I opened my eyes and observed the dimly lit room I was in.
What happened yesterday after… I can’t remember very well because my consciousness became hazy due to the terrible pain in my right arm… or rather, I feel kinda warm… and, isn’t this room too dark… and this bed is too soft for a bed…
At that moment, I had a bad feeling.
While sweating profusely, I gently moved my hands.
“…. Nn,”
Someone’s muffled voice came from somewhere inside this room, and at the same time, my fingertips touched good quality silk fabric.
When I touch it, my finger sinks into the soft cloth, transmitting the soft outline of the body underneath. As I lifted my head, there was Rei who slept while embracing my chest.
A big smile appeared on my face.
Yep, I’m finished…
While smiling, I looked to my back.
“Nn…”
Lapis, who was hugging my back, made a slight movement.
Yep, I’m finished… (once again).
I don’t want to see this. I don’t want to see this anymore.
While still smiling, I slowly flipped my futon.
“…U…n…”
There, I saw Tsukiori, who seemingly is having a pleasant sleep, hugging my belly while rubbing her face on it.
Ah yes, I’m finished… (three times).
I covered my face with my unbroken hands.
“Oho… ohoho… hohoho… ho…!! (The sound of my mind being broken).”
Like a child who just witnessed a murder scene, tears flowed from my eyes in powerlessness.
Then, I suddenly noticed.
There is no way… there is no way I can leave it at this… I have to reverse this… immediately… I have to do something about this situation…!!
I separated Lapis and Tsukiori from my body, and quickly separated Rei from my chest. Then, I pulled Tsukiori’s hand and adjusted the position of Rei and Lapis to create a situation that looks like they are hugging each other.
Ah, I’m so glad I completed this Yuri puzzle!!
I then stood still and– slammed my left fist against the wall.
Shit…!! There is no way I can call this kind of imitation a Yuri…!! It has no will…!! There is no soul in that…!!
After taking a picture of the three who are sleeping together like a bundle, I leave the room.
Although I was grinning as I saw the stand by image on the window, the soulless image in front of me made my heart empty.
This is really tough ^_^ (Joy and sadness mixed together)
Right now, it is still 4:30am, early in the morning.
Just because I am on a luxurious cruise, it doesn’t mean I can slack off in my training. There are many uncertainties, after all, so I want to keep my condition as good as possible. I would make myself look dumb if I can’t move when it was needed, after all.
As I climbed to the tanzanite deck at the top, I stared at the ocean, which was still surrounded by darkness, and opened the window screen.
『Eating a shrimp.』
There was a chat from Astemil. It also comes with a photo that is blurred likely because she took it while she is moving. At this point, it’s more like a red-colored line instead of a shrimp.
『To think you now can send a chat by yourself. Excellent.』
『(o^∇^o)』
This 420 years old mechanical ineptitude girl couldn’t even open the screen properly before, but… recently, she became able to chat with me frequently. The content of her chats were often almost like a picture diary of an elementary school student, which made me feel relaxed every time I saw it.
『Souvenir, expect.1』
『I’ll definitely bring a souvenir that meets your expectations with my unique sense. I’ll give it to Lapis.』
『You bring it.』
『Impossible. Anyway, I’m going to train. Bye-bye.』
『Angry (o^∇^o)』
Why did you use that emoticon to express your anger…? There is no way you can only use one type of emoticon, right…?
Still, it’s hard to type letters with my left hand.
At any rate, now that the smartphone classroom for the 420 years old girl is over, I pulled the trigger of Kuki Masamune, that was hanging on the other side of my waist that I usually hanged it to. Instantly, three bullets that I imagined appeared on my left arm.
Sure enough, for now, three is my limit, huh… Although my magic power has increased to the extent it was not comparable to before due to training with my Master…. to be honest, I can’t say it is enough.
Then, I saw the three Nil Arrows clinging to my left arm.
“…”
I erased a bullet and created a normal water arrow.
From the appearance, there is no difference from before.
After getting sufficient distance, I shoot the arrow at the gap between the fences.
Don!!
The arrow cleanly went through the gap, then the arrow pulled by magic power that I poured to the rail and rotated, and immediately after that, the next bullet was loaded between my index finger and middle finger.
Don!! Don!!
Right and left. The two arrows passed through the gaps in the fence respectively as intended and– scratch– an arrow lightly grazed the fence, slightly peeling the paint off the fence .
Don!! Don!! Don!!
Then, I generate more Nil Arrows and shoot them continuously. This time, the three arrows passed through the gaps in the fence in quick succession.
“…”
No good. Not enough stability. I need at least two shots to correct it. Since I want to be able to shoot even with my left hand, I guess I will put a little more time into practice.
Using my casted right arm as the foundation, I shoot the Nil Arrows with my left hand with two fingers extended.
The arrow hit the fence again, which changed the trajectory of the arrow.
As expected, it was not good. If it keeps hitting the fence, the direction of the arrow will– at that moment, an idea flashed my mind.
This…I think it will be possible to use this depending on the application… if it’s using the principle of Nil Arrow…. I think it’s worth trying…
That said, I can’t do it now. At worst, I might have to try it in a real battle.
After that, while being careful not to destroy my form, I slowly started to practice swing with just my left hand.
I repeat the pattern taught by Master over and over again. And with my right arm put in the gips, I keep swinging my sword as the sun rises. Then, after repeatedly doing that action many times and getting sweaty, I meditate on the spot.
“…”
The flow of magic power.
I captured the unused magic power that is flowing on the surface from inside my body to outside my body.
The amount of magic power really made me want to click my tongue. With just this amount, it will eventually reach the limit. Which means, I can never catch up with Tsukiori for the rest of my life if I stay like this.
Right now, I can still adjust it with my control over magic power, but I will simply be overpowered by just the amount of magic power against strong opponents. Thus, I absolutely have to solve this issue eventually.
But well, in the worst case, there may be no need for me to solve this issue or catch up with Tsukiori, but…
Anyway, after repeating the basic training taught by Master, I felt discomfort because of the large amount of sweat on my body.
So, a large public bath… No, I think it’s only for girls… The Jacuzzi is also the same… It goes without saying that I have no choice but to use the shower, but I don’t feel like returning to those haunts of wicked men… as expected, at this kind of time, I should…!
With that in mind, I returned to the ship and knocked on the door of a room.
“… What is it?”
What a bedhead.
Ojou who dragged a high-quality-looking gown yawns in front of me while rubbing her drowsy eyes.
“Sorry, but can I borrow your shower?”
As I laughed it off, Ojou.exe suddenly stopped working.
“…”
“…”
Her eyes slowly opened and… her face reddened.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”
*Bam*
She then closed the door with a bang.
Suddenly, it became noisy, and the sound of things being thrown was heard through the door… and then, the door opened.
From there, the perfect Ojou in her usual blonde vertical rolls appeared, wearing a one-piece dress beautifully.
“What is it, from this early morning. You are noisy.”
“Sorry to disturb you, but… I’d like to borrow your shower room… is that okay?”
“You left me behind.”
Without answering my question, Ojou crossed her arms and turned her face away, saying “Fun!”.
“You, didn’t you kneel down and begged 『Please let me stay』 yesterday? You crawled on the ground licked my shoes, just like what you are supposed to do as an inferior being such as a man, and begged 『Ophelia-sama, please show me the magnanimity of your heart that is as broad as the ocean.』, and I answered it with kindness as warm as the sun in the spring 『I don’t really mind~! Oohohoho!!』, right?!”
Hmm, even in the morning, the full power of Ojou is ready to penetrate my body! (Great delight)
“Despite that, without even thanking me for agreeing to your request in pity, you disappeared last night. In addition to that, Tsukiori Sakura also disappeared after giving me a scornful laugh, you know?! Have you thought about my feelings after you two left me behind?! It is an unbelievably foolish act to leave the daughter of the Margeline family in a dark room alone!! Do you understand the feeling of loneliness that has spread in my heart?!”
“I’m sorry (gentle look).”
“What’s with those eyes!! What’s with~!! Those eyes~!!”
Ojou who is stamping her feet sure is cute ^_^
While grinning, I waited for her tantrum to subside.
“I am very sorry… Well then, can I borrow your shower, Ojou? I’m sweating right now, and I don’t want to make the Lady of the Margeline family feel unpleasant.”
“It’s not like you smell, though… not that! Y-you intend to take a shower while I am in the room?!”
“Ojou can just leave for a while, though.”
“I – don’t – want – to!!”
The screaming Ojou then gripped her hand tightly and groaned. Then, while glancing at me, she flutters her toes and sighed, “Uu…”.
“H-however, it is true that if I let the slave of the same group smell of sweat, it might affect Margeline family’s prestige… it cannot be helped, use it as you like.”
“Alri~ght”
“Ah, wait!!”
I passed Ojou from the side and entered the room.
Perhaps because she changed her clothes in a hurry, Ojou’s clothes and other things were scattered on the floor… and as I found a certain pink cloth, I slowly turned my eyes away.
“Wait, wha– NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
Ojou dived to the floor and gathered the piece of cloth.
“There is nothing there, there is nothing there!! You see no underwear of mine there!! You didn’t see anything!!”
“So you like pink? (Pure curiosity)”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
Chased by Ojou whose face was bright red, I escaped to the bathroom.
This is bad… I ended up taking an attitude of teasing Ojou, like when I played the game… Esco fans like to make Ojou blush, after all… looks like I did something wrong… let’s apologize later.
I quickly took a shower and came out of the bathroom with a bath towel on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry for earlier. I thought about it when I took a bath, but, you’re right, pink underwear doesn’t exist in this world. It’s probably a pink Tsuchinoko2.”
“Go die!!”
She threw a light stand and I caught it with one hand.
Vexed, Ojou glared at me, then… took a deep breath and looked at me.
“However, you sure are fast. I read in some book that a man takes a bath like a crow, but–”
Looking at me, Ojou stiffened.
“What’s wrong? Did you see a Tsuchinoko or something?”
She blushed while looking at me and covered her face firmly with both hands.
“S-shameless!! You are shameless!! Clothes!! Get dressed!! Quickly!! Noo!!”
“Ah, my bad.”
Half-naked, I hurriedly put on my shirt.
“A-are you done…?”
“Un, I’m done.”
After taking a glance, Ojou exhaled in relief. Then, she waved her hand with a repugnance expression.
“If you are done, leave this room. I also have to prepare myself, so you will disturb me here.”
“Alri~ght, thanks~”
I then tried to leave the room, until–
“Come to think of it, there was a message from Tsukiori Sakura in the group chat.”
“Eh, what is it?”
“She said 『come to the pool after breakfast』… Hey, where are you going?”
Having opened the door, I looked back and smiled in the backlight.
“I, will be gone!!”
To escape from the romantic comedy swimsuit event, I rushed into the warm light.
Yes, into the light.
I run into a new hope– and a few minutes later–
“…”
I was caught, and saw the scene before me with wide eyes from the side of the pool.