“You’re smiling again? What did you do?”
“Nothing, you’ll know what I’m laughing at soon enough. Just keep taking off your clothes.”
“What’s the rush? You’re down to just your panties. Turn around and don’t look.”
“It’s not like it’s the first time, and besides, I’m not interested in your body.”
Why did hearing “not interested” feel a bit disappointing? Was Hilvia still dissatisfied with her figure?
Then, Sairi bent down and lifted her leg to take off her panties. As she was wondering what scheme Hilvia was plotting this time, she noticed something was off.
“Sss… these panties…”
Sairi held the panties she’d just taken off, pulling both sides taut. Then she brought them closer to examine.
“This color… something feels wrong. I remember mine has white lace trim… but these are… pink AJ…”
!!!
Could it be… no way… please no…
Sairi thought of a terrible possibility. To confirm, she nervously looked up.
“Um… Hilvia, can you…”
Before she could finish, Hilvia held up a pair of panties in front of her with a mysterious smile.
“Ah… ah… eh… ah!!!”
The sudden shock made Sairi’s mind blank—she wasn’t mistaken. The panties Hilvia had taken off were… the white lace-trimmed ones. Which meant…
“Ah! My purity!” Sairi threw the panties away, but Hilvia caught them effortlessly.
Immediately, Sairi crouched down, curling into a ball with her hands shielding her face, not wanting Hilvia to see her expression.
“So, you finally figured it out?”
Hilvia teased Sairi with a mischievous tone, swinging both pairs of panties before her eyes.
“Damn it! I knew you were smiling so wickedly on purpose! You pervert!”
Sairi angrily pointed at Hilvia, her face flushed beyond red. She could feel she’d lost all dignity.
All day long, she’d been wearing… Hilvia’s panties… while Hilvia was wearing what was originally hers…
“What do you mean I planned this? I didn’t do anything; you just wore the wrong pair yourself.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me? I’ve been wearing them all day and you never said a word.”
“Well, you seemed comfortable. After all, those were already ‘broken in’ by me, so they wouldn’t feel tight or dig into your skin like new underwear.”
“And by the time I noticed, you’d already been wearing them well. Asking you to take them off would be awkward and embarrassing for me too.”
“But I’m the one who’s embarrassed now! I thought, why do these panties feel so well-fitted, without that pinching feeling on my thighs? I even thought you’d figured out my measurements.”
“Impossible. I just eyeballed it and bought them on a whim. Plus, it’s a little quirk of mine.”
“What kind of quirk?”
“Well, those clothes were just sitting around unused. It’s wasteful, so I thought, why not put them to use? Also, don’t friends wearing matching clothes seem normal?”
“These aren’t matching at all! Those are your clothes! The pleated skirt and tights too!”
“Couldn’t help it. There’s nowhere decent to buy here. These panties were the best and last ones I could find.”
“And they’re almost the same style as mine—they’re from the same store. After all, everyone needs panties, so there’s a market for them.”
“You don’t have some weird fetish, do you? Using me like a doll for dress-up play? I’m not just some toy for you, am I?”
“Stop imagining things. Want me to switch back the panties I bought for you? The pair in my right hand—that’s yours. The left is yours thrown over earlier.”
Sairi focused her gaze and saw that Hilvia’s right hand held the white lace panties that should have been hers, while her left held the pink-laced ones she’d tossed earlier.
The white panties that should’ve been hers had been ‘broken in’ by Hilvia over the day, softened and a bit fluffy, still warm with maybe a faint scent—only problem was, they belonged to Hilvia now.
“No!”
Having worn the wrong panties was embarrassing enough, but now to switch back meant wearing Hilvia’s worn panties again, and giving her the ones Sairi had worn.
From an outsider’s perspective, these two were definitely a pair of major perverts.
“I’ll wash them properly.”
“I don’t want to. Either way… they’ve been worn by you. I’m sticking with these pink lace ones.”
“You said it.”
“Damn you! I swear you just want to tease me!”
“Tease you? I’m not a pervert. I’m not some creeper sniffing your worn clothes for comfort. Like this…”
Hilvia lowered her head and leaned toward the pink lace panties in her left hand as if to smell them.
Just as Hilvia’s nose was about to touch the fabric, Sairi snatched the panties from her in an instant.
“Okay, okay, you’re not a pervert, so no need to demonstrate what a pervert is. Enough talking—let’s take a bath!”
“All right then.”
***
The two entered the bathtub together, but Hilvia was relaxed while Sairi was tense, trying hard not to look at Hilvia—and even if she did, to control her thoughts.
Unfortunately, Sairi no longer had ‘that thing’, so even if she looked, no images came to mind and there were no obvious physiological reactions for Hilvia to observe.
Silence filled the bathing room. With yesterday’s experience, Sairi didn’t need Hilvia to wash her hair; she could do it herself.
Finally, Sairi broke the silence.
“Um… Hilvia, sister.”
“What is it?”
“Where are we going next?”
“I thought we said the Bloodspirit Empire?”
“But just the two of us humans going to the Bloodspirit Empire… Even if we’re not ordinary people, what if powerful Bloodspirit Empire forces attack us? Won’t the blood clan be hostile to us?”
“That was a very long time ago.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
Hilvia’s words left Sairi puzzled. What happened so long ago?
“It’s been a long time since any wars broke out. Humans, blood clans, elves, dragons, and demi-humans live together in this world now.”
“Though every country might still have its own issues and prejudices, and interaction is limited, things are very different from a thousand years ago.”
“A thousand years ago?”
“Back then, battles erupted frequently. Humans waged wars against demons and blood clans; demons and blood clans attacked cities. The five nations continuously clashed over a thousand years, with heavy casualties and no peace.”
“Then how did peace come about?”
“Well… it’s a long story. At that time, each nation had a champion who gathered around a deity, working together to convince everyone to stop fighting.”
“Deities? Sounds like a fairy tale. And just five people bringing peace is hard to believe.”
“It’s hard to imagine, but those five were incredibly powerful. For example, the elf representative was a Holy Maiden. After that, a new threat arose.”
“A new threat?”
“When we hunt monsters today, some bear black spots—those deep Black Flow patches are the threat.”
“Those Black Flow? They pollute the environment and mutate monsters, right?”
“Not just that. The Black Flow spreads underground in secret, attaches to humans, affects our powers, and alters minds. In severe cases, it causes catastrophic magical-military shocks worldwide.”
“So that’s why you all united?”
“Something like that. As for each nation’s ulterior motives—who knows? Remember the goddess I mentioned? She led us to defeat the monsters and purify the Black Flow, containing it to a small area. After that, she left.”
“So you united because of a common enemy, but so much time has passed that everyone just accepts it as normal, right?”
“Exactly.”
“So… Hilvia, you’re the representative of the Kingdom of Humans?”
“Yes.”
“Ah! Then how old are you?”
“Don’t know exactly. Probably several thousand years. Anyway, I’m immortal.”
“Immortal?”
“Our power is immense. We all know various magics and have extremely long lifespans. From the start, fighting alongside the goddess and receiving blessings, the five of us are practically immortal.”
“That’s amazing! Eternal youth and life mean you could feast on all the world’s delicacies, see all its sights, and enjoy all its wonders!”
So Hilvia was that old.
“To be honest, it’s not like that. It was fun at first, but life grew dull. The people in the Royal Capital gradually returned to their daily conflicts. All sorts of nonsense stuck to me—people wanting me to help them get rich, get promoted, or chosen for things…”
“That does sound boring.”
Seems immortality isn’t always a blessing. By the way, Hilvia did say she ran away from the capital, about a year ago.
“Um… Hilvia, you escaped from the Royal Capital, right? How long have you been outside?”
Hilvia didn’t rush to answer. Instead, she sighed and looked at the ceiling. After a few seconds of silence, she continued.
“Almost a year now. Actually, tomorrow marks one year since I ran away.”
“Eh, what a coincidence.”
No wonder she’s been traveling all over and making friends.
“There are plenty of strong fighters in the Kingdom. Most are weaker than me, but handling monster invasions isn’t a problem. Even if a major disaster happens, like Black Flow spreading worldwide, the Kingdom doesn’t need to call me. I’d join those four comrades to deal with it.”
“Got it. But the monsters we fought today already had some Black Flow on them, right?”
“That’s normal spread. We and the goddess have controlled the Black Flow, but it occasionally breaks out unpredictably. I actually think that’s a good thing.”
“A good thing?”
“If the Black Flow were completely eradicated, people would get bored. When people get bored, they go crazy.”
“Ahahaha, that’s true…”
The two began chatting back and forth, and Sairi realized there was still much she didn’t know about Hilvia’s past.