Chapter 153
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: Bath
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"This tub is amazing."
I was fiddling around with the bathtub, marveling at all its quirky features. At first, I just wanted to adjust the water temperature a bit, but messing with the buttons on the side revealed way more than that—colored water in strange hues, bubbles, and all sorts of other functions.
Tinkering some more, the water turned a milky gray-white, like milk stirred into a bath. I savored the faint fragrance wafting from it, then slowly dipped my face under the surface.
-...Bubble bubble
'...My lung capacity's gone way beyond human limits now.'
I'd only meant to dunk my head under, but it felt surprisingly comfortable. Thanks to skills like [Physical Enhancement], my body had reached superhuman levels. I was holding my breath for quite a while now, but no shortness of breath at all.
'Come to think of it, even in combat deep in the Labyrinth, I never really felt winded.'
Recalling my Labyrinth fights, I admired my own lung capacity. On a whim, I decided to test the thought that popped into my head.
"Huuuuh!"
I inhaled as deeply as possible, then submerged again. Just to see how much more my expanded lungs could hold.
-Clunk.
Arriving at the priests' residential quarters in the Temple, Gloria opened the door to the room she shared with Clara.
"Clara?"
She called out, wondering if Clara might have gotten back first, but no response came. Instead, stepping inside, she noticed the bathroom light on, steam billowing out hot and heavy.
'She's washing up?'
With all the violent patients flooding in today, she'd pulled Clara off duty, so it made sense Clara had come back early to bathe. Perfect timing, Gloria thought. She hurriedly slipped into the room and retrieved the tool she'd hidden away from Clara's prying eyes.
"Hoo..."
It was a breast pump. Clara was nine now, so buying one might look odd, but just wiping away the constant milk flow had its limits. She'd gotten a new one.
She had to finish quick while Clara was still in the bath. Bare her breasts, press the pump to one...
-Squeeze...
"Ngh..."
Pulling the handle, pressure built in her breast as yellowish milk beaded out, flowing into the bottle connected to the pump. The slight stimulation on her nipple drew an involuntary moan from her lips.
-Slurp. Squeeeze.
"Hoo..."
It had been ages since she'd last used one, but her hands moved deftly, emptying both breasts. Staring at the full little bottle of milk, she pondered, then tucked it into the refrigerating magic tool.
'Better to donate it than toss it.'
The Temple ran an orphanage for parentless kids. A bit embarrassing, but donating to feed the babies there seemed right.
After pumping, feeling much relieved, she checked that Clara(?) still hadn't emerged from the bathroom. She stripped down too.
They often bathed together, so without a second thought, she figured she'd join. Clothes off, she grasped the bathroom door.
If Ian had stripped outside the door, she might have noticed something off... but he'd stashed all his clothes in his inventory.
And...
-Creeeak...
The bathroom door slowly swung open.
"...Oh?"
The room was empty, light on, tub filled with still, milky-gray bathwater. Gloria scanned around.
"...Sigh. Did that girl leave without turning off the light again?"
Assuming Clara had just forgotten, she checked the tub. The cloudy water suggested one of the tub's milk bath functions was active.
"...Might as well use it like this."
She'd been worrying her leaking milk might dirty the water anyway. The opaque bath was perfect cover. She stepped right in.
'I could probably hold out over 30 minutes.'
Even the Earth's Guinness record for breath-holding was something like 20+ minutes, right? Five minutes submerged and I felt no strain, perfectly relaxed at the tub bottom.
'Is it the magic on my arm bandages? Why do I keep sinking?'
Normally, relaxing should make you float, but my body just kept dropping.
'I wanted to test my breath-hold limit, but this kinda ruins it. Time to head out...'
-Splash!
'...!?'
As I debated surfacing, smooth legs parted the calm water from above, slipping into the tub.
'What the—?!'
Somehow holding back a scream and my breath, I praised myself inwardly while watching the legs' owner slowly immerse herself. The steam made it hazy, but...
"...Haa..."
'...!'
Activating [Sensory Amplification] to grasp the situation, a woman's voice drifted down from above the water.
"Where'd Clara run off to without draining the tub..."
'...Gloria?'
The water muffled it to a hum, but the tone told me: this voice, this female form—it was Gloria. My brain raced.
1. This is Gloria and Clara's bathroom.
2. Clara told Gloria I was using it and to feel free.
3. But Gloria thinks Clara used it and left it.
'...Clara, you didn't explain?'
Even without explanation, the murky water hides the inside. I'm submerged, but she just hops in without suspicion?
This isn't some no-name net novel hentai! Even that'd get flak for zero plausibility!
'...What now?'
She hasn't noticed me in the tub. Makes sense—clothes in inventory, no toiletries, perfectly still underwater, no ripples... Yeah, right. Still doesn't compute.
'Too awkward to pop up now.'
Her naked and in the tub already? If I 'ta-da' out, she'll love that.
Stuck, I fretted, staying utterly still and sunk.
"...Hoo..."
Feeling the hot water envelop her, Gloria washed her face, rinsing sweat away. The milky scent mixed with incense soothed her exhausted body and mind.
'...Maybe ask Ian for a massage?'
Easing her fatigue, she recalled the last one from Ian. She'd fallen asleep at the end, but before that, his hands had melted away her built-up tension, comforting her weary body...
'...Ngh.'
-Drip...
Again. Recalling that day's feeling, her nipple tips tingled, milk leaking in tiny spurts. Opaque water hid it, but she sensed it instinctively.
Usually not like this, but thinking of her birthday or Ian always made milk flow.
'If it leaked thinking of Clara, that'd make sense.'
And it wasn't just milk—her body heated up, her lower parts growing damp...
'......Ngh..♥'
Was it the awareness? The hot water? Or built-up stress? Her loins tingled, desire creeping up.
Suppressing it, her hand drifted lower. Into the opaque water, through the heat, until it touched her even hotter labia.
'...Just a little.... Yeah, just a bit.'
'Just a little,' she repeated, then began teasing her slick folds.
At first to soothe the ache, then increasingly fervent.
"...Ngh... Hnng.. Ha..♥"
As Gloria sank deeper into the tub, pleasuring herself...
'.......What in the world.'
I gaped at the intense self-love scene visible even through the milky water.
Blinking hard splashed hot water in my eyes, but eyes that endured the 21st floor's flames laughed at bathwater.
I'd planned to play dead and wait it out quietly, but this unbelievable sight right in front of me? The shock was indescribable.
'...That Gloria.'
That Gloria—the prim priestess. Who fretted over my wounds, infused holy power to heal them.
Right before my eyes, fingering herself and moaning lewdly.
-...Bubble bubble.
That mesmerizing scene, drawing me in like a vortex. I crept along the tub floor, inching my face closer for a better look.
And at this point, a certain skill always kicked in.
[Lust Absorption lv.5] effect:
Before the message finished, I muttered the skill.
[Sensory Block]
The skill activated instantly, and I shot out my hand.