The Petrified Hero's Childhood Friend (3)
The crisp thwack of bamboo echoed through the bathhouse. Warm steam rose from the water, clouding everything in a hazy mist.
Yet the graceful curves of the three women’s bodies couldn’t be hidden.
“Haaah… Is this what happiness feels like? My whole body is melting… It’s a comfort I could never feel back at the church.”
“Are you secretly badmouthing the church? All the other priests say it’s the most comfortable place ever.”
“Ahem. A place that only has women and reeks of sweat can’t possibly be comfortable. I’d much rather be out adventuring like this.”
“You… You’re not actually praying to Seraph, are you?”
Allen’s sharp accusation was met with Neria abruptly whipping her head away in lieu of an answer.
“Anyway, the current state of the church isn’t what matters right now.”
“Huh? Did something happen?”
“Look over there. She’s doing something weird again.”
“Neria…!”
The party members turned to where Serin was pointing. What they saw was Neria frantically digging at the wall with an arrowhead, trying to break through it.
When their eyes met, Neria looked embarrassed. She forced a smile, quickly pulled her protruding backside back in, and resumed digging at the wall.
“This damn erotic elf! What exactly are you trying to do over there?!”
“Ah! W-wait, Allen! Just hear me out first!”
“What is there to hear? You just want to peep into the men’s bath on the other side of that wall!”
“Just listen to me!”
Neria shook off Allen, who had grabbed her ear. With eyes full of determination, she raised the arrowhead toward the wall and shouted.
“Beyond that wall… lies a dream. On the other side of this wall are the dreams of countless women. Kweeeek!!!”
“Enough with the nonsense, you perverted elf. As a noble, I cannot overlook such tyranny.”
“H-help me, Hero…! You want to see it too, don’t you? The wizard on the other side of that wall.”
Twitch. Neria’s sudden words startled her, but for a brief moment, she couldn’t help imagining the space beyond the wall.
His pure-white naked body that she had never seen before. The firm chest and that protruding part she had only glimpsed when they went to the river together over ten years ago.
Shiiiick. Her face burned as if on fire, and her head felt like it was steaming like the hot spring itself.
“Why are you acting like that too? And stop digging with that arrowhead! If we get caught, we’ll have to pay for all the damages!”
“I’ll just fill it with the hidden contraband! Hiyaaaah!”
Whether it was thanks to Neria’s passion or not, a small hole finally pierced through the wall she had been digging at so diligently.
Colorful light spilled out from inside the hole. Like a moth drawn to flame, Neria pressed her eye against it.
The moment she finally faced that all-blue sight, she was on the verge of tears from overwhelming emotion.
Thud.
“Uwaaaaack!!!! Wh-who poked my eye?!”
“They can hear everything from the men’s side, you know. Serin, why aren’t you stopping her?”
“Ah, sorry…”
“Everyone just wash quietly and get out already. And stop doing weird things.”
His fingertips glowed, and in an instant, the hole was completely sealed.
“Magic really is convenient, huh.”
“Yeah… Enough to erase all of Neria’s hard work in a second.”
“Whew, that was warm. All the fatigue from school feels like it’s completely gone.”
“We should come here occasionally from now on. My muscle pain has totally disappeared.”
After finishing their bath, they opened the windows wide in their room to cool their still-heated bodies.
Feeling the refreshing breeze brush through her hair, she used wind magic to dry it.
“Magic is surprisingly convenient, isn’t it?”
“It’s the most convenient thing both in daily life and in combat.”
“And also the hardest thing to learn, right?”
“Obviously.”
Magic was the exclusive privilege of the chosen. The amount of mana one was born with was what mattered most.
An individual’s mana capacity never changed. It was an absolute quantity that could neither be forcibly increased nor decreased.
People judged one’s talent as a mage based on that total mana volume.
“I was lucky to have talent. Both in mana capacity and recovery speed.”
“As expected of our top student. I feel relieved knowing I chose my party members well.”
“Instead of joking around, just lie down already. We need to sleep now if we want to wake up early tomorrow.”
“Are we really sleeping in the same bed?”
Instead of answering, I simply lay down on the bed. Serin glanced at me and gulped nervously.
Maybe it was because she was a woman, but her eyes were clearly gleaming with lust.
“Stop looking at me like a pervert and just lie down already.”
“Yes ma’am!”
What was the most comfortable position for two people sharing one bed? Staring at the ceiling? No, facing each other while embracing seemed the most natural.
It transmitted body heat better than lying back-to-back, and feeling each other’s breath tickle their ears created a strangely intimate feeling.
“Hehe, it’s a bit narrow. Next time we share a room, let’s get one with two beds.”
“Gulp. Y-yeah, we should…”
Her eyes still wouldn’t stay still, as if she were fighting with herself.
Her pitiful gaze kept darting between me and elsewhere. Thinking it might be okay to give her a little relief, I pulled my hand out from under the blanket.
I gently stroked her slightly feverish cheek and drew my body closer.
I leaned in, captured her soft lips, and closed my eyes.
“See? It’s not that hard to sleep with a man, is it?”
“…”
Serin stared at me blankly for a moment, then grabbed my head just as I was about to pull away from the kiss and pulled me into her embrace.
The soft sensation of our lips meeting again, this time joined by a tongue trying to slip inside.
The moist texture explored every corner of my mouth. Meanwhile, her other hand intertwined our fingers, sharing warmth through our palms as well.
With each wet, slippery sensation, her fingers would tighten and loosen repeatedly.
“Mmm… This really does feel calming.”
“…Does it?”
Serin seemed calm, but on the contrary, my heart was pounding like crazy.
My eyes kept drifting to the thin strand of saliva connecting our lips, and I didn’t want to let go of the hand gripping mine so tightly.
“Let’s sleep now.”
“Yeah…”
At Serin’s declaration, I swallowed my regret, stared at the ceiling, and gulped.
The pounding in my chest wouldn’t settle. This was my first time experiencing love like this, so I had no idea what to do.
“Hey, Serin.”
“Mm…”
“Kiss me.”
For a moment there was no response. Then Serin tossed the blanket aside and climbed on top of me.
I kept my eyes closed and held her hands as I felt her kiss. I welcomed the tongue slipping inside, gently scraping against it and teasing it lightly.
I playfully poked her tongue a few times, then put strength into my lips and lightly nibbled on it.
By the time we came back to our senses after sucking and biting for so long, we were panting under the moonlight, staring at each other.
“N-now I can sleep, right?”
“Yeah…”
Only after the kiss ended could I fall asleep while holding Serin’s hand.
Having stayed up half the night with my wildly beating heart, I left the room the next morning feeling somewhat refreshed.
“No, I’m telling you it’s obvious! You two definitely fucked, right?! You had sex, didn’t you?! You mated, right?!”
“We didn’t do anything like that…”
“Don’t lie! A man and woman sleeping together in one room, in one bed, and nothing happened?! Unless you’re a stone statue, that’s impossible!”
“This perverted elf really… Pay attention to your surroundings. Ahem.”
“I think so too, Miss Neria.”
“This is the most important matter!”
The moment we stepped out of the room, we were greeted by the sight of the erotic elf interrogating Serin.
Just how sexually open was she to demand an explanation of whether Serin had lost her virginity or how she had taken my chastity?
I sighed and picked up my staff.
“Grow. Block.”
With those two activation words, branches sprouted from the wood and sealed the elf’s mouth, putting an end to the situation.
“Sorry. I should have shut that mouth sooner.”
“It’s fine. Besides, this perverted elf is the weird one here.”
“Mmmph! Mmph!”
“We won’t untie her for a while, so let’s start moving like this.”
The hero’s party left the lodging carrying the bound Seria, who had lost her freedom of movement. After briefly basking in the bright sunlight, they listened to the party leader Serin’s command.
“We’re still too weak to face the Demon King. From now on, we’ll travel the world to become stronger.”
“Hmm, we should buy a carriage then. It’s fortunate that this perverted elf and I are both good at handling horses.”
“You’re more useful than I thought. If it’s difficult, I can learn slowly too, Allen.”
“Saintess, you can just rest.”
The harmonious adventure that began in such a warm atmosphere soon faced a crisis.
It happened while they were driving the carriage and a group started chasing them from behind.
“Kyaaaak! Why are those bitches here?!”
“Perverted elf, do you know who those women are? I can tell they’re fellow pointy-eared folk like you.”
“They’re savage elves. If we get caught, we won’t have a good time, so just kill them.”
Savage elves?
I tilted my head at the term, but the women around me began to look visibly disgusted.
“Savage elves are those who… capture women and rub against them between their legs…”
“Yeah. It’s a tragedy born from an elf society with an extreme shortage of men. Their goal isn’t money or goods. It’s us.”
“Ugh… Fireball.”
I hated lesbians. And in this changed world, I hated them even more.
I cast a barrier to reassure the terrified Via, who was praying, and launched Magic Arrows.
Political correctness can go to hell.
I did my best to protect the carriage.
Barrier
Magic Arrow
This is roughly what Neria was trying to see at the hot spring today.
And this is an illustration of the protagonist without the gender-bender element….