The Fake Saintess Serista (1)
After everything was over, we sat together in the bathtub.
“……”
“……”
In a tub of warm water that Sally had heated for us, Ethan and I quietly met each other's eyes.
We sat facing each other, backs braced against opposite ends of the tub, knees drawn up to our chests in a mutual attempt at modesty.
I hid one part of my body behind my knees, another behind the tops of my feet, quietly avoiding Ethan's gaze.
…How on earth did things end up going this far?
It had certainly started as an offhand thing. After all, the whole premise was simply 'taking care of' Ethan's lust with my hands.
But by the time I came back to my senses, I had not only bared my naked body to him — in the final moment, I'd caught the byproduct of his pleasure with my own body as well.
In the cold rush of feeling that swept in once the act was over, my thoughts tangled themselves into a complicated knot.
I never meant for it to go this far.
Showing Ethan my lower half hadn't been part of the plan at all.
The top was a different story — he'd seen plenty of that already, so one more look hardly mattered. But the bottom had only slipped into view when my towel came undone, entirely against my will.
Had I known this would happen, I should have at least worn a pair of underwear down there when I came in.
Worse still, Ethan, conscious of my reaction, had gone so far as to remove his own towel and bare himself completely. If he went that far, it would have felt strange indeed for me — his exclusive maid — to snatch my towel back up and cover myself again.
And to be fair, he had only seen me; I hadn't let him touch me directly. If I were splitting hairs, we'd squeaked by at third base…
No, wait. Thinking about it, that's not third base at all.
If we kept pushing the pace like this, there was a very real chance we'd cross the line for good before I even graduated from the academy.
I really should have held back somehow.
It might have been better to make things a little awkward and just tell him, 'For winning outright, I'll give you your reward — so quietly drop your pants on the bed.' Sure, that would have been mortifying in its own way, but at least I wouldn't have had to suffer the indignity of exposing my own naked body.
“……”
-Slosh.
I knew covering up at this point was pointless — he'd already seen everything — but I nudged myself into the far corner of the tub anyway, trying to conceal just a little more of me.
Amid that awkward silence, as our bath dragged on, Ethan's voice reached my ears.
“Lilith.”
Perhaps it was the acoustics of the bathroom, but his voice sounded softer than usual, faintly hushed.
Fighting off the drowsiness the tub's heat was wrapping around me, I did my best to keep my composure as I answered.
“Yes, Young Master Ethan.”
“…About today. Thank you.”
“I'm sorry?”
“I never imagined you'd go this far for my sake, Lilith. I'll admit I was hoping for the reward for an overwhelming victory, but I honestly never dreamed you'd go this far.”
Well, of course you didn't. Neither did I.
Looking back, things had probably stopped being 'fine' the moment I stepped into the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel.
Unconsciously, a thought flickered through my mind — that lately, the rewards between Ethan and me kept escalating. Even though my head knew, beyond any doubt, that this had to stop.
…Next time, I need to make it absolutely clear that we're not drifting any further along by accident.
“…This is where it ends, Young Master Ethan.”
“Hm?”
“Even if you happen to win your next sparring match against our Master, I cannot offer any reward beyond what I gave you today.”
“…What do you mean?”
“I've been told that from the next bout onward, our Master intends to face you using the full force of both his mana and aura.”
“…Right.”
“Which will naturally make victory far more difficult for you than in your previous matches — but you would do well not to expect that, should you win, I will do something more than what I did for you today.”
“…Oh. That's what you meant.”
“Yes. And let me say it once more: until you graduate from the academy, I absolutely cannot permit relations between a man and a woman.”
“…Ah. Yeah. I know, Lilith.”
I'd drawn the line firmly enough; surely even Ethan understood.
Whatever else was true, my mental age was far older than his — which meant that in moments like this, as the elder, I had no choice but to set boundaries without flinching.
Keeping to that line while behaving like temporary lovers was, truly, no easy feat.
“…You would do well not to expect that, should you win, I will do something more than what I did for you today.”
“…Oh. That's what you meant.”
“Yes. And let me say it once more: until you graduate from the academy, I absolutely cannot permit relations between a man and a woman.”
“…Ah. Yeah. I know, Lilith.”
Listening to Lilith as she steadied her tangled emotions and declared the boundary with absolute clarity, Ethan thought quietly to himself.
Today he had entered the bathroom naked alongside her, and for the first time, experienced the sensation she called climax at the touch of her hand.
Quietly turning that day's experience over in his mind, he mulled over her words.
So this is her limit. I figured things would go back to just… touching my chest, after this….
Lilith, entirely unaware that she had just rekindled Ethan's motivation to grow stronger without meaning to.
A week had passed since I delivered Ethan's first 'reward for an overwhelming victory' in that bathroom.
The second semester of our first year in Luminor Academy's Department of Magic continued to drift along without any particular trouble.
Ethan and I had been awkward with each other for a day or so after leaving the bathroom, but within a few days we were back to our usual dynamic.
And the potion trade with Lizzie — resumed through the student council — for the upcoming final Hunting Festival was proceeding smoothly as well.
Looks like this semester will wrap up without incident after all.
By rights, the endless stream of incidents and calamities belonged to the Hero and his companions, not to me.
Yes, I'd been transmigrated into Lilith's body — but I was no longer Ethan's slave, nor a tragic heroine.
As long as I stayed out of the main story, the normal course of events for an ordinary academy student was exactly that: ordinary. …Things had only kept going sideways and dragging me into crises these past few days.
Dealing with the Abyssal Kraken was the Hero's job in the first place. It had nothing to do with me, really…
Come to think of it, I wonder if the Hero is doing all right?
By slaying the Abyssal Kraken myself, I'd inadvertently stolen a massive experience-point event right out from under him.
Of course, in Luminor Academy, there were countless ways to farm experience even without a raid-scale event like the Kraken's subjugation. But whether Gehmajoshigi-gwat saw it that way was another matter entirely.
And if the character the Hero had his eye on happened to be Agnes, he'd just missed a major affection event — meaning there was every possibility he harbored some resentment toward Ethan and me.
I'd really like to confirm one thing: what exactly that Hero kid thinks of Ethan and me right now.
With that thought in mind, I'd finished the morning's classes a little early and was making my way toward the swordsmanship building where Ethan trained — when, as luck would have it, the most familiar face in the Hero's group appeared right in front of me.
Her pink hair and snow-white priestess robes were unmistakable. I deliberately approached from behind and greeted her in a friendly tone.
“Haaa… how can I reveal that Miss Lilith is truly the Saintess without any complications….”
“Good afternoon, Saintess Serista.”
“Eep — KYAAAAHK?!”
“…GYAAHK?!”
The instant I called her name and stepped up behind her, Serista jolted and flailed backward in shock.
She sprang away like a startled jack-in-the-box, startling me so badly I stumbled back a step myself.
Serista stared at me with an expression ten times more alarmed than my own, both hands clutched over her chest, her eyes locked on me.
“Hah… hah… hah….”
“…Saintess?”
“D-did you hear?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“N-no, nothing! If you didn't hear it, then… it, it has nothing to do with Miss Lilith….”
I had noticed her muttering something to herself, and apparently it was content she'd rather no one else overhear.
Could she have been murmuring about asking the Hero she has a crush on out on a date, or something like that?
Given Serista's personality, it was entirely believable. The shy demeanor of a girl nursing a secret crush was the very core of her character.
Recalling how she'd appeared in the original game, a fond smile crept across my face before I could stop it.
-Smiile.
“Eeek?! I-I'm so sorry…! S-so you did hear me after all?!”
“……Pardon?”
“O-of course! I mustn't deceive others with falsehood under the goddess's name! What's done up to now can't be helped, but the sooner I confess my true heart, the….”
“P-please calm down, Saintess! I have no idea what's troubling you, but for now, place a hand over your heart and breathe out slowly and deeply!”
“Hoo… hoo… hoo….”
“Slower, if you please, Saintess. Slower.”
“Huuuu…. Huuuu….”
…Please tell me I didn't do something strange to this girl while I was in the Church's care.
Try as I might, nothing came to mind. As far as I remembered, I'd quietly received treatment and left as quickly as possible.
Or maybe — though I had no idea what it was about — she was simply panicking because she thought I'd overheard whatever she'd been muttering.
Either way, calming her down had to be the priority if we were going to have any kind of conversation.
“You needn't worry — I truly did not hear whatever you were saying to yourself, Saintess Serista.”
“Oh? Th-then that smile just now….”
“I merely smiled because I was happy to see you, Saintess. After all, you are the one who saved my life.”
“…A-ah…. S-so that's what the smile meant…. Phew… phewww….”
“If my approach caused you any discomfort, I sincerely apologize, Saintess Serista.”
“N-no, not at all…! I-I was simply mistaken. Ha, hahaha….”
…Her reactions feel oddly off today, somehow.
Looking at her flustered expression, it seemed like the awkward behavior of someone hiding something from me.
And given her personality — so ill-suited to keeping secrets — there was a good chance that was exactly what was happening.
After all, she was one of the easiest characters in the entire game to read.
She was the character who wore the title of Saint of Prophecy merely by imitating Lilith's pretense, but if Serista were the real saint, something like Saint of Pure White would have suited her far better.
…Well, whether or not Serista truly had something she didn't want to tell me, it wasn't worth worrying about.
I'd said it before and I'd say it again: I had no intention of entangling myself with the main cast of Luminor Academy any more than necessary.
The Hero was a first-class danger to my current existence — and, come to think of it, so was Serista, the saint.
The only reason I was approaching her at all was as a confirmation procedure, nothing more.
I planned to carefully probe one single question: whether Gehmajoshigi-gwat held any ill will toward Ethan and me over recent events.
If I didn't nail this down now, I might find myself carrying an unintended grudge from the Hero later on.
“Um, Saintess Serista. Since fate has brought us together like this, would it be all right if I asked you a question — presuming it isn't too rude?”
“Y-yes…? A q-question…?”
“Yes. If it's inconvenient, you're free not to answer.”
“A-ah, y-yes….”
“…Actually, it's less about you, Saintess, and more about the Hero.”
“……”
“Has the Hero, by any chance, said anything recently about me or about Young Master Ethan? Might I ask you about that, and only that?”
“…………Pardon?”