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Chapter 66

“Come now, Mara.” Erika pulled off what constituted underwear in this world.

It wasn’t like the smooth and skintight panties and bras of my world. Both men and women wore baggy shorts and women wore a chest wrap that I learned was called small clothes. Erika’s small clothes were made much finer than the commoner varieties I had seen before. It was cut and ruffled in a way that might look cute to someone who didn’t know the provocative ways lingerie from my world looked.

With Erika’s body revealed, I’d be a fool not to look. She was a young girl of eighteen, which was exactly in my strike zone as a college senior. She even attended an academy, which was as close to a college freshman as this world could provide. It was true that countless unknown centuries had passed by, and even I didn’t know my true age since my reincarnation, but all of that time had been spent as a single-cellular organism.

I had never gotten a job, found a wife, or started a family. In short, I didn’t see why my mentality or tastes should have evolved along with my body. As far as I was concerned, I had only just become a human, so my years in any world as a human didn’t exceed twenty-two. In that case, I saw no problem here. It wasn’t like I was hiding myself or sneaking on her. I was there first.

“Spirit…”

I froze, thinking I had been found out. Then, I noticed Mara was staring off back the way they had come, toward the cart. She was worried I hadn’t returned.

“When we return, you can let him know about this place. All the boys can go bath.” Erika’s expression turned mischievous, and she walked over and grabbed Mara’s dress. “Unless you were hoping he’d watch!”

“Ah!” Mara cried out as Erika pulled down her dress, revealing her chest. “H-how could you say that?”

Mara covered her chest, blushing furiously. I wasn’t exactly comparing, but Mara’s chest was larger than Erika’s. Mara’s body was considerably curvier than most, just like her mother. Erika’s entire body was slim. Her silky black hair ran down her body, stopping just past her tight buttocks. She still wore that diadem in her hair with the jewel on her forehead, even after stripping naked. Her skin was soft and pale, and her body had a dainty delicateness to it. She was a beauty in her own right but with a more refined charm compared to Mara.

Erika giggled as she encouraged Mara. “Come on in.”

Mara puffed up her cheeks for a moment, but she still finished pulling off her dress and small clothes. I ignored her body. Although she was a beautiful woman, I had been there at her birth. I wasn’t that much of a creep. She took her first step into the pond and let out a little gasp.

“It’s warm!”

I couldn’t help but cringe slightly. It was warm because I had warmed it. Normally, it’d be a bit on the icy side. It’d still be clean and refreshing, but it normally wouldn’t be like this.

“Hmm?” Erika reached down and touched the water, frowning. “It is warmer than I expected. Perhaps… it’s just the season.”

“Is there a problem?” Mara asked worriedly.

Erika’s lips tightened for a moment, but then she shook her head, the jewel from her diadem dancing across her forehead. She plunged the rest of the way into the pond, and Mara soon followed. I was able to quickly update my measurements of Mara this way. That was strictly for professional reasons. I also made sure to properly measure Erika too.

Erika had brought a small bar of soap made out of animal fat and she shared it with Mara. The two women took turns cleaning themselves. When they were done, they both lay back in the pond, enjoying the warmth. I didn’t react much at all. If I did much of anything, Mara would be able to immediately tell I was present.

“Spirit… he’s an interesting boy, isn’t he?” Erika suddenly spoke.

That wasn’t the first exchange they had spoken, but most of the other things they had talked about were rather frivolous. As soon as my name was mentioned, I couldn’t help but listen in. Mara seemed to grow flustered.

“S-spirit? Yes? Spirit! What about him?” She asked in a panic.

“I don’t know… I just feel a sense of peace around him.” Erika continued. “He’s only a mortal man, but he gives off this feeling… an ageless quality. The only other person who has ever given me that feeling is the provost.”

“Ageless? B-but Spirit is tw-twenty…” Although twenty-two was the age I died in the other world, twenty was the age we decided for me in this world.

“He’s not your brother, is he?” Erika raised an eyebrow.

“What? Why would you ask that?”

“I see the way you look at him.” Erika looked away as she spoke. “No matter how much I trust or care about my brother, I’d never look at him the way you look at Spirit.”

“Ah… ah… ah…” Mara looked down, her face turning red, her mouth opening.

“You don’t need to worry so much,” Erika spoke up. “I understand. Although I grew up in the branch of a family clan, my mother was nothing more than a tool to produce babies. My father was always cold and distant. All I had was my brother. As soon as we became old enough, we joined the government to free ourselves of our family control. I joined the academy and my brother joined the knighthood so he could protect me. If I didn’t have him, I might have also fallen for the first strange man who saved me-”

“Strange man?” Mara blinked, and then her expression flickered with anger. “You shouldn’t speak of things you don’t understand! Spirit isn’t some strange man. He means more to me than you know! He’s my family!”

Erika looked taken aback by Mara’s outburst, but quickly lowered her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you. Brother says my mouth sometimes moves faster than my brain. I just wanted you to know I won’t betray you or Spirit. Whatever your story is, you don’t have to tell me.”

Mara’s anger quickly calmed down, and she looked a bit guilty. “I’m sorry. I’m not used to speaking with… ladies.”

A small smile flickered on Erika’s lips. “I’m sorry too. Other than my brother, I haven’t talked to too many people. That’s why I was hoping we could be friends. Even my servants were all elderly… ah…”

She stopped as she seemed to remember that most of her servants were now dead.

Mara glanced at her cautiously. “I’ve also lost family recently.”

Erika looked up. “Really?”

“Bandits came… burned our house to the ground. Spirit saved me.”

I tensed slightly. I was hoping that Mara would open up and speak a bit to someone more emotionally available than me, but I didn’t want her revealing things that must not be revealed. She hadn’t gone over the line yet, but she was walking it.

“I see…” Erika gave Mara a pitying look. “I’m so sorry. I understand now… so Spirit was your house soldier?”

“Huh?

Erika suddenly stood up, grabbing a towel from the ledge and throwing it over her body. “Who’s there?”

“Hehe… well, look what we have here. A couple of flowers ripe for the plucking…” A male voice came from the forest.

As soon as I heard the voice, I cursed myself. I had been too busy listening to their conversation. Given everything, I had allowed my guard to diminish. After all, Mara was literally in me, so there was nowhere safer. I also presumed that guy Tyler would do his job. This was the second time since I had entered the pond that I had been approached unexpectedly.

I had grown too used to living in my little world inside the pond. I had spent most of that time knowingly cutting off the outside world except for periods when I was bored. Rejoining the pond had nearly caused me to forget how vital it was to keep my guard up at all times. I was no longer apart from the world. Anyone, sagebeast or human could walk up on us at any time.

However, when the person stepped out, I understood why I hadn’t been alerted. It was one of the surviving knights, and next to him was the cowardly servant who had played dead earlier. They both had vicious grins on their faces. As soon as Mara realized they were there, she gasped and hid behind Erika, although she didn’t think to grab her towel, so she covered her chest and remained in the pond. I increased the opacity so these men wouldn’t say anything.

At the same time, I created a small wave of bubbles that touched Mara’s hand. She glanced over, and I made a quick burble of bubbles to affirm my presence. It would go completely unnoticed by anyone but Mara. She quickly connected the dots.

“Spirit!” She whispered, and I confirmed with bubbles, only for her expression to turn strange as she looked away. “P-pervert.”

My heart was pierced and I was instantly defeated. I had no excuse. After all my attempts to justify my actions, it was Mara who understood me best.