We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
The open-air bath became a battlefield.
“Elnea!”
Mistral and the others rushed over at my scream, weapons in hand, already in a combat-ready stance.
“…!”
“Elnea-kun…!”
Mistral and the others saw it.
Me, collapsed on my back, and Airi-san, advancing on all fours as if to engulf me.
“Wha-?!”
“Kyaaa!”
Then, the women caught sight of Airi-san’s impressive physique and hastily averted their gaze.
“E-Elnea. What is the meaning of this?”
“Elnea-kun, that’s unsanitary!”
“No, no, I don’t have any weird hobbies!”
“Oh dear. How rude of you to interrupt our intimate time. Your upbringing is lacking.”
Airi-san, not bothering to hide her nakedness, looked back from her four-legged position and sighed at Mistral and the others.
The moment Airi-san’s attention shifted, I quickly used a Spatial Jump and transferred into the open-air bath.
Airi-san showed a slightly surprised expression at the Spatial Jump.
“Besides, one enters the bath naked. If you all want to join, take off your clothes and come over.”
“Th-that’s not what we meant…”
Mistral stammered, her face red and her gaze avert.
Ruiseine covered Priscilla-chan’s eyes as she ran alongside her, turning her own back.
Laira closed her eyes tightly, gripping her two-handed staff.
“As I thought, it was a man.”
“As I thought, she wasn’t a woman.”
Only Yufilia and Nina seemed unconcerned and stared at Airi-san’s naked body.
Yes. I think that’s also questionable, don’t you?
“T-to summarize. We will take care of Elnea, so please leave.”
Huh? Mistral and the others will take care of me?
That would be wonderful, but I think we need to consider the time and place.
“Absolutely not. If someone is to be excluded, it should be you unrefined individuals. This is a men’s bath right now.”
Ah, she’s being unfair.
Her appearance… her face and gestures are more feminine than any woman, but to revert to “male” in this situation.
With Airi-san saying that, Mistral and the others had no retort.
I observed the situation as I sank into the hot water.
Arguably, Airi-san had the stronger claim. If she insists on being “male,” then Mistral and the others are indeed less fitting for this place.
However, Mistral and the others are my family, and if they are to take care of me… then Airi-san would be the one disturbing our family time.
Who will win this contest?
The contest ended anticlimactically.
Mistral and the others, still clothed.
Airi-san, standing naked, shamelessly exposing herself to the women.
Eventually, Mistral and the others returned inside the building without looking back.
“Elnea, we’re having a reflection meeting after you get out of the bath.”
“Eeeeh, but it’s not my fault…!”
To Mistral’s parting words, I sank into the water up to my head.
“You’ll catch a chill, nyan.”
Nimia, weren’t you my bodyguard?!
Nimia, who was swimming leisurely in the bath, shook her whole body to spray water after getting out and left with Mistral and the others.
“Fufufufu. Now, the hindrances are gone.”
“Kyaaa!”
Airi-san looked at me with the eyes of a predator targeting prey.
Scary, too scary!
Sensing danger, I tried to escape. Seeing this, Airi-san laughed merrily.
“Truly, such a fun family. Wonderful, isn’t it?”
Her joke wasn’t funny at all.
Communal baths for men, like in Mistral’s village, were perfectly fine, but bathing with Airi-san, who was like a woman but a man, felt strangely awkward.
Speaking of which, what category does Airi-san fall into?
Physically, she is certainly male. However, her bearing and even her appearance are completely feminine. Furthermore, I just noticed, she has breasts for some reason.
I’ve never met anyone like this before, so I don’t know how to approach the situation.
“I appreciate your consideration. Normally, people like me are found disgusting and looked down upon. Understanding is usually not given. So, your conflicted feelings alone make me happy. Because that means at least you’re conscious of my femininity, right?”
Airi-san didn’t read my mind, but she seemed to understand my inner thoughts from my flustered appearance.
“Fufufu. Judge as you like.”
“Uh. Then, as a woman…”
If Airi-san wants to be treated as a woman, I will go along with it. There’s no need to actively resist or reject her.
Besides, when she’s clothed, she certainly looks like a woman.
Even if she’s a bit tall, has broad shoulders, and occasionally uses a deep voice…
“Thank you. As a reward, shall I wash your body for you?”
“Ah, that’s right.”
I had been soaking in the hot water without even washing myself.
With a grimace of “damn it,” I got out of the water.
Even though I decided to treat Airi-san as a woman, I wasn’t embarrassed by her seeing me naked.
I’ll take her up on her offer and let her wash my back.
At Airi-san’s beckoning, I sat on a convenient rock. Behind me, I could hear the sound of Airi-san rubbing soap and lathering it up.
Then, a warm sensation on my back.
“Ugh!”
Please, stop!
You’re lathering with your bare hands, not a cloth, and touching my skin directly!
With an unfamiliar pleasant sensation, my whole body trembled.
This is… terrifying.
Perhaps I should have treated Airi-san as a man after all!
Airi-san, who was like a woman who was like a man, deliberately spread the lather on my back with seductive movements.
“B-by the way. Why do you live here alone, Airi-san?”
I tried to divert my thoughts from my strangely pleasant back, which tickled from the fine lather and skin contact, by bringing up a random topic.
Airi-san moved her hands towards my chest from my back. While desperately blocking her, I waited for her reply.
“As I said earlier, didn’t I? People like me are cast out by society.”
“I-I see…”
Perhaps I shouldn’t have asked.
I regretted it a little.
And in that moment of carelessness…
Airi-san gained the upper hand in our struggle and moved her arm forward. Then, she rubbed her own body against me.
“Ugh!”
There’s no one to come to my rescue with my screams anymore.
A slippery sensation. Airi-san’s upper body and arms wriggled. I continued to exert all my self-control, on the verge of awakening strange feelings.
“Well, it was a joke. You’re fun to tease.”
“Guh…”
“Actually. See, I told you this before, didn’t I? Seven hundred years ago, something similar to what’s happening now occurred, and I offered my soul to the King of Dragons.”
“What does that mean?”
“Hmm?”
“Uh. From our perspective, offering your soul means you die afterward, right?”
“I think that assumption is not wrong.”
“But, Airi-san is…”
She’s alive, right?
From the chest against my back, I could clearly feel her heartbeat.
“Fufufufu. There are many circumstances in the adult world.”
“Mmmph. Please tell us in detail. You said you offered our souls, but we don’t understand what you mean.”
“Hmm… I think you’re a smart child, but still a little immature.”
“Does that mean physically? Or mentally?”
“Both, perhaps?”
Compared to someone who has lived for seven hundred years, I might indeed be immature. However, I don’t want her to withhold information just for that reason.
“If you feel a discrepancy between the words ‘offering my soul’ and my current situation, find the answer by tomorrow. Otherwise, I will truly offer the soul of one of your family members to resolve this curse.”
Although Airi-san laughed cheerfully, her words were not a lie at all.
I know.
Just like old Sleigsta, who has protected the Dragon Forest and the Spirit Tree for over two thousand years.
For the sake of duty, they would spare no sacrifice. Even if we stood as enemies, they would not lose sight of their objective.
Such strong resolve overflowed from Airi-san’s words.
But, you know.
I also have a resolve that I absolutely will not yield.
It’s not just about family. I absolutely do not want a solution that requires any sacrifice.
If the solution lies in the contradiction between Airi-san’s existence and her words. I will definitely find the answer by tomorrow.
After Airi-san finished washing my body, she rinsed me with water to wash away the lather.
As a thank you, I offered to wash Airi-san’s body.
Using a cloth, of course, not my bare hands!
Feeling refreshed, Airi-san and I entered the bath.
Airi-san was, as usual, a good listener. She drew out various stories from me, and we ended up having a surprisingly good time.
Because of that, I ended up taking a long bath.
When I returned to the annex after bathing, Mistral and the others gave me dirty looks.
“I’m not a pervert, you know!”
“Elnea, we haven’t said anything.”
“Urgh…”
I truly wasn’t guilty of anything.
“Nyaa.”
Apologizing for the commotion, I conveyed the conversation I had with Airi-san in the open-air bath to Mistral and the others. They, too, seemed to be pondering if there was some hidden motive.
“This is the same situation as the trial to search for the Full Moon Flower. The curse of the Dragon’s Mausoleum cannot be dispelled without sacrificing someone’s soul. That may be true. However, I don’t think that’s the only solution.”
“There might be another solution, but we can’t implement it in our current situation.”
“Then, we should search for that other solution.”
“Even so, we lack information.”
“Even so, we lack clues.”
“As Airi-san says, the fact that she is still alive after offering her soul might be the key.”
“She…”
The women looked at me strangely at my statement.
“Elnea-kun, you didn’t realize Airi-san’s true identity?”
“So, have you all known from the beginning?”
Mistral and the others sighed.
Perhaps their obvious coughing when Airi-san took my hand, or their strange expressions when she sat next to them, was because they had realized Airi-san’s true identity?
Women are so sensitive about various things.
“You still have a lot to learn.”
“Grrr.”
With a bitter smile, Mistral and the others began preparing to enter the bath.
“As punishment, you will consider a solution while in seiza.”
“Eeeeh-!”
I wasn’t forgotten.
After confirming I was in seiza, the women happily left.
Ares-chan also left, holding hands with Priscilla-chan. The reason she didn’t manifest during my time was probably because Airi-san was present.
It’s an open-air bath, after all. They’ll probably be bathing for a long time.
And I’m to be in seiza until then…
Nimia, who betrayed me, remained as my overseer.
Nimia yawned widely while grooming herself. She must be tired from all her hard work.
While in seiza, I watched Nimia and pondered the solution to the problem.
“Kyaaaaaaa!”
Then, screams from the women echoed!
What happened?!
I immediately grabbed the White Sword and the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword, and performed consecutive Spatial Jumps towards everyone’s presence.
In an instant, I arrived at the open-air bath.
“Oh dear. If you’re going to bathe again, please get naked.”
There stood Airi-san, naked!
No, no, I absolutely refuse such hospitality!
Without question, I cast an illusionary spell on Airi-san to steal her vision.
I will protect the women’s modesty!
And then, I saw it.
The perfect skin of everyone!!
Priscilla-chan and Ares-chan were smooth and flat.
And then…
“Elneaaa!”
“Gyafun!”
A bucket flew and hit me directly in the face, knocking me unconscious.
