18

“Ains-dono, please stop. I am not blaming you at all. Rather, I am grateful. I sincerely thank you for protecting everyone here, myself included, and the residents of Elias from those Next-Era Luminaries.”

Arabetta bowed deeply.

“Huh? You aren’t angry? I see. Then that’s good. Lady Arabetta, you cannot come back later and say you want me to compensate you after all, all right?”

“Please rest assured, Ains-sama. I, Sophia, have secured her word.”

Arabetta could not help but burst into laughter at how carefree Ains seemed, the complete opposite of the tense atmosphere surrounding her and the others.

“Hehe. Judging by that, it truly seems to have ended safely.”

“Yes, well. They ended up running away, though.”

“That is enough, Ains-dono. I was able to burn the face of the leader of the Next-Era Luminaries into my eyes. There is no greater gain than that.”

Behind Arabetta, the servants who had been huddling together anxiously seemed to have sorted out the situation as well, and the stiffness left their faces.

“Talidge-dono, I thank you as well.”

Talidge, who had been folding his arms behind his head, seemed to have shaken off much of his drowsiness, and his eyes were clearly open.

“I didn’t do anything, so I don’t need thanks. More importantly, waking up made me kind of hungry. Can I get something to eat?”

“Talidge… you really are…”

Sophia was dumbfounded as Talidge’s stomach growled loudly.

Seeing that, Ains and Arabetta looked at each other and laughed.

“Lord Darius… it is hot…”

“What is it, Rubelmel? Are you already worn out?”

“But it is already… my whole body is hot… My head is all hazy too. …Haa.”

“How pathetic. More importantly, I cannot stand how cramped this is. Is this not a little too tight?”

“Is that so? Haa… Lord Darius, you are actually happier this way too, aren’t you?”

“No, obviously wider is better. I cannot loosen up my body at all like this.”

“But that would cost far too much. Haa…”

After finishing a job, Darius and Rubelmel had left Elias and were now washing off their sweat at a bathhouse on the way back to Kirk.

With the steam blurring their vision, the two of them were soaking in a single narrow bathtub.

The living expenses for Rubelmel and the others were supplied by the Next-Era Luminaries. They had earned some money along the way as well, but even so, they had to make do with the money they were given, and they thoroughly saved money wherever they ought to save.

“This is not the place to be stingy. We had some extra income too, so would it not be better to soak comfortably in the hot water and recover from our fatigue?”

“No, it is for washing away grime, Lord Darius. Fatigue is something one recovers from by sleeping in a bed. …Although, if I share a bed with you, Lord Darius, you might not be able to rest.”

Rubelmel blushed from the hot water and gave a small “hehe…” laugh.

Darius clicked his tongue as if finding that irritating.

“I have decided. Today, we are absolutely taking two rooms. Seeing your face until the moment I sleep is hateful.”

“Please do not say something so lonely, Lord Darius. …Or, Lord Darius, do you prefer attacking someone in their sleep?”

Rubelmel seemed to have finally reached her limit from the heat of the water, so she got out of the bathtub, sat on a chair, and fanned her flushed cheeks with her hand.

“Ah… yes. That is certainly true. So take two rooms and wait for me to come to your room.”

In contrast, Darius, who was fine with the temperature of the water, strung together things he did not mean, scheming to make Rubelmel take two rooms so he could sleep leisurely in a room by himself.

However, Rubelmel, whose head was not working properly because of the heat, did not notice that, and her cheeks relaxed happily.

“I see, I see. Lord Darius, once you get used to me, you will find everything afterward boring, and it will be difficult for you, you know? …Hehe, in that case, I must wash my body properly.”

Showing Darius without shame the snake-like patterns running across her entire body, the dedicated magical formula scars for Rubelmel that had not been visible at all while she was clothed, she entered the bathtub again.

“Hey, I thought I could finally soak in the hot water with at least a little more space, so do not come back in. And as for getting used to you or whatever, I have not done anything to you.”

Darius had originally been a noble. His palate was refined when it came to food and alcohol. Naturally, he had seen many noble young ladies as well, so his eye for women had become refined too. He had his own preferences, and naturally, he chose his partners.

In the bathhouse, he was sharing naked company with Rubelmel like this, but even so, that did not mean Darius had ever had a man-and-woman relationship with Rubelmel.

“You may not have, Lord Darius, but…”

Rubelmel clung to Darius’s arm in the narrow bathtub and pressed her soft skin against him.

“H-Hey! It is already cramped enough, so do not cling to me.”

Rubelmel held down Darius’s body as he desperately resisted, brought her mouth close to his ear, and whispered seductively.

“Lord Darius, your sleeping face twisted with pleasure… was cute…”

“Y-You! What did you do… What exactly did you really do? Damn it, just get away from me!”

“Hehe, Lord Darius… If you are going to touch me, please touch me more gently. Or if you intend to hurt me, then a little harder.”

The hot water splashed violently and spilled out of the bathtub.

Amid that, the earring on Rubelmel’s right ear shone intensely.

“! What is this light?”

“Oh, this is… How long has it been?”

Beside Darius, who closed his eyes against the brightness, Rubelmel calmly understood the situation.

Into the narrow bathtub where the two of them were, one more person jumped in with a loud splash.

“What is this all of a sudden?! Hey, Rubelmel, what is going on?!”

“Please calm down, Lord Darius. It is not an enemy attack.”

Rubelmel’s earring, whose intense light had settled down, was there. From within the hot water, a woman thrust her face out with a pained gasp for breath.

“Puhah! Cough, cough. Damn it, I ended up swallowing water. Why did I come out in a place like this?”

The woman choked after swallowing the bathwater.

“It has been a long time, Lady Lydia.”

Rubelmel calmly looked at Lydia as she choked and coughed. The earring on her ear, which had given off that intense light, was exactly the same as the one on Lydia’s ear.