Chapter 26
AFTER REUNITING with the villagers waiting in the tunnels, the party left the oni catacombs. Reynard and Joachim had already arrived, since they’d rushed over in the armored car. Not far away, they spotted the FAV and its driver, Garrett. Next to him were Liliella and another beautiful woman.
She looked like the portrait Liliella had drawn; this must be Katiella. The two of them seemed upset. In contrast, Garrett looked gleeful as he talked to them about something. Nothing romantic. Given how often he gestured toward the vehicle, the subject of the conversation was clear.
“Thanks for coming,” Solomon called out to Reynard and Joachim. He succinctly described what had happened in the catacombs. Though the danger had hopefully passed, he requested they perform a quick search.
They knelt in answer.
“Understood.”
“As soon as our units are ready, we’ll begin combing the inside.”
According to their report, troops from a nearby fortress would be arriving soon. As soon as they finished preparations, they would lock down the surrounding area and begin their investigation.
After handing off the villagers and debriefing, the party boarded Mira’s wagon and returned to the castle. When they were all gathered in Solomon’s office, they sat down and heaved a collective sigh.
Perhaps because she finally got to relax after a hard day’s work, or perhaps due to the limitations of her young body, Mira was assailed by sleepiness. “Goodness, I’m exhausted.”
“One heck of an urgent mission, that was.” Luminaria stretched.
“I’m sleeeepy…” Kagura yawned. It was late in the night—far too late for good boys and girls to be awake. But if not for their help, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly. Wallenstein thanked them from the bottom of his heart. “And I mean it.”
“Well done, everyone. I had rooms prepared for all of you, so sleep tight,” Solomon said. He told Kagura and Wallenstein where they might find their sleeping quarters.
More detailed planning could wait until tomorrow. With that, they dispersed, and Mira headed straight to her usual room. Overcome by the day’s fatigue, she soon fell fast asleep.
***
The next morning, Mira woke up with her face still smooshed right into the pillow. Right away, she realized something unpleasant: since she’d gone to bed right after a big job, she was still sweaty and unclean.
“First things first: bath.”
After doing her business, she headed for the large group bath without so much as a glance at her private one.
“Okay… Should be safe.” After peering down the hallway, she proceeded cautiously. Lily and Tabitha were surely on the prowl. If they found her, she’d be forced to endure their services. Not that she especially minded, of course. But she was in the mood to take a long, leisurely bath to clear her mind. Mira stayed wary of any and all maids as she pressed on.
However, it was difficult to evade maids in this vast castle. The staff spotted her here and there, and before she knew it, they’d begun to form a crowd. But due to the agreement among the maids, they only watched. In other words, as long as Mira could avoid Lily and Tabitha, she’d have her chance at a comfy bath.
She stopped in front of a corner and peeked around it. After confirming it was safe, she zipped down the hall like a ninja. This was serious business to Mira, but to others, it might’ve looked like she was playing detective. Those who she passed smiled as she ran by.
When she was halfway there, she sensed something ominous approaching.
No…! I know it… It’s them!
She searched with Biometric Scan and found two signals charging her way at incredible speed. Mira had a bad feeling about this. She rushed away, sprinting forward. Before long, the signals stopped, hovering around the spot she’d just been in. She shuddered—Lily and Tabitha were hot on her tail.
The signals began stealthily moving again. However, their antics were so unusual that it was like putting a spotlight on themselves. Biometric Scan could only capture motion, so if there were many signals at once, it would be difficult to pick out a particular one. But the conspicuous way these two moved made it far too easy to tell.
Their outstanding physical prowess had become their downfall. Mira skillfully avoided them as she finally reached the hallway leading to the bath.
“Good… No ambushes, as far as I can tell.”
There should be no risk of being seen on this last stretch. Mira advanced carefully through the hallway.
A hand came down on her shoulder.
She shuddered, expecting the worst. But when she timidly turned around, a finger jabbed into her soft cheek.
“Oh, it’s just you? Don’t scare me like that!”
It was Luminaria. It had seemed all too possible for Lily to appear behind her out of thin air, which only contributed to Mira’s frustration.
“What? I wasn’t trying to scare you.” Luminaria raised an eyebrow at her sullen friend, then quickly guessed what was up.
“Fair. That head maid is something else,” she chuckled. “Anyway, you’re going to the bath now, right? I doubt it’d be an issue even if they caught you.”
According to Luminaria, only she and Solomon were allowed to use the bath at this time of day. Mira was also allowed, since she was on close terms with Solomon, which meant that the maids would have backed off when she got close to it.
“Ugh, really…?” What had she gone to all that effort for? Mira slumped over sadly and trudged off to the bath with Luminaria.
***
When they arrived, they noticed a set of clothes left in the changing room—proof that someone was already there.
“Is Solomon here too?” Mira asked.
“Seems like it.”
Based on what Luminaria had said before, it must have been. Knowing that, Mira and Luminaria felt comfortable enough getting naked. They headed to the bath.
As expected, Solomon was in the bath. “Hey. Good morning.” He waved to them as he relaxed in a corner of the tub. He was used to seeing them naked, and didn’t react at all.
Mira and Luminaria greeted him back, likewise unbothered. Mira felt she had nothing to lose by being seen, and Luminaria loved to brag about her assets. Besides, it was a shared bath with only close friends around.
However, the person sitting across from Solomon immediately froze—Wallenstein. He must have come to the bath with Solomon, not expecting these two to join in. Far too late, he realized that the bath hadn’t been separated between genders. He turned his face away from Mira and Luminaria and repeated aloud to himself, “It’s just cosmetic, it’s just cosmetic…”
Mira and Luminaria were women in this world, but Wallenstein desperately reminded himself that they were men in their old one.
Watching him made Luminaria itch to do a little mischief. “Yo, Wally. Didn’t see you there,” Luminaria greeted him, standing in his periphery.
“Yeah, uh… Hey,” Wallenstein replied. He turned further away, flustered.
His childish reaction only spurred her on. “What’s the matter, eh? C’mon, you can tell me.” Luminaria circled around into his line of sight again, showing off her alluring form.
“Goodness, what do you think you’re doing?” Mira grumbled. How could they be so energetic so early in the morning? Deciding to leave them to it, she sank into the water and relaxed.
“She’s clearly worse, but I think you should be a little more careful too…” Solomon sighed as he watched the girls. Intentional or not, Mira’s wide-open stance—arms and legs outstretched—wasn’t unlike Luminaria’s teasing.
Eventually, Wallenstein shouted, “Oh, give me a break!” Unable to endure Luminaria’s onslaught, he ran away, covering his groin as he went.
“Nice try, but I’m not done yet!” Luminaria continued her assault by turning the floor into ice with her sorcery. Wallenstein took a step and slipped.
When he saw Luminaria approaching with a wicked grin, he desperately scrambled away again. However, because he was in such a hurry, he slipped once more, this time diving straight into a tub.
Caught in the splash, Mira glared at Luminaria. “Good grief… Leave him be, would you?”
“Aww, my bad. It’s just funny how he gets so flustered.” Luminaria apologized insincerely, then added with a laugh, “Looks like you finished him off, though.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mira raised an eyebrow and followed Luminaria’s line of sight. It was then that she realized Wallenstein had landed face-first in her chest.
It was some time before Wallenstein finally came to. He’d frozen in place; his innocence couldn’t take this kind of overstimulation. Mira had traumatized the poor man.
“I didn’t think he was this weak with women!” Luminaria laughed uproariously.
“A troublesome affliction, to be sure.” Mira grinned wryly.
They managed to drag the stiff Wallenstein out of the tub and lay him on the ledge. His face was peaceful, as if he’d been delivered from this mortal coil.
That reminded them—why wasn’t Kagura here? It turned out Luminaria had actually invited her to come along this morning.
“Kagura, wanna go relax in the bath with me?”
“No. Why would I do that?” She’d already bathed in her private suite.
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