Battlefield of love?
“Does it feel good?”
“So good~~~”
“Is anywhere itchy?”
“Up there, up there… yeah, a little more to the left… scratch it for me… ha~~”
“Captain, your skin is so nice, like milk pudding.
I’m so jealous.”
“Wuhu~ Of course! I’m the one and only Lady Torina~”
“Your hair is gorgeous too, so smooth and silky, not a single split end.”
“Born beautiful, that’s me~ Yeah, scrub my scalp a bit harder~ Just like that~ Make sure you get the top and both sides~”
Patty kept praising Torina nonstop as she helped her bathe, compliments firing out of her mouth like a machine gun.
Torina was so flattered she almost forgot her own name.
“…………”
Right now, Milora felt like she’d just been slapped in the face.
“Torina! Patty! What are you two doing?” she shouted, trying to put a stop to this shameless interaction.
“Hmm~~~?”
“Ah, Milora.”
Torina sounded lazy, and Patty didn’t even try to hide what she was doing, still scrubbing Torina.
Unable to take it, Milora rushed over to try and separate them.
“Why are you bathing together?!”
“Hm? Is that not allowed~?” Patty grinned, her tone making it sound like she thought Milora was just a sulking little kitten.
“It’s not that it’s not allowed, but, but, mmph~~~!”
“Girls bathing together and helping each other wash, isn’t that totally normal? Or do you think it’s not?”
“Ugh~~~ T-then I’ll join too!”
She rubbed soap onto her hands.
With Patty on Torina’s left, Milora squeezed in on her right, imitating Patty and helping scrub, but she couldn’t control her strength at all.
“M-Milora, that hurts! It hurts!”
“Ah, sorry…”
Milora quickly eased up, stroking Torina’s silky, snow-white skin as if she were handling a precious work of art, making Torina squirm from the ticklishness.
“Milora, you’re doing it all wrong.
The captain won’t feel good like that.”
Patty said as she feathered her fingers across Torina’s back, making her shiver.
“I’ll do my best! I know her body better than you!”
Milora worked hard, kneading her shoulders and pounding her legs, like a kitten kneading with its paws, making Torina’s heart itch.
“You’re such an amateur, the captain definitely likes me more.”
“She obviously likes me more!”
“Hey, captain, tell us, whose technique is better?”
“It’s gotta be me, right, Torina?”
They were on either side of her, practically whispering in her ears, their warm, damp breath making her shiver and her waist go weak.
Torina felt like she was about to lose it.
No, no way! This is getting out of hand!
“Stop! Both of you, stop!”
She suddenly flipped over and pushed them away, but used too much force, sending them sprawling onto the slippery floor.
Torina’s body pitched forward too, but she managed to catch herself with her hands—
“Ah!?”
“Eh~”
She thought her hands were pressing on the floor.
But in reality, they landed right on something else—something that belonged to a shy young girl.
“T-Torina… don’t… I’m not… ready yet…”
Milora’s face was bright red, her weak resistance more like an invitation than a rejection.
“Captain, you’re so bold…”
Patty just lay there with a “come and get me” look, not even pretending to resist, her sultry eyes full of anticipation.
“……………”
Torina was speechless.
Her nose suddenly felt hot, and bright red blood dripped from her nostrils onto the floor, mixing with the water.
This is bad.
Really bad.
I have to take drastic measures, or else—
“ᛠᛁᛓ! (Freeze!)”
…
…
…
…
In the lounge behind the bathhouse, by the fireplace…
“Brr… so cold, so cold…”
Torina huddled in a blanket by the fireplace, trying to warm up.
Naji, who had just finished today’s prayers and returned from the temple, was massaging her frozen hands and feet.
“So… to calm yourself down, you used an ice spell to freeze your whole upper body, then made a run for it out of the women’s bath?”
“Yes…”
“You nearly scared everyone to death.
People are already saying ‘a big block of ice with legs was running wild through the hotel.’ It’ll probably become a new urban legend soon.”
“Don’t say it, don’t say it…”
“The weather’s getting colder, be careful not to catch a cold.”
As Naji spoke, she channeled warm holy magic into Torina’s body.
It felt really nice.
“Don’t do something so stupid again, okay? It’s not just you—people around you will worry too.”
“Yeah, sorry…”
“I heard from Laxis that Patty asked you to pretend to be her girlfriend? And Milora’s not happy about it?”
“Seems like it…”
“Your relationships are so complicated.
That’s what you get for messing around all the time.”
“I don’t mess around…”
Seeing Torina looking so deflated, Naji sighed helplessly and said,
“If you ever have any trouble with relationships, you can always come talk to me.
Any kind of trouble is fine.”
“Eh, really?”
“I am a nun, after all.
Confession, listening to people’s troubles, that sort of thing is my job.”
“Ugh, Naji, you’re basically an angel.
I bet the angels in your temple aren’t as kind as you.”
“Do.
Not.
Insult.
The.
Virtue.
Of.
Angels.
That’s blasphemy!”
“I was complimenting you…”
“Doesn’t matter, still not allowed.”
When it came to faith, Naji was always strict and devout.
“…By the way, Naji, there’s something I’ve always wondered.”
“What?”
“You’re a kind person, right?”
“Genuinely being kind is a basic requirement for a nun.”
“Then back when Milora was being ostracized by the team and treated like a servant, why didn’t you speak up for her?”
“I asked her directly, and she told me, ‘Mind your own business.’”
“She really did have a bad attitude back then, but there were a lot of reasons for it.”
“My motto is ‘Don’t help the wrong person.’ At that time, Milora had no intention of getting along with everyone, and she couldn’t perform in battle either.
So what’s the point of helping her? At least as a servant she could contribute something, or just quit the team and everyone would be better off.”
“I see… But if you’re so devout, why do you dress so… fashionable? You dye your hair, wear makeup, paint your nails, and a lot of your clothes would be considered inappropriate for a religious person.
Is that really okay?”
“Judging someone’s devotion isn’t about how they dress.”
“I have no comeback for that…”
Torina suddenly realized she didn’t really know her teammates that well.
Before regaining her memories, they’d only been together for two or three months, and some classmates from school couldn’t even be called friends, let alone people she truly knew.
After regaining her memories, she got used to deducing their personalities and motives from the original story, but that actually made her more blind.
Does she really know them?
Does she really know Milora?
Does she really know Anna-veil?
Does she really know Patty?
“…Being captain is really not easy.”
