30. A Taste

30. A Taste

Both Priscilla and the princess were completely exhausted from running around the academy.

Naturally, their clothes were soaked with sweat, and their unique body scents wafted from the damp fabric, dripping down. Their hair was also matted with sweat, so it was only natural that they needed to wash up.

Of course, neither I nor the maid had a single drop of sweat.

The princess spoke as if she agreed, then paused.

“Ah, right. We have to go wash… Wait, but you have to let me touch the sword first!”

“Huh?”

What was she talking about all of a sudden?

I had naturally planned to let her touch it in the dormitory after washing up. After all, isn’t jogging followed by a shower a complete set? How dare she try to get away with it.

I replied while kneading Priscilla’s cheeks. Priscilla let out a sound of displeasure, “Ueeeh,” but I pretended not to hear.

“I’ll let you touch it after we wash.”

“You want me to come back after washing? How long will I have to wait until then!”

“What are you talking about?”

Of course, we should all wash together.

It seemed the princess misunderstood my words, so I provided further explanation, while still kneading Priscilla’s chewy cheeks.

“We’re going to wash together?”

“… Wash together?”

The princess said, her eyes wide open. The maid also seemed quite flustered, unable to maintain her impassive expression and looked at me.

“Ah, perhaps you dislike it?”

I gazed intently at the princess. A blue gem was reflected in her golden eyes. After staring like that for a moment, the princess turned her face away and muttered something, and the maid whispered to the princess.

“Ugh… What should I do, Edel? If not, I don’t think she’ll let me touch the sword.”

“Do you absolutely have to touch the sword?”

“But how can I just walk away when the magic sword is right in front of me!”

“Sigh… It’s the same gender anyway, so nothing will happen. Do as you wish. In the meantime, I’ll go get some clothes to change into.”

“Hmm, are you sure nothing will happen…?”

The princess said with a hint of anxiety. Then, she turned her head towards me and cleared her throat, continuing.

“Okay, I’ll wash with you!”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

Her small, confident face. If Priscilla resembles my current sister, then the princess resembles my sister when she was younger. A small, cute, round-faced appearance like a puppy….

I reached out and stroked the princess’s hair without realizing it.

“You’re messing up my hair!”

And I was rejected.

——

Priscilla now enters the bathroom quite naturally.

The princess followed behind her, hesitantly walking in. Her small and frail body was clearly visible beneath her flowing blonde hair.

A bathroom where three skin tones blend together.

In fact, the dormitory bathroom wasn’t very spacious. Since the dormitory itself was designed for two people per room, the bathroom was also made to be large enough for at most two people.

It wasn’t that three people couldn’t use it at all, but it was unavoidable that it felt quite cramped. If you moved even a little, your skin would touch theirs, wouldn’t it?

“D-do you two… not mind?”

The princess asked, blushing and twisting her body. At first, I wondered what she was talking about, but then I realized the meaning of her words and replied casually.

“Washing together is a common thing, isn’t it? Right, Priscilla?”

“Yes? Ah, yes, it’s a common thing.”

Isn’t it normal for women to wash together? Even though the bathroom is small and our skin often touches, there’s no need to be so shy.

When Priscilla echoed my words, the princess spoke in a shocked tone.

“C-common thing? Wait a minute, how far have you two….”

How far?

I tilted my head at the question whose intention I couldn’t grasp. Why was the topic of ‘progress’ suddenly coming up in the bathroom? Was it possible I misunderstood the word?

Even though I’m not the most knowledgeable, I’m good at learning languages. So, it’s unlikely I mistook a word… No matter how I think about it, I couldn’t understand it at all, so I decided to just keep quiet.

Anyway.

The inside of the bathroom was filled with the scents of Priscilla and the princess. It was natural. They had sweated so much while exercising, so it would be strange if they didn’t emit a sweat-soaked scent.

Now, washing away this scent with water would be incredibly refreshing. Thinking about taking a refreshing shower made me feel good, and I almost wagged my tail unconsciously….

“Priscilla?”

“Yes?”

“It’s nothing.”

It was impossible to wag my tail because Priscilla was holding it tightly.

Well, what does it matter? No matter how much of a beastkin I am, I won’t die if I can’t wag my tail. Instead, I stroked Priscilla’s hair and turned on the shower.

Warm water, gently rising steam.

It flowed down, wetting my pure white hair.

Folding my ears to prevent water from getting in, I glanced back and saw Priscilla holding my tail. The water droplets that splashed from me were wetting Priscilla, but she didn’t seem to mind at all.

I playfully poked Priscilla’s chest.

“Hiiik?!”

Priscilla was startled, and for some reason, the princess next to her also looked terrified.

The princess seems to be a highly sensitive child. To be startled by the touch of someone other than herself.

Anyway, I couldn’t just wash alone, so I grabbed Priscilla and the princess and brought them to the shower. The princess, who was suddenly doused with water, screamed in surprise.

“Hhhuuuh!”

It’s cute when a small child acts like this. A pure cuteness different from Priscilla’s clumsiness. I smiled and stroked the princess’s hair.

“I’ll help you wash.”

“What?”

I naturally reached out to help the princess wash, but then the princess flinched and moved away from me.

At the same time, the golden aura emanating from the princess repelled my hand, preventing me from catching her. That aura, it seems to have physical force, not just appearance. How strange.

The princess shouted.

“Y-you see, that time you touched my chest wasn’t a mistake! You did it on purpose…!”

“Did you not like it? Then tell me.”

I replied, tilting my head.

If you dislike something, shouldn’t you just say so firmly? Why make it confusing by speaking ambiguously, making it unclear whether it’s okay or not.

This is the fault of the person who made it confusing.

As my sister said.

“I, I don’t like it! I don’t like it, so don’t touch me anymore!”

“Okay.”

I nodded casually.

Perhaps the princess initially thought it was okay but changed her mind midway. In any case, if the person involved dislikes it, it shouldn’t be done.

“Priscilla, come here.”

“Yes!”

I shifted my target to Priscilla instead. Priscilla, looking like a wet rat, stood before me, shaking her red twin-tails.

Priscilla liked it when I washed her. Of course, she liked washing me too.

She was quite similar in personality to my sister.

“Good girl, good girl.”

I stroked Priscilla. Priscilla seemed accustomed to me suddenly stroking her, so she didn’t seem very surprised.

Come on, my good Priscilla. Let’s wash you clean now.

Splash-!

I picked up the showerhead and soap and diligently washed Priscilla. Just as I learned from my sister, doing my best to wash her clean.

For some reason, the princess was huddled in a corner of the bathroom, covering her eyes, but she seemed unaware that her golden eyes were peeking through her fingers.

——

Washing with close friends was always a pleasant experience, no matter how many times. Feeling each other’s warmth, chatting about this and that.

It’s better to be noisy than quiet. I’m glad I came to the academy. If I had stayed in the North, I would never have had anyone to call a friend.

“Princess. I’ve brought clothes to change into.”

“Uh, uh….”

After showering and wrapping myself in a towel, the princess’s maid arrived with clothes just in time. Thanks to that, the princess didn’t have to be naked outside.

Well, even if she were naked, since everyone else was female, I wondered what the point would be.

I asked Priscilla to dry my tail and then looked at the princess. The princess seemed accustomed to being attended by her maid, as she naturally let the maid dry her hair.

“Edel, I saw the abyss….”

“Yes?”

“No, it’s nothing….”

After my hair and tail were dry and fluffy, I switched places and dried Priscilla’s hair. Priscilla placed my tail on her lap as if it were a cushion and then smiled dreamily.

“Hehe….”

It’s good if she’s happy.

Finally, after drying was finished, the princess, her earlier flustered demeanor completely gone, ran towards me with her golden eyes sparkling.

“Now, give me the sword!”

Yes, that’s how it should be.

Even though it’s my sword, like a part of me, a promise is a promise.

I handed the sword over to the princess, feeling as if I were losing a beloved lover.

As soon as she held the sword, the princess gasped for breath. Her face was strangely flushed as she seemed to caress the sword with her hand for a moment, then brought her face close to the pure white blade, and then-

Lick.

She stuck out her tongue.

I was startled by the embarrassing sight and shouted at the princess.

“W-what are you doing?”

“What do you mean! If you get a sword you’ve never seen before, shouldn’t you taste it first!”

“What?”

What kind of absurd statement is that?

“This is the taste of a magic sword… Wow….”

Leaving the maid, who was holding her forehead, behind, the princess licked the blade without regard for my astonished expression. Her demeanor was so confident that doubt began to creep into my mind as I watched her.

Perhaps the princess is right. Could this be the ‘common sense’ of this world that I didn’t know?

I quietly asked the princess.

“… Is it delicious?”

“Yes!”

A sword being delicious. The combination of words I never would have imagined began to confuse my mind.

“Uhehe… it’s beautiful….”

“P-please stop now. You’ve touched it enough, right?”

If I let her touch it any longer, the sword might not survive, so I stopped the princess. Although she looked displeased, the princess handed the sword back to me.

“Can I touch it more later-“

“No.”

“Tch.”

Anyway.

After composing herself, the maid, who had finished preparing to leave, bid me farewell. I returned the greeting.

“Then I shall take my leave. Princess, let’s go.”

“Edel, buy me a magic sword too….”

“You can’t just buy something like that.”

Her voice grew fainter as they moved away. The door closed, and finally, only Priscilla and I were left in the dormitory.

“Hehe….”

… Priscilla still seemed out of her senses.

Hmm.

Suddenly, the sword that the princess had returned to me came into view.

My pure white sword, which I had used since childhood and which, for some reason, always shone brightly even when I neglected its maintenance.

I glanced around. Aside from Priscilla, who was swaying dizzily, there was no one else in the room but me. Fearing someone might see, I carefully picked up the sword and brought it to my face.

“….”

“Ugh.”

It just tastes like metal.