「T-Thank you for waiting for us.」
Celia and Aisia entered the bathroom; each of them only had a bath towel wrapped around their body.
「… L-Likewise.」
Rio replied, voice strangely tense. He then turned his face, so he wouldn’t end up looking at the two girls, who were cladded only in their towels.
「…. L-let’s start rinsing your back then. Please take your seat.」
At this moment, Celia’s voice sounded very stiff. Perhaps that was because she was in the same mental state as Rio. Despite that, she didn’t back down at all.
「Alright.」
As Rio heaved a deep sigh to calm his inner turmoil, he sat on the bench by the bathtub. After a few seconds, he could feel Aisia and Celia’s presence right behind him.
「I’ll make the hot water.」
Aisia took out a bucket and made some hot water with Spirit Arts. Then, Celia took out the soap, whipped it on the soaked mini towel. And with both of her hands, she created some bubbles.
「We’re going to start. Do tell us if I’m not using enough force to scrub.」
After she was done speaking, Celia began to scrub Rio’s right backside gently with her hand. Meanwhile, almost at the same time as she did, Aisia took the left side of Rio’s back and started scrubbing as well…
「…………」
Scrub scrub.
Aisia was being just as taciturn as her usual self, but Celia was being unusually silent. Not only her, Rio himself seemed to have lost his words, as such the silence persisted for a while. Therefore, though Aisia was acting normal, Rio and Celia were acting weirdly tense. But, after some time had passed…
「Rio, I don’t know whether what I see is correct or not, but… I think your body is riddled with many, many scars.」
Celia finally broke the silence…
「I got those wounds when I was still living in the slum. At that time, I had to suffer through a lot of unjustified violence every day, so… As I grew up, those scars became less conspicuous compared to when I was still a child.」
Rio didn’t want to talk too much about his time living in the slum, so he just gave a brief explanation. As if those past events meant little to him.
「That’s right. It’s a good thing that your scars become less noticeable, but…」
Celia was still sad about it as her hand gently brushed the scars. Unfortunately, healing magic couldn’t erase a scar from a wound that had already recovered. 「Though it should be possible to erase the scars if I use some kind of rare miracle drug, I’m actually fine with the way I am. To be honest, I don’t even care about them anymore」
「I see…」
Celia replied absent-mindedly as she pondered about something. However, she didn’t say anything further, and everything fell silent. Within this silence, she rinsed his back. Fortunately, the current silence was by no means an unpleasant nor awkward one.
A while later――、
「I guess this is enough for your back. Do we need to scrub your front too? 」
Aisia asked.
「Ahaha, I appreciate your offer but no, thank you. Let me do it myself. Please scrub your body in the meantime as well.」
Rio refused Aisia’s offer with a slightly awkward smile on his face. Their body might be wrapped in bath towels, but even Rio would be troubled if both Celia and Aisia were to scrub his front too. If they truly did that, where was he supposed to turn his gaze to? [TL : Even though you already saw them naked once]
「U-Uhm」
As expected, scrubbing the front seemed a bit too much for Celia too. So, the idea is unceremoniously rejected. Then, while the two girls scrubbed each other back, Rio went to wash his hair. After rinsing his body with hot water, he slowly went and took a dip into the bathtub. Soon after…
「We were entering now, so…」
「Please turn around.」
They said once they finished rinsing their bodies with hot water and preparing to enter the bathtub.
「…………」
While Rio could hear the sound of them entering the water-filled bathtub, Rio didn’t turn around. He kept to his original position without being tempted to move or turn around to see the two girls. Then, once the two situated themselves, they sighed in pleasure.
「It feels so good.」
「Indeed, it is…」
「Thank you for making this wonderful bath, Rio. 」
「You’re welcome.」
「Ufufu…」
They exchanged these small talks for a little while, slightly tense. But, although they were still awkward with each other, it was by no means an uncomfortable situation. So, when they were done with those talks and fell silent, they weren’t as awkward as before. Meanwhile, Aisia had already shut her eyes and fully enjoying the warm bath, completely engrossed in the cozy feeling enveloping her body.
After some time, Celia suddenly broke the silence again.
「You are going to… leave by tomorrow, right? 」
「Yes.」
「I see…」
「Well, I’ve prepared a magic tool loaded with space magic. Though the range isn’t that big — I’m not using a big magic bead, after all — it acts as a pair with mine. You can use it to call me from any faraway land. I made a memo about how to use it, so… please try to use it once in a while. Although I should give you this warning; if the distance between the tools is too far apart, you might deplete your mana tank.」
Rio used this opportunity to explain the magic tools he created in his spare time. The one he planned to give to Celia to contact him with.
「You… How can you make another crazy item so easily…?」
Celia turned speechless when she heard what Rio said. A magic bead was just another name for a spirit stone. A magic tool like this wasn’t something that could be made by anyone from the Strahl region. The same could be said for his reproduction of other magic from the ancient era; such a feat was still impossible for the people of the current Strahl region.
By the way, though Celia had learned the basics of spirit arts, such as mana visualization, she had a hard time understanding this magic system. After all, this system and the current magic system of the Strahl region were poles apart.
Besides, the reason why she wanted to learn spirit art was to discover patterns she could apply to Strahl’s current magic system. Rio was aware of that. Moreover, he thought that a genius like Celia would be able to handle space magic far better than him. Well, as long as she had the knowledge of its system that is.
「Please don’t carelessly show it to other people.」
「Naturally.」
Celia replied as if it was the most natural thing to do; to not show the tool easily. As she glared at Rio’s back――、
「I’ll be waiting, so don’t leave for too long, okay? 」
Celia entreated while pouting her lips.
「… Alright. I think I’ll be away for three months at the longest.」
Rio gave her the longest estimated time he’d be away.
「Three months at the longest… I understand. Even though I’ll see you again tomorrow when I send you off… still, Rio, Aisia, take care. And be careful!」
Celia heaved a sigh when she said her parting words to the two of them.
「Understood.」
Despite replying in a small voice, Rio’s voice echoed in the bathroom.
◇ ◇ ◇
The next morning, Rio finally departed from Rodania after being sent off by Celia. After walking on the highway heading toward eastern direction for a while, he left the highway and entered deep into the forest. A while later, he stopped running as he looked around.
「This seems to be a safe place. Let’s go, Aisia.」
「T-Thank you for waiting for us.」
Celia and Aisia entered the bathroom; each of them only had a bath towel wrapped around their body.
「… L-Likewise.」
Rio replied, voice strangely tense. He then turned his face, so he wouldn’t end up looking at the two girls, who were cladded only in their towels.
「…. L-let’s start rinsing your back then. Please take your seat.」
At this moment, Celia’s voice sounded very stiff. Perhaps that was because she was in the same mental state as Rio. Despite that, she didn’t back down at all.
「Alright.」
As Rio heaved a deep sigh to calm his inner turmoil, he sat on the bench by the bathtub. After a few seconds, he could feel Aisia and Celia’s presence right behind him.
「I’ll make the hot water.」
Aisia took out a bucket and made some hot water with Spirit Arts. Then, Celia took out the soap, whipped it on the soaked mini towel. And with both of her hands, she created some bubbles.
「We’re going to start. Do tell us if I’m not using enough force to scrub.」
After she was done speaking, Celia began to scrub Rio’s right backside gently with her hand. Meanwhile, almost at the same time as she did, Aisia took the left side of Rio’s back and started scrubbing as well…
「…………」
Scrub scrub.
Aisia was being just as taciturn as her usual self, but Celia was being unusually silent. Not only her, Rio himself seemed to have lost his words, as such the silence persisted for a while. Therefore, though Aisia was acting normal, Rio and Celia were acting weirdly tense. But, after some time had passed…
「Rio, I don’t know whether what I see is correct or not, but… I think your body is riddled with many, many scars.」
Celia finally broke the silence…
「I got those wounds when I was still living in the slum. At that time, I had to suffer through a lot of unjustified violence every day, so… As I grew up, those scars became less conspicuous compared to when I was still a child.」
Rio didn’t want to talk too much about his time living in the slum, so he just gave a brief explanation. As if those past events meant little to him.
「That’s right. It’s a good thing that your scars become less noticeable, but…」
Celia was still sad about it as her hand gently brushed the scars. Unfortunately, healing magic couldn’t erase a scar from a wound that had already recovered. 「Though it should be possible to erase the scars if I use some kind of rare miracle drug, I’m actually fine with the way I am. To be honest, I don’t even care about them anymore」
「I see…」
Celia replied absent-mindedly as she pondered about something. However, she didn’t say anything further, and everything fell silent. Within this silence, she rinsed his back. Fortunately, the current silence was by no means an unpleasant nor awkward one.
A while later――、
「I guess this is enough for your back. Do we need to scrub your front too? 」
Aisia asked.
「Ahaha, I appreciate your offer but no, thank you. Let me do it myself. Please scrub your body in the meantime as well.」
Rio refused Aisia’s offer with a slightly awkward smile on his face. Their body might be wrapped in bath towels, but even Rio would be troubled if both Celia and Aisia were to scrub his front too. If they truly did that, where was he supposed to turn his gaze to? [TL : Even though you already saw them naked once]
「U-Uhm」
As expected, scrubbing the front seemed a bit too much for Celia too. So, the idea is unceremoniously rejected. Then, while the two girls scrubbed each other back, Rio went to wash his hair. After rinsing his body with hot water, he slowly went and took a dip into the bathtub. Soon after…
「We were entering now, so…」
「Please turn around.」
They said once they finished rinsing their bodies with hot water and preparing to enter the bathtub.
「…………」
While Rio could hear the sound of them entering the water-filled bathtub, Rio didn’t turn around. He kept to his original position without being tempted to move or turn around to see the two girls. Then, once the two situated themselves, they sighed in pleasure.
「It feels so good.」
「Indeed, it is…」
「Thank you for making this wonderful bath, Rio. 」
「You’re welcome.」
「Ufufu…」
They exchanged these small talks for a little while, slightly tense. But, although they were still awkward with each other, it was by no means an uncomfortable situation. So, when they were done with those talks and fell silent, they weren’t as awkward as before. Meanwhile, Aisia had already shut her eyes and fully enjoying the warm bath, completely engrossed in the cozy feeling enveloping her body.
After some time, Celia suddenly broke the silence again.
「You are going to… leave by tomorrow, right? 」
「Yes.」
「I see…」
「Well, I’ve prepared a magic tool loaded with space magic. Though the range isn’t that big — I’m not using a big magic bead, after all — it acts as a pair with mine. You can use it to call me from any faraway land. I made a memo about how to use it, so… please try to use it once in a while. Although I should give you this warning; if the distance between the tools is too far apart, you might deplete your mana tank.」
Rio used this opportunity to explain the magic tools he created in his spare time. The one he planned to give to Celia to contact him with.
「You… How can you make another crazy item so easily…?」
Celia turned speechless when she heard what Rio said. A magic bead was just another name for a spirit stone. A magic tool like this wasn’t something that could be made by anyone from the Strahl region. The same could be said for his reproduction of other magic from the ancient era; such a feat was still impossible for the people of the current Strahl region.
By the way, though Celia had learned the basics of spirit arts, such as mana visualization, she had a hard time understanding this magic system. After all, this system and the current magic system of the Strahl region were poles apart.
Besides, the reason why she wanted to learn spirit art was to discover patterns she could apply to Strahl’s current magic system. Rio was aware of that. Moreover, he thought that a genius like Celia would be able to handle space magic far better than him. Well, as long as she had the knowledge of its system that is.
「Please don’t carelessly show it to other people.」
「Naturally.」
Celia replied as if it was the most natural thing to do; to not show the tool easily. As she glared at Rio’s back――、
「I’ll be waiting, so don’t leave for too long, okay? 」
Celia entreated while pouting her lips.
「… Alright. I think I’ll be away for three months at the longest.」
Rio gave her the longest estimated time he’d be away.
「Three months at the longest… I understand. Even though I’ll see you again tomorrow when I send you off… still, Rio, Aisia, take care. And be careful!」
Celia heaved a sigh when she said her parting words to the two of them.
「Understood.」
Despite replying in a small voice, Rio’s voice echoed in the bathroom.
◇ ◇ ◇
The next morning, Rio finally departed from Rodania after being sent off by Celia. After walking on the highway heading toward eastern direction for a while, he left the highway and entered deep into the forest. A while later, he stopped running as he looked around.
「This seems to be a safe place. Let’s go, Aisia.」
