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Volume 4 Chapter 8-3: Bath

「Cyril-niisama, the bath feels so good.」

「Yes, it’s been a while for me too. Baths are always nice.」

After pouring hot water over ourselves, we were now soaking in the spacious bath I had built. I spread my legs and leaned my body against the bath wall, letting my whole body relax. I believe this is the proper way to enjoy a bath.

Yukino’s skin, as white as snow, had a flush to it as she nestled between my legs, leaning against my back.

「Yukino is feeling good.」

Yukino had relaxed her entire body even more than I had. Despite it being her first time, she seemed to understand how to enjoy a bath.

「I’m glad you like it.」

「Cyril-niisama’s hard stomach and strong arms make me feel secure when sticking together.」

Whenever I had free time, I spent it using magic to train my body. I efficiently broke down muscle tissue and then used healing magic to forcefully regenerate it, so underneath my clothes, I’d developed quite a bit of muscle.

「I’m actually quite strong, Yukino. I’ll protect you properly, so you can relax.」

「Cyril-niisama’s feelings make Yukino happy, but that’s not enough. Yukino wants to protect Cyril-niisama.」

「Whether Yukino protects me or not, you’ll have to become stronger than me to do that. I look forward to the day when that happens. First, you have to get a clean hit on Kuu.」

「Yukino thinks that she can manage that soon. But Kuu-neesama is so unfair. Just when Yukino thought she could catch up, Kuu-neesama suddenly got stronger.」

「I see, in that case, you’ll have to get stronger faster than Kuu does.」

「Yukino will do her best.」

Kuu and Yukino trained every day. In essence, they were members of Nettle so they trained both their minds and bodies. Kuu played the role of a strict instructor, acting as a wall for Yukino. Recently, Yukino’s efforts were starting to pay off, and according to Kuu, in another year, she would have to take her seriously.

「By the way, about what we were talking about earlier. I was really happy when Yukino said she would give everything to me, but if you ever find a better man—stronger, kinder, and more reliable than me—then at that time, you don’t have to worry about me. I want you to be happy.」

She had a future ahead of her. I shouldn’t tie her down forever. That’s how I felt when I said those words. However, Yukino smiled and shook her head.

「You don’t need to worry about that at all. There’s absolutely no one stronger, kinder, or more reliable than Cyril-niisama. Cyril-niisama will always be Yukino’s number one.」

She said something so cute that I ended up hugging Yukino. Today I’ve been hugging Yukino a lot.

We got out of the bath and drank mugwort tea.

After changing into her clothes, Yukino hurriedly headed towards the village chief’s house. Her work there was also important.

Since the bath was a great success, we should definitely let everyone enjoy the large bath as well. It would be troublesome to separate male and female baths, so we’ll have to use a time-based system.

While I was thinking about that, Kuu appeared. She came out of nowhere, surprising me.

「Cyril-kun, thank you for encouraging Yukino.」

「Kuu, were you watching?」

「Yes, actually, I was worried about Yukino and came to see her. That’s why I stayed hidden because I didn’t want to interrupt while you were with her.」

I broke into a cold sweat. Did I say something wrong?

「I’m a failure. I’m supposed to be her big sister, but I didn’t know what to say to cheer her up.」

「No, it’s understandable. You’re also dealing with the same problem.」

「Yes, even though I heard it while I was eavesdropping, I was really happy for your words. They meant a lot to me.」

「Those were my true feelings. I’ve always thought it was a good thing to accept Kuu and the others.」

Good. It seemed she wasn’t bothered by the excessive physical contact between Yukino and me. But in the next moment, I could feel the atmosphere change.

「By the way, Cyril-kun, you’re a wonderful big brother. I was a little jealous of Yukino.」

「Yukino is my darling little sister after all.」

「I’m glad you only see her as a little sister. If, by any chance, I found out that you were taking advantage of my little sister’s ignorance and doing anything weird, I might have been a little, just a little, angry.」

Kuu was smiling, but her eyes weren’t. At that time, I decided to continue watching over Yukino as her older brother.

There was a knock at the door.

「What’s wrong, Kurao?」

I opened the door, and it was Kurao, the acting village’s chief.

「Excuse me, Cyril-sama, something important needs your attention.」

「Could it be that the handover of equipment to Roleau and the others failed?」

「No, it’s not that.」

Kurao, who was not good at handling sudden incidents, was flustered and couldn’t get to the point.

「Kurao, calm down. Take a deep breath, breathe in, keep breathing until I say it’s enough… Alright, now exhale.」

He had been inhaling for so long that Kurao seemed to be in pain.

But his efforts paid off, and he seemed a bit calmer.

「Let me ask again. Kurao, what happened exactly?」

「Well, Cyril-sama, a traveling merchant arrived! And she asked if she could do business in this village for half a day.」

「What? Here?… Let’s meet and talk to her directly.」

「Cyril-sama! I’ll accompany you!」

Kurao looked happy as he followed me.

But selling goods in Erucy? Except for a few, most elves in the village didn’t even grasp the concept of currency. It shouldn’t be profitable at all. I speculated on the true identity of this traveling merchant as Kurao and I headed to meet her.