Candid Sophie-chan

When the sunlight had already started to slant low in the sky—

Liricia and I were attacking an undead dungeon.

Or rather, just by my stepping into the enemy dungeon, everything C-rank and below was blown away.

Even the stronger enemies moved slowly.

We cleared the dungeon with ease.

The first dungeon mainly had weak skeletons and ghosts.

We cleared it in no time and got one core.

The second had B-rank and higher enemies like Dullahans and Grim Reaper Knights, but they were no match for me.

We destroyed the dungeon core and obtained two cores.

We were clearing them smoothly and quickly.

—Then.

The sub-device in my bag shook and Kou’s voice came through.

“Master, a customer has come to the shop~.”

“Hm? What about Teti? Isn’t she minding the store?”

“Nope~. It’s a mage and a cleric, Master.”

“Oh, those two! Got it, I’ll head back.”

“Okaaay.”

I ended the call and spoke to Liricia.

“Apparently the girl mage and the girl cleric came to the shop. We’ll leave the third dungeon for later.”

“Understood, Master!”

Liricia and I immediately returned to Kou’s dungeon.

---

Evening in the Royal Capital.

When I went to the shop, the two of them were already there.

Teti was serving tea to the girl mage and the girl cleric.

I walked up to the three of them and spoke.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Heeey, Alec!”

“Ah… Alec-san, it’s been a while…”

The girl mage greeted me cheerfully, the brim of her pointy hat swaying, while the girl cleric kept her head lowered, her hood pulled all the way down over her face.

Watching the two of them, I asked:

“Did it work on the curse?”

“Yeah, perfectly! I got better enough to walk all the way here! —Right, Sophie-chan?”

“Y-yes… thank you very much, Alec-san.”

The girl cleric bowed her head, still wearing her hood.

I glanced back over my shoulder and spoke to Liricia.

“Then, Liricia. I’m counting on you to handle her.”

“Understood… this way, please.”

Liricia stepped closer and helped the girl cleric to her feet.

Looking anxious, the cleric reached out and took the girl mage’s hand, entwining their fingers.

“May-chan…”

“It’s fine, Sophie-chan! If it’s something Alec’s doing, there’s nothing to worry about!”

I spoke to the girl mage.

“Sorry, but I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Sure! Then I’m leaving Sophie-chan in your care~.”

She stood up, her short skirt fluttering, and patted the girl cleric’s shoulder in a peppy attempt to cheer her up.

Then her long, slender legs carried her out of the shop.

I looked at Liricia and gave a nod.

With the girl cleric in tow, she headed to the wardrobe in the kitchen.

“Now then, please step inside here.”

“Eh!? This is… a dungeon!?”

The girl cleric’s robes swayed as she faltered in confusion.

Liricia went in first and reached a hand back toward her.

The girl cleric timidly took that hand and stepped inside.

Teti shook her head from side to side as she spoke.

“I hope this is okay… letting outsiders know about the dungeon and all.”

“If it’s something Liricia is doing, then there’s no mistake—more importantly, I’m counting on you for closing duties.”

“Okaaay, leave it to me!”

Teti gave a little hop as she jumped down from the chair.

The hem of her one-piece dress swayed as she headed for the entrance.

Seeing her back, I decided she would be fine and went into the dungeon as well.

---

The manor in the forest.

I was waiting in the living room.

Right now, Liricia was giving the girl cleric a bath.

—I had heard she was under a terrible curse, but if she soaked in an elixir bath, she should surely be fine.

As I was thinking that, the sub-device shook.

I took it out and spoke into it.

“What is it, Kou?”

“Your wife is calling you~. The bath is in big trouble! Danger-danger!”

“What, seriously!? I’m coming right away!”

Without even waiting for a reply, I dashed off.

I left the living room and ran down the hallway.

Then I sped through the changing room and burst into the bath.

“Are you okay, Liricia!? —Whoa.”

The bath, which should have been a beautiful expanse of pale blue tiles, was in a gruesome state.

Black droplets had splattered over the walls and ceiling, and the pitch-black bathwater was heaving like a living creature.

Liricia had spread her pure white wings and was desperately pouring healing light into the tub.

She looked back at me with a pained expression.

“Master! Please give me a large amount of Serâge!”

“Got it, just like how I do when we fight, right?”

“Yes, please do it that way!”

I drew the sword from my waist and held it in a stance.

“Haaaaaaah!”

At the same moment my bangs swayed, a fierce wind burst out around us.

Blue light glittered brilliantly.

Then the black water staining the walls and ceiling shone with pale light and turned back into clear water.

The surging in the tub also faded, returning to clear water.

The filthy bath was restored in an instant.

As a hush fell over the room, I sheathed my sword and walked up to Liricia.

“What on earth happened?”

“The moment she entered the elixir bath, the curse seems to have run wild… because the cause of this curse lies with me.”

“What!? With you, Liricia? It’s not like the two of you ever had any connection.”

Liricia sadly shook her head, then looked down at the girl lying in the white marble tub, her silver hair swaying beautifully.

I followed her gaze.

The girl cleric’s slender body was stretched out, eyes closed and unmoving. She seemed to have fainted.

“It is because I received Master’s favor… this young lady was in love with you, Master. Most likely.”

“Wait, she never showed anything like that when we were together!”

“She probably did not realize her own feelings. …Most of the time, we only notice what is most important to us after we have lost it.”

I stepped up beside the wash basin and tilted my head as I looked down at the naked girl cleric.

Her beautiful, bowl-shaped breasts, perkily pointed upward, floated on the surface of the water.

“But in that case, why did the curse trigger? Who cursed her? It isn’t you, Liricia, right?”

“No, it is not. This person has cursed herself… more precisely, it is her jealousy toward me.”

“I don’t really get it, but… so that’s how it is. Still, cursing yourself sounds like a real pain to deal with.”

At my words, Liricia nodded deeply.

Then she looked at me with a sorrowful expression.

“Master… it pains me to say this, but if we want to heal her as quickly as possible—please take her to bed.”

“Wha!?”

“If you flood her with your Serâge, I believe she will regain her true self.”

“So that means… she was a fallen angel?”

With a serious face, Liricia gave a firm nod.

But I shook my head and met her gaze with a resolute look.

“Sorry, but I’ve decided I will love only you, Liricia, to the very end. No matter how much it may be for her sake, that’s the one thing I can’t do… isn’t there any other way?”

If there really was no other way, then there was nothing for it… and sure, the girl cleric was smaller than Liricia but still had a great figure and was undeniably attractive.

…Even so.

Could a single hero really have two angels supporting him? Wasn’t she supposed to be an angel for some other hero? Was it really okay for me to steal her away?

Liricia narrowed her eyes and broke into a delighted smile.

“Ah…! I am so happy… however, if we rely only on the elixir bath, it will take quite some time.”

“In practice, how long are we talking?”

Liricia pressed a finger to her slim chin and thought with a soft “hmm.”

“With one hundred elixir baths… perhaps that would be about equal to one time of receiving your rich, devoted love, Master…?”

“I see… so if we put her in a hundred times, it’ll be like our first day together.”

“Y-yes, that is how it would be… but surely you do not mean…”

Liricia’s violet eyes went round as she stared at me.

I stroked my chin, mulling it over.

“No, but… right. Would the curse run wild again while she’s in there a hundred times?”

“Since she is unconscious, I do not think that will happen.”

“One more thing. Was she also sent to support me? Am I supposed to have two angels serving under me?”

“I do not think so. Only one guiding angel serves a single hero.”

“Then it’s settled that she’s meant to be a support for some other hero—okay, I’ve got it!”

“What will you do?”

I took out the sub-device and grinned.

“In that case, we’ll just stick her in the bath a hundred times!”

“Eh!? You are really going to do it!? It will be a lot of work, you know? If you simply took her while she is unconscious, I am sure she would never know.”

Liricia’s silver hair fluttered wildly as she stared in shock.

I grimaced and held the sub-device to my ear.

“Isn’t that pretty awful in its own way? It’d be dishonest to both you and her. That’s the last resort—first we try the elixir! Okay, we’ll do this like an assembly line! —Kou, here’s the plan. Fill the tub with Empty Water and dump it every time the effect triggers!”

“Roger-roger~.”

The bathwater was replaced at once.

In the clear water, the girl cleric’s beautiful, completely bare body was submerged.

I put my hand into the tub and spoke to Liricia.

“Close your eyes!”

“Ah, yes!”

“Haaah!”

The water shone intensely and turned into an elixir.

Almost immediately, it began to cloud as bubbles fizzed up.

Growling under my breath, I blasted away the black filth and shouted with my eyes squeezed shut.

“Kou, next!”

“Rogerrr! It’s just like endless soba bowls, isn’t it~.”

The water vanished again, and fresh water filled the tub.

Then I focused and turned it into elixir once more…

—The only thing that bugged me was what exactly soba noodles had to do with any of this.

We repeated it over and over.

Again and again and again.

After we had done it more than a hundred times, the elixir bath finally stopped turning cloudy.

“Is it over…?”

The next moment, a pair of gray wings burst from the girl cleric’s back.

The black stains on them were more numerous than Liricia’s had been at the beginning.

The girl cleric let out a faint groan.

She cracked her eyes open and looked around.

When her gaze landed on me and Liricia, she quickly drew back her long, slender legs to hide them and covered her perkily pointed, bowl-shaped breasts with both hands.

“A-Alec-san… eh!? Liricia-san, you’re an angel!?”

“So are you.”

“Eh!?”

The girl cleric whipped around in a panic.

Seeing the gray wings sprouting from her own back, she stared in a daze.

—I knew exactly how that felt.

For a while, she kept a hand on her chest as she flapped her wings.

Then, as if remembering something, she suddenly gasped.

“That’s right! I was an angel! I was cast out for the sin of jealousy!”

“So you really were the jealous type… but then, why become a cleric?”

“I didn’t have any memories. But somehow, I remembered that all I could do was believe in God…”

“So you’re just like Liricia.”

“Yes, why is it that not only I, but everyone loses their memories…?”

As Liricia tilted her head, the girl cleric spoke, a frown creasing her brow.

“I kind of remember… when I was being cast out from Heaven and falling to the surface, I feel like someone attacked me…”

““What!?””

Liricia and I cried out in surprise together.

Leaning over the tub, Liricia asked in a trembling voice:

“Then losing your memories was not by God’s will!?”

“Probably not… because the older fallen angels used to support heroes while fully aware of their own sins.”

“How terrible… it must be the work of the Demon King or some other evil being.”

Anger tinged Liricia’s furrowed brows as she spat out the words.

I nodded in agreement.

“Yeah… because of that, I spent thirty whole years without ever meeting you, Liricia. I won’t be satisfied until I find whoever did it and knock their block off.”

“Yes, if we do not, the world will be in serious danger.”

A heavy silence settled over us.

Then the girl cleric made a small splash as she shifted in the tub, her long, slender body reflected in the rippling surface.

When I looked, her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment.

“Um… I’m okay now. …Alec-san, this is embarrassing.”

“Ah, sorry. Maybe it’s… about time I stepped out.”

But Liricia shook her head.

Staring at the girl cleric’s still-dingy wings, she spoke.

“No, in this state, she should not be able to use angel magic. We will need to do this about two thousand one hundred more times.”

“Ugh… but you’re right. Guess we’ll just have to do our best.”

“Eeeeh…! A-are you still going to keep looking at meee!?”

The girl cleric’s eyes welled with tears as she hugged her slender body with both arms to hide it. The wings on her back beat heavily, and her shapely breasts were squashed as they spilled over.

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh.

“Sorry, but you’ll have to put up with it. It’s for your sake—Kou, do it.”

“Rogerrr.”

“Uuuh…!”

The girl cleric’s cute little gasp and the shining of the water happened at the same time, and we went through the process again and again.

Yet, contrary to how shy she acted, every time the elixir filled the tub she wore a blissfully melted smile.

Her softly flapping wings grew steadily cleaner as well.

—Apparently, she really liked how the water felt.

Even as I continued the work, I couldn’t help being very curious about the expression on her face.