There had originally been a ring-shaped pool outside the villa, but at Ash's strong insistence, it had quickly been renovated into a Steam Hot Spring. Igula was crouched beside it now with his knees hugged to his chest, watching Stardust Streamer drift through the rippling water. "If you want to go in and soak for a while, just go. No one's stopping you."
Igula thought about it, then actually took off his boots and socks, rolled his pants up to his knees, and carefully touched the surface with his toes, letting the hot spring soak up to his ankles as he quietly watched the ripples stirred by the swaying tips of his feet.
He looked back and saw Ash sitting in a wheelchair. "You're really using that toy to get around?"
Ash pointed at the villa behind him with his thumb.
"Rose is watching. She wasn't joking. If I hadn't firmly refused, she'd definitely be pushing the wheelchair from behind me... Give me your hand."
Igula glanced at his bloody fist and casually handed it over.
The area around the villa district was not quiet. The noise of Dump Trucks and Fire Trucks kept piercing the Sky Curtain, because the aftereffects of the Gold Rain Disaster had struck the Commercial Center attached to the villa district, causing 132 deaths and 12 injuries. The official announcement called it a meteorite disaster, but no meteorite fragments could even be found at the scene. The emergency excavation of the ruins still hadn't ended, and with all the mess from ruptured Sewer pipes, Fiber Optic Cables, and other chaotic debris, the entire villa district was as restless as ants on a hot pan.
And this was only a minor problem caused by a Flame Burst that had accidentally flown off when the Curse Elf