Chapter 195

195 – A Hot Spring Tour

Stepping outside, it was a little chilly.

「I’m sorry, did I wake you?」

Said Milla apologetically, I shook my head.

「Don’t worry about it.」

「Were you able to sleep easily without me by your side?」

She says while flashing a mischievous smile.

If I were in my dorm apartment, she would sneak into my futon every night.

As one would expect, she can’t do that on this journey.

「…Ahaha, I wonder. But I think being in my own bed in my own apartment gives me better peace of mind.」

「Fufu, indeed. I’m…lonely. Nights without Lem feel ever so lonely.」

She looked at me with her head slightly tilted, her expression, gorgeous.

I had no words.

Seeing that, she smiled and changed the topic. Or rather, I should say she got to the main topic.

「The locals informed me of a great little-known spot, would you like to go there?」

「S-sure.」

We started walking, side by side.

As time passes, I calm down and ask her a question.

「This place…can you stare at the beautiful starry sky at it?」

「Yes, you can. I suppose that is one of its features.」

…? The way she said that sounded as if that isn’t its main attraction.

We moved away from the village and continued on a mountain path.

「I wonder if we’ll get lost.」

「We shall be fine so long as we follow the little one.」

If I strained my eyes, I could see a vampire bat flying overhead at a slightly distant position.

「However, since we must not be separated, we should walk like this.」

Having said that, Milla wraps around my arm.

She’s close enough for me to smell her scent and feel her body heat.

As expected, I’ve gotten used to this…which would be cool to say if I could, but this still makes my heart race.

「…Fufu.」

「Wh-what?」

「Just thinking about how adorable you are. You continue to have such refreshing reactions since the day we met.」

「…I wish I could do something about it, but I can’t.」

「On the contrary, they make me happy. It simply means that you are still as excited about me as you have always been.」

Milla is very sexy today.

「But I’m the same as well. Since the day you rescued me, since that night we had that talk, you have always made my heart race.」

Her red eyes, filled with moonlight, seemed to shine more beautifully than any gemstone of the same color.

My heart started beating louder, to the point that I was worried she might hear it.

「We’re almost there. Look, it’s over there.」

Slightly off the mountain path, after walking through the forest for a while, the scenery opens up.

「…A hot spring?」

「Yes. A secret one that only the locals know of.」

「Wow…what a wonderful atmosphere. …Wait. Are we…are we going in?」

Because it is an open-air bath, of course, there are no partitions.

There is no way that nature could create men and women-only sections of the hot spring.

Due to it being a secret hot spring, it is largely untouched by man.

「Let’s.」

Actually, Milla has been carrying a handbag with her this whole time, and I’ve been wondering what was inside it.

「…」

「Do you not…want to?」

…!

Usually, those words would be enough to make me yield, but I can’t give in so easily here.

「It’s not that, I was just wondering if it would be a good idea.」

「I figured this might happen so I did come prepared with a swimsuit. Would that be…agreeable?」

You figured this might…?

Wait, I did tell her about a gently flowing river I used to play in as a child in my hometown, so is it possible that she was prepared to go to it if we had the time?

「Of course, I have prepared a pair of swimming trunks for you too, Lem.」

Of course???

…Uhm, how do we change into them…? Should I turn around, or maybe shut my eyes?

How about towels…? No, she definitely came prepared with those as well.

Although I did just have a dip in the hot spring not too long ago… Oh who cares?!

Wait…if I were to refuse here, it would mean that the only reason is that I don’t want to.

「Do you…not want to?」

「…I do.」

It’s true that I don’t dislike this. I didn’t dislike it, but I felt like we shouldn’t and was finding any excuse I could to refuse.

With all my methods of escape destroyed, all I can do is answer honestly.

And so, I undress.

Undressing in the middle of the forest certainly feels weird. I put my clothes on a nearby rock. While shivering as the cold air brushes against my skin, I put on the swimming trunks.

I enter the hot spring first and call out to Milla.

I shut my eyes.

The hot spring is a little hot but comfortable. I think. I’m too nervous to tell.

「Don’t look please.」

「Yeah.」

「Although I say that, I don’t mind if you took a little peek.」

「…I’ll do my best to resist.」

「Fufu.」

I wonder why my heart skipped a beat every time I heard the rustling sounds of her changing clothes.

I think she took a longer time than I did to change clothes, and then she called out saying that she had finished.

Slowly, I open my eyes and look at her.

Milla had on a black swimsuit that had a decorative cloth on her waist.

This goes without saying, but other than the parts hidden by her swimsuit, her porcelain skin was unabashedly exposed.

「Do I look odd in this?」

Saying such a thing with cheeks dyed red, I hurriedly shook my head.

「I-I think it suits you.」

「Thank you very much. Getting praised by Lem makes all the hard work I spent worrying over choosing the right one worth it.」

Perhaps not wanting to get her hair wet, she tied up her long hair into a ponytail.

She enters the hot spring, raising suggestive noises.

Milla slowly inches closer to me. The ripples on the water’s surface that accompanied this movement distracted me.

「It feels lovely, doesn’t it?」

「Y-yes, it does. The sense of liberation you get after feels great too.」

「Indeed.」

「And the moon is beautiful tonight.」

「…As a Vampire, the less intense the moonlight, the better.」

「Really?」

「We can see well at night, so a faint moonlight is enough for us to see well. If it’s too bright, our prey can see its surroundings better as well, right? It isn’t good for hunting, you see.」

「…I see.」

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I was worried about how to react to that.

Of course, Vampires don’t assault people to suck their blood these days, but it is a fact that there used to be a time when they did.

Unintentionally, I gazed at her mouth.

Perhaps on purpose, she smiled in such a way that it revealed her fangs.

「You can see the figure of the person hunting you well, yes?」

「Even if it wasn’t a moonlit night, I don’t think I could go against the Vampire Queen if she swooped in for the kill.」

「If you fought back seriously, Lem, I doubt that even the legendary true vampires of old could win.」

Somehow, we calmed down enough to slip back into the rhythm of cracking jokes with each other.

We were close enough for our shoulders to touch.

Under the water, Milla put her hand on top of mine.

「Lem.」

「Yeah.」

「In a few days, we’ll arrive at your hometown, yes?」

「That’s the plan.」

「The Original Dungeon appeared near the village, yes?」

「As far as I’ve heard, it seems a part of the forest turned into the Dungeon.」

「I’m glad that no one in the village was harmed.」

「…Yeah, you’re right.」

「…Well, we are going to be building a base of operations near the village.」

「Yeah.」

「Will you…be visiting your parents at least once?」

「I plan to. There isn’t much time, but it seems that we’ll be starting the investigation on the day after the estimated date of arrival. I wondered if I could have a chat with them that night.」

Milla began to sound a little nervous.

「…C-could I greet them as…as well?」

「S-sure. That’s weird, didn’t we already have this conversation before we departed?」

「W-we did but… Thinking about it again, I worried over how exactly I should introduce myself and whether or not this would be a bother in the first place…!」

…I was definitely worried about the same things.

「Sir Ex and Margret are both people you knew from your Adventurer days. And also…Normal. …I…was wondering exactly what I should introduce myself as… Lem’s…what?」

「My parents wouldn’t care about you being a Demi-Human.」

But I knew that was not what she wanted to convey.

I’ve been thinking about it too.

But I couldn’t get my thoughts together.

The silence continued on for a little while.

I don’t know if I can get the message across, but I have to say it.

I open my mouth.

「Milla.」　

「Yes…?」

「In the past, I never doubted that I would become a Hero. I only realized I was mistaken when my Job was identified. Still, I couldn’t just give up.」

「…Yes.」

「I studied under my master, even while all the other Adventurers went to School, I continued my training with just me and him.」

The School is a place for serious learning. However, many things can happen in a place where boys and girls of appropriate age are gathered for several years. Some become lovers, but even those that don’t will start being aware of the opposite sex, right?

I wouldn’t call them wicked thoughts, but I lead a life that had no room for such things.

Even after reuniting with Fenix, things were desperate.

「I’m not particularly talented, so I felt I had to put everything I had into it. I had to put all of my energy into my Adventuring career. My training, understanding the condition of my allies, research…」

「Yes, I understand.」

My master said this when I told him that I wanted to be a hero as a Black Sorcerer…

He said that it would be a long and difficult battle.

He didn’t say it was impossible, useless, or meaningless as the rest of the world was so willing to call it.

This is why I put all of my body and soul into confronting it.

「So that’s why I’m so bad at cooking and…I don’t think this is a good excuse for my lack of experience in romance but… Well…that’s how it is.」

There are people who do well in that regard even while they are busy.

It’s just that I am not one of those people.

「Indeed.」

Milla listened to me intently.

「To be honest, I didn’t get it at first. It’s not that I don’t react to it, but I don’t think that’s why I immediately classify it as love.」

「…That sounds very much like you, Lem.」

Milla smiles feebly.

It takes courage to say it.

「You’re…you’re important to me, Milla.」

「…!」

The water splashed a little with her movement. Because her shoulder jerked.

「And Cashew is important to me too.」

「……」

The joyful look on her face disappeared.

「Her Highness, Furcus, Sitri, Agares, and everyone else in the Demon King castle. They are all important to me. They are the best of allies.」

「…Yes.」

「…Even Fenix, Aerial, and Wraith. The people who acknowledge me are very hard to come by. Of course, my family and my master too.」

「…Right.」

At this point, I understand why Milla would take her hand off of mine.

But this time, I grab onto hers.

She looked surprised.

「When I thought about it, I thought something was odd.」

「Something…odd?」

「For example, I was able to enter into the Demon King Army thanks to her Highness and you, but even though her Highness is a similar benefactor, I hold generally gratitude and respect towards her.」

「…」

「Both you and Cashew support me, both of whom make me happy. But different from the way Cashew’s support warms my chest, your support makes me feel something like a sweet numbness.」

「…」

「I wondered what to call this. I wondered if this was a different kind of important. What is this feeling that I hold towards you? I think I’ve understood it a little. Maybe I already know it.」

My eyes meet Milla’s. Were they wet? Maybe a trick of the light.

「Yes…」

「But I don’t think it’s something that should be decided because we are being pressured by introducing you to my parents. So, Milla. For now, I’ll introduce you as a really important friend to my parents… What do you say?」

Milla smiled and nodded.

「Yes, I would be honored.」

She was beaming brightly, but it soon changed into a coquettish smile.

「…But you know, Lem.」

「Yeah.」

She brings her face directly close to mine.

Just before our lips meet, she shifts to the side, approaching my ear.

「Please don’t keep me waiting too long. I’m almost at my limit…」

After a warm sigh, she lightly touches the nape of my neck with her fangs. It was probably on purpose.

My spine shivers. My body remembers the pleasure it felt when she sucked my blood.

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Seeing my reaction, she flashed a beautiful smile.

In good humor, she sits back next to me and rests her head on my shoulder.

With such an act, my heart easily starts pounding again.

「A clear moon night isn’t so bad either…」

Her muttering mixes with the steam and melts into the night sky.