Ch.79Chapter 79. I’ll Wash That Part Myself!

The surroundings were enveloped in light.

Lin desperately fought back the urge to vomit as he felt the familiar yet awful sensation of floating.

This was nothing compared to Lucy’s leaps.

Eventually, the light faded, revealing the familiar interior of the imperial palace’s teleport room.

“Lin!”

Before he could properly take in his surroundings, someone rushed into his arms.

Lucy threw herself at him in one breath, examining his face closely.

“Are you okay? I’m sorry, I should have stayed by your side until the end… I’m sorry I left you alone.”

For some reason, the hero’s demeanor had changed.

She, who had previously been so cautious, was now clinging to Lin in such a public place.

Though few nobles had gathered in the teleport room due to the sudden summons and return, Lin was taken aback by her uninhibited attitude, as he had always been wary of drawing unnecessary attention.

“That’s enough, Luciena. You’re making the porter uncomfortable.”

“What did you just say?”

Both Arsil and Naidrian, who had been waiting, were shocked by Tigria’s words.

The usually stiff and cold magician was now gently scolding Lucy in a soft, affectionate tone as she pulled Lin away from the hero.

Meanwhile, Lucy froze stiffly.

“Your manner of speaking has changed quite peculiarly.”

“Thanks to Lin.”

A brief exchange of spear and shield in whispered words.

Lucy was about to burst with anger at the gentle smile Tigria gave while glancing at Lin.

As a woman, Lucy knew better than anyone what that expression meant.

“How dare you…! I’m the woman Lin personally saved. From your hands…!”

“I’m deeply ashamed about that.”

“You think words are enough?!”

Tigria wanted to apologize immediately, but there were too many eyes watching. It wasn’t a matter of pride, but rather that everyone in the imperial palace was connected to Rinasien, making the situation difficult.

Meanwhile, Lucy was emanating a dark aura of resentment.

“Here we go again! Stop her!”

“How? If we draw weapons, it’ll be a bloodbath!”

Arsil panicked and Naidrian floundered.

Just as everyone gathered was about to fall into panic, recalling the nightmare that had occurred that very morning, Lin cupped Lucy’s cheek.

“Why have you lost so much weight?”

Lin asked with a serious face.

“Did you eat properly while I was gone?”

“Ah, well… that’s…”

“Look how hollow your cheeks have become.”

As he stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, it really had sunken in.

At Lin’s sudden touch, coupled with the thought that she had worried him, Lucy pursed her lips, not knowing what to do.

“I’m sorry…”

“No matter what happens, you must eat properly, understand?”

“But…”

Lucy looked down and pouted.

“When you’re not here, I don’t even want to eat…”

She made excuses in a small voice, which was unusual for someone whose idea of being cute was usually just grumbling.

And it wasn’t deliberate—she was genuinely intimidated after being lightly scolded.

The nobles who didn’t know the circumstances couldn’t make heads or tails of what was happening, especially after she had abruptly announced her broken engagement with the shield knight and was now clinging to a mere porter.

“That’s hard to ignore!”

Airan Dekarun appeared late, pushing through the crowd.

Flaunting her voluptuous figure in a purple dress, she called out boldly to the porter.

“I hear you fought fiercely against the dragon mage even in Gilesman, where you had to evacuate urgently. You’ve been through a lot. Thanks to you all, the empire and this world have been saved from crisis once again.”

“You flatter me, Commander-in-Chief.”

“My goodness, how fierce must the battle have been to even change your manner of speaking?”

When Tigria bowed first, Airan lightly joked.

Thanks to this, the crowd laughed, and the atmosphere lightened.

“In wartime, defeat is inevitable without supplies. You probably couldn’t even get a proper meal in Gilesman, which is nothing but ruins. I’ll personally invite you all to dinner.”

“Thank you, but if it’s alright, we’d like to rest first…”

“The hero’s party will be heading to the Church State tomorrow night. You need to eat now to regain your strength, or it will be difficult.”

Though somewhat forced, Airan’s measure was reasonable.

There was a limit to how much a malnourished body could recover by sleeping on an empty stomach.

It was better to feed them high-calorie food and then send them to their rooms, even if it was a bit uncomfortable now.

Though Tigria stepped forward first because Lin disliked being the center of attention, the truth was that both of them were quite hungry.

“Since the Commander-in-Chief insists, we’ll definitely attend.”

“Good, good. I’ll serve only the most delicious dishes, so look forward to it. Now then!”

With a flourish, Airan opened her fan and covered the lower part of her face.

“Go wash up. The smell is no joke.”

—

“Phew…”

It was a bath after a long time.

Lin had always wanted to wash, but Lucy would whine and stop him, saying his scent would disappear, leaving him feeling uncomfortably grimy.

On top of that, after being chased by the expedition leader in the Gilesman ruins and battling Denarua, his sweat smell must have been terrible.

Though he had stripped off all his clothes, the two bracelets—the exclusive items of the Item Master—could not be removed.

[Pocket Universe: Item Master Exclusive Item]

[Item Description: The exclusive item of the Item Master, the advanced job of the Porter. The storage capacity has simply become infinite from a large inventory. Item effects can be activated without separate actions or preparation processes. It is also called Cosmos for convenience.]

So it’s called Cosmos.

Even the goddess must have been distracted, as she didn’t tell him the name of the exclusive item.

The goddess seemed unexpectedly careless.

Being a busy person with many responsibilities, she probably didn’t have the leisure to pay attention to every detail.

However, Lin had one question about the goddess in his mind.

‘When I asked her why she had asked about my wish last time, the goddess said she never did such a thing. Then she was startled and mentioned the name of the evil god Angria.’

Startled?

Didn’t the goddess already know?

That’s why she included the scene of asking the party members about their wishes in the original version, and then in the DLC, everything was revealed with “Actually, it was the evil god!” That’s how the game would have been structured and distributed.

Something didn’t quite add up.

Lying in the hot water, Lin was about to delve deeper into his thoughts when…

Slam!

“Lin, are you here?”

“…?!”

Hurriedly turning toward the entrance, he saw Lucy peering around, covering herself with just a towel.

“L-Lucy? Why are you coming in here?”

“I was also invited to dinner.”

“Then you should go to the women’s bath!”

“They said it’s being cleaned. The time until dinner is tight, so what can we do?”

Despite the fairly large shower towel, her side breasts and pelvis were exposed on both sides, showing bare skin.

Moreover, the nipples at the tips of her large breasts, which could have been covered by the towel without having to hold it, were slightly protruding. Lin turned back around and submerged himself in the water.

“What’s wrong, Lin?”

“No… men and women should be separate…”

Lucy grinned at Lin’s embarrassment.

“It’s fine with Lin. You already know every inch of my body, don’t you?”

“People will misunderstand if they hear that.”

It wasn’t entirely wrong.

Lin was the one who had personally bathed and dressed her when her limbs were amputated.

Though it hadn’t even been a year, it felt like a long time ago to Lin.

“Remember when I said it was unfair by the pond during the time when you only looked at me?”

“I remember.”

“Do you remember why I said it was unfair?”

“Well, I’m not sure.”

“I said it was unfair that you only bathed me. I wanted to bathe you too.”

Though he pretended not to know, Lucy pinpointed it exactly and followed Lin into the hot water.

Her wet towel floated up with her breasts, and Lucy gently pressed down on her chest.

The slightly floating towel soon sank.

“Now I can bathe you too.”

“Lucy, you’ve really changed a lot in just a few days.”

“…A few days?”

Lucy’s expression darkened.

A precarious fragility was swirling within her.

“For me, it was an eternity.”

Looking at her eyes, devoid of any vitality, Lin realized anew that from Lucy’s perspective, she had endured a long time alone.

And that Lucy, more than Arsil’s issue, was naturally the one who needed more attention.

“How about we do what we couldn’t do later in the room?”

“That too, but this is about repaying a favor.”

Lucy approached slowly.

Lin could have simply refused, but the current hero seemed like she would be deeply hurt by a hasty rejection.

He agonized over it, but there wasn’t enough time to stop her advance.

“Got you.”

The moment she grabbed his arm with a smile,

“Excuse me.”

Once again, the bath entrance door opened, and Tigria entered, covering herself with a towel.

“Why are you here?!”

“I need to wash before dinner?”

“Go to the women’s bath, the women’s bath!”

“They said it’s being cleaned.”

Somehow, the conversation from earlier was repeating.

Lucy glared while Tigria responded calmly, with Lin caught in between.

“I read in a book that naked socializing can reduce distance between people.”

“Naked socializing? Distance? With whom? With Lin?”

“No, with you, Luciena.”

Tigria immediately bowed her head and waist.

“I’m truly sorry for betraying you that day, Luciena.”

“…”

Lin was surprised, but Lucy, who received the apology, had a subtle reaction.

In the endless hell, she had repeatedly experienced the amputation of her limbs, and that pain was etched into her.

And now, one of the people who had caused that pain had come to the bathhouse and bowed her head.

How easy.

An apology.

While she herself still couldn’t escape the pain.

How simple.

An apology.

On the other hand, Tigria might have felt endless tension and anxiety until she could utter these words.

Lucy herself had felt the same.

But upon receiving the apology, it was just the words “I’m sorry.”

She couldn’t understand what she was supposed to forgive based on that alone.

Lucy finally understood why Lin would care but not forgive, why Ravin would get angry whenever he saw her dejected.

It was pathetic.

That was Lucy’s assessment.

Besides, Tigria’s apology wasn’t that important to Lucy anyway.

“I don’t need it, so just leave.”

Despite the cold dismissal, Tigria didn’t back down.

“Then I need to ask Lin for forgiveness next.”

Using magic to bring soap and a shower ball, she worked up a lather and approached Lin.

“Um… Tigria, why me?”

“To be forgiven, to reduce the distance, I’ll scrub your back.”

“Why are you making such efforts in a bathhouse of all places?”

Tigria tilted her head.

“The book clearly said that naked socializing can lead to a better relationship than before.”

Though her tone had become friendlier, the magician still had a long way to go.

It was a fresh reminder that knowledge doesn’t correlate with social skills.

“Here, let me wash you.”

“No! Wait!”

Lucy hurriedly embraced him and pressed her nose against various parts of his body, trying to inhale Lin’s scent as much as possible.

“Lin’s smell…”

Her body instantly relaxed.

It was like a drug, slowing her breathing and making the whole world seem to glow.

“Chu-up.”

“Lucy?!”

When she unconsciously stuck out her tongue and licked him, Lin, who was already feeling the hero’s bare chest against him, was startled.

“Chu-up, haah… Lin…”

“Stop!”

Finally unable to bear it, Lin pushed her away.

Lucy looked up at him with a hurt expression.

“It used to be okay before… You always gave it as a reward…”

“No, that’s…”

“Do you want to be licked clean, Lin?”

Tigria jumped in at an unexpected moment.

Seeing her slightly stick out her tongue, Lin desperately waved his hands.

“Just wash me normally!”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“So it’s okay if I wash you?”

Glancing slightly at Lucy, Tigria waited for Lin’s answer.

Though he knew he’d been trapped, it was too late to back out now, so Lin surrendered.

“…Fine.”

When he silently held out the shower ball, Lucy accepted it without a word this time.

She was just bewildered by the fact that the magician had helped her.

“Tigria! Where are you putting that?!”

“The book said washing with lather on the chest feels good because it’s soft.”

“I said wash me normally!”

“Lin’s comfort is the priority.”

Following this, there was an incident where Lucy gasped in shock, but the two women diligently washed Lin.

Tigria started with shampooing his hair and worked her way down, lathering his upper body, while Lucy meticulously washed between his toes with the shower ball and worked her way up.

The point where the two met was

“…Magnificent.”

“Impressive.”

A part that could be considered the most central in the human body.

Lucy’s praise and Tigria’s straightforward appreciation.

“We should wash here too, right…?”

“Of course.”

The two exchanged meaningful glances.

“What wash! I’ll take care of that part myself, so please just stop here! Otherwise, I’ll seriously get angry!!”

One person struggling desperately.

Lin, who was caught in Lucy’s strong grip, was only able to safely finish his bath after making a deal that she could smell his scent to her heart’s content tonight.