Chapter 227: Even though you tried to woo me
We closed the tavern. It was already past midnight. We had a late dinner in the inn’s living space and I was finally letting out a breath, but I could not say out loud that the scene in front of me almost made me hold my head.
The twins were having a sleepover with Erika and Rinelle so they were not here today. In their place were a fidgeting Mirishu and Kuna. Mirishu, being hugged by Hiero, was looking around the room with red cheeks. Kuna was being hugged by Pafa and giving cute little trembles. The cause of this was Nimi, sitting in front of me with a warm smile and one hand to her cheek.
Mirishu and Kuna had apparently enjoyed talking with the adventurers so much they stayed until closing. By then it was already past twenty-three hundred. Going home at that hour was dangerous, so Nimi persuaded them and they would stay at Nifa Inn. What surprised me most was that Sharle and the others had gotten close with Hiero before I noticed. Calculated cute plus social... what was that, the strongest combination?
The expanded building, call it the annex... there were rooms you could stay in, so Nimi volunteered to show them. After they came back the two of them had been acting strange. They would glance at me, look down and fidget, then do it again and again. Hiero and Pafa saw that and hugged them, which led to now. I smiled in a troubled way and said to the cute-reacting Mirishu and Kuna,
"I get that you’re nervous, but I want you to relax and think of it as staying at an inn... it actually is an inn."
"Relaxing is... impossible..."
"Staying in a man’s house is a first for us..."
No, you must have stayed overnight at noble estates for parties. I was glad they were conscious of me, but the sleeping rooms were separate... I tilted my head curiously. Hiero and Pafa sent me looks like dead eyes and said,
"Nimi~? The handful is saying something off again~?"
"Un. He’s off."
"Fufufu. My, my."
Was I off? When even Nimi smiled at me in that troubled way it started to bother me. I was lightly rubbing the back of my neck with one hand when the door connected to the building was knocked and I turned. One of the maids Erika had added came in, found us sitting, and bowed. She had come to report that the bath in the annex was ready. I smiled, thanked her, and she bowed and went back toward the annex. Once I used polite speech I got scolded like with Melaine... Melaine seemed to be training them, but I wanted to hear what she was calling me when she did.
Nimi asked Mirishu and Kuna if they wanted to bathe together. The two of them looked at each other, consulted, then nodded. Hiero and Pafa would go too. Everyone stood and started walking toward the annex. I saw them off until the door closed, then headed for the bath in the living space to wash myself as well.
I had meant to finish with a shower, but when I opened the bath door I smiled wryly. Sometime without me noticing the tub had been filled. I really could not hold my head up to Nimi.
I stripped, washed, got in the tub, sank slowly into the water, soaked up to my shoulders, and let out a long breath. No event should have happened, but it felt like a dense day. Not felt like. It was dense... I was glad it seemed to be going in a good direction. I was staring at the bathroom ceiling in a daze when the bath door opened and I jumped. The members here today should have headed to the annex bath just now...? Who was coming in? I turned my face toward the door. The one who entered was Hiero with a mischievous smile. She did not even hide her body with a cloth and showed a beautiful nude figure. I immediately turned my face forward, looked away, and said,
"Hiero, at least hide your body."
"Eeh~~? Nnfufu~. It’s fine! Even though you tried to woo me."
"When did I woo you..."
My muttering voice was not picked up. Instead I got a happy smile. Even with my face turned away, the edge of my vision caught her washing her body like it felt good, large breasts swaying. Her skin was not as white as Mirishu’s, but Hiero had beautiful skin too. There was no way the wet look was not attractive, and keeping my lower half from getting lively was hard. The seduction from Mirishu and Kuna had already been hard. Why was Lady Riera giving me this kind of trial?
I sighed with a tired face. Hiero finished washing and came into the tub with her back to me.
"...I’m a man, you know?"
"You don’t look like a woman~. Come on, open your legs more."
"Fine. Don’t complain later, all right? Here..."
"Un... nice~. If you hug me like this it’s a perfect score."
When I opened my legs she pressed her ass against my lower half on purpose, stuck close, and leaned her back flush against me. I steeled myself in various ways, wrapped both arms around her stomach, and hugged her lightly. That made her let out an alluring "Nn, uun," which put me in a spot. Her large breasts brushed my arms a little. Hiero held my arms with both hands as if checking the feel. A comfortable scent drifted from her hair, like smelling flowers in a forest. Because our bodies were pressed together that scent came thick from the pretty hair right in front of me. The impulse to bury my face in her neck hit me and I held it down. While Hiero stroked my arms, together with how good the water felt, I let out a breath of relief.
"Even so, I’m grateful to you, Raide, you know?"
"To me? I’m the one who’s grateful..."
"You handful~. Look, this. This bracelet. We use a lot of power to materialize, so even if we show ourselves we’re like ghosts, spirit bodies. But look... see? We can touch without worrying, and enjoy the feel."
"Hiero, I’m grateful you move for my sake. But be careful not to use too much power. If you and Pafa disappeared... I would be lonely. It would hurt."
When I said that she squeezed the arms she was holding tighter and said in a small mutter, "You handful..." It would have been tactless to say I heard it, so I just tightened my hug with that meaning. Call me a handful if you want. I only spoke my true feelings and I was not embarrassed. If the two of them vanished I would probably use my previous life and the theory group’s knowledge to think of a way to bring them back.
"If you’ll vanish, I don’t want you using power... I’m asking."
"People disappear, you know?"
"If it’s lifespan that’s natural law. It can’t be helped. I get that. But I don’t have the confidence to endure you disappearing because you used power for me."
"Fufufu. Even you, Raide?"
"I don’t know if you heard it from Nimi, but... I’m surprisingly bad with being alone."
It was not made up. I really had a lonely side. I did not want to show that side to everyone much because it was embarrassing, and because of male pride. I was aware of that. But right now I had to put it into clear words and tell Hiero, or I felt she would overdo it because she had not heard. Similar characters existed in Overworld, so I had to say it out loud even more. I did not want her to vanish. She was already someone I protected.
I could not see Hiero’s face, but I did not think her red ears were from soaking in the water. Hiero let out a small breath with a troubled-smiling atmosphere and said while grinding the back of her head against me,
"I’ll stay beside you... until that last time."
"You promised, all right?"
"Fine. A promise. But that goes for you too, Raide."
"...Got it."
"Don’t answer instantly. That’s the part."
Where did the good atmosphere go. Next I got scolded for not looking after myself. Mixing in the situation when she was inside Pafa, she thoroughly scolded me about how much the lovers had worried. In the end I hugged her tightly with the wish that she would let me off, and she did. We had been in the water so long we were about to be boiled. I had Hiero get out first and got surprised when she kissed my cheek. I hurried to turn my face to look at her and she had vanished like teleporting, probably using power. I smiled wryly. Was that ability not a little unfair?
After that, when Hiero came back with Nimi and the others she hid behind Nimi for a while and would not show her face.
...She was our calculated-cute specialist.