Alexander and his group could see both men and women getting undressed right in front of each other and then simply storing their belongings in one of those boxes.

It was very similar to how bags and other belongings were stored in many modern day shopping malls or parks, only here there were no tokens or locks on the boxes.

People simply left their things unattended, mostly trusting one another to be honest.

And indeed, as Alexander's eyes roamed around the crowd, he spotted a couple of such people.

Men and women much more modestly dressed, their clothes and temperament pretty much instantly giving away their identity.

And the rest of the people too sensed this, thus usually giving them a wide berth.

As for what these noblemen and women along with many of the commoners were doing here- well they were exercising!

Many, mostly men and young boys, were seen lifting various light wights that were made of stone, wood, or even iron- no prize for guessing where that came from.

While others were going freestyle- doing squatting, bench presses, sit-ups, and even chin ups on the nearby bars to name a few.

As for the women, many were lightly jogging, letting the jiggle physics take fully over, while some of the most adventurous bunch were playing catch with what looked like an Amercian football.

It was made of perhaps wood or cloth, wrapped up in leather, and was being thrown in a circle while being around accompanied by peals of giggles.

Alexander was surprised by how free the women were being and thought he was watching beach volleyball as it existed two thousand years in the future- sexy and a great eye candy.

And others seemed to too agree, as the games seemed to have gathered quite the crowd, consisting of both men and women, all of whom were cheering for their favorite player.

This made even Alexander wonder if he should introduce this sport to Zanzan.

Anyway, seeing the people moving around like this, he finally understood why the room was called a gymnasium.

As it was then also pronounced by Claude,

"After oiling, most of us like to work up a little sweat! As my lord sure knows, sweating is the body's way to squeezing out disease and illness! Like how you squeeze the bitterness of fruits!"

Yes, this was also one of the medical misconceptions of the time.

Sweating a lot was genuinely thought to be a way to cure diseases and even a well known prescribed method.

Alexander did not know exactly how this idiotic idea came about, but it did, which was also the reason why the bathhouses all had a gymnasium. Continue your adventure with empire

Let us say no to piracy! Don't take part in a crime! Don't patronize thieves!

Please come Here!

=>Link to the original site:

/book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705