章節 95: Guest

With their return decided, Will let Ohta talk him into taking it easy their final few days in the cave. He still exercised in the early morning, but the rest of their day was spent lounging about, binge-watching the anime of the manga she and Finnoadh had been reading, courtesy of the television and Blu-ray player he had purchased from the System Shop.

For one reason or another, Ohta seemed to greatly enjoy skinship and being held. When she wasn't using Will as her personal recliner or a body pillow, she was cuddling with Fionnadh or using her butt as a pillow. Thus, even though Will had acquired individual recliners for each of them, Ohta just stared at him as if he were an idiot before making herself comfortable on his left while Fionnadh emulated her by occupying his right, his hands resting on their respective abdomens.

"So this is what you've been doing..." remarked the faint, disappointed-sounding voice of a woman, prompting Ohta to startle and Fionnadh to look over curiously as a petite figure with ashen-white hair and pointed ears entered the living room of their cave abode, bypassing every single one of their security measures.

Recognizing who the voice belonged to even before he looked over, Will didn't bother to sit up or look over as he casually answered, "I have never once forgotten our promise. I'm just taking a short break at the request of a friend..."

Gently smacking Ohta's and Fionnadh's abdomens to prompt them to get up, Will waited for them to move before rising from the recliner, smiling as he met the gaze of the voice's owner, his Master, Leshien. To claim he was surprised to see her would be an understatement, but he managed to appear calm and collected as he remarked, "Now, even if I receive a harsh punishment when I return, it will have been worth it..."

Ostensibly ignoring Will's words, Leshien looked past him to stare at Ohta and Fionnadh. She found the presence of the latter peculiar, but she was far more concerned with the former, her distinctive, shimmering blue eyes narrowing in suspicion as she asked, "What are you...?"

Feeling what could best be described as primal fear when Leshien looked her way, Ohta thought to withdraw into her shadow, but her instincts were telling her that if she tried, she would immediately be killed.

"She's my friend..." responded Will, inserting himself between Leshien and Ohta with the most resolute expression he could manage. He didn't doubt for a moment that Leshien wouldn't kill him if she concluded he had fallen to Demonic influence, but since the energy coursing through his body was still pure, uncorrupted, she eventually retracted her killing intent and said, "I will hear your explanation..." in a disapproving but patient tone...

...

"You've grown much in the short time since I last saw you..." remarked Leshien, standing behind Will and trickling water onto his muscular back and shoulders. After his initial explanation, she asked if they could speak in private so she could check the condition of his body. In response, Will showed her the cave's bathroom, eventually culminating in her kneeling behind him in the porcelain bath he had installed, easily large enough to accommodate two people comfortably and three or more if you weren't concerned with overlap.

"My appearance may have changed, but I'm still the same person I was when we parted..." asserted Will, sporting a faint, untroubled smile even as Leshien wrapped her arms around him, a feeling of softness pressing against his shoulders as she responded, "It's odd...truthfully, I presumed that the moment you arrived at the Royal Academy and started receiving attention from all manner of females, you would quickly succumb to their temptation and flattery..."

"If I were that easily tempted, I would have made a move on you during our training..." countered Will, calmly observing as Leshien positioned her right hand over his heart and channeled Mana and Aura from her own into his body.

"You recently ignited your Mana and Aura...not just that, but you burned your vital essence in exchange for temporary power..." muttered Leshien, a slight frown marring her face. The fact that Will could achieve ignition was a good thing, as it indicated he was well on his way to advancing to the Fourth Grade, but if he kept burning his vital essence, he would never reach the realm of a Master.

"It was a dire situation...I had little choice..." contended Will, shrugging.

"You had the choice of not being there..." countered Leshien, a hint of exasperation in her tone as she released her hold on Will's body and leaned back against the bath's accommodating slope. When he looked back, he found her staring at him with half-lidded eyes, most of her body hidden beneath the soapy water's surface, with only the upper half of her head and knees poking out.

Exhaling faintly from his nose, Will shook his head, faced forward, and slowly leaned back, prompting Leshien to adjust her position slightly so he could rest the back of his head against her shoulder. She was a little perplexed by his actions, but instead of asking what he was doing, she linked her arms around his shoulders, resting her hands on his pecs and observing his face from the side.

Relaxing with his eyes closed, Will softly asserted, "I'm aware that my actions were selfish, but my only regret is that I caused you, my family, and many others to worry..."

Following a protracted pause, Leshien broke the silence by asking, "Do you feel stifled at the Royal Academy...?"

"A little..." conceded Will. He honestly didn't mind the curriculum, and he felt privileged to be able to Sponsor so many people, but since there was only so much he could do to improve himself in a safe environment where his strength already far surpassed his contemporaries, most of his efforts went toward helping others. That wasn't a bad thing, per se, but since he was already the weakest among the Sages, Will felt compelled to increase his strength before their reunion...

"I may be able to arrange something..." said Leshien, her voice lower than usual as her mouth was close enough to his ear that her lips could graze it if she weren't careful. Before Will could ask, she then revealed, "Since the incidents in Tempahsta and Bhiran have been linked to the An Lámh Bhán, I have been asked to investigate. I could request that you be permitted to accompany me, but you would be required to relinquish your status as the Gamma Star of House Oirthear..."

"That might be a bit much..." responded Will, an awkward smile adorning his face as he contended, "I have little attachment to my status and title, but it's something others depend on. I may relinquish it in the next four to five years, but not now..."

"I understand..." muttered Leshien, feeling somewhat disappointed but quickly getting over it as she closed her eyes and decided to enjoy the serenity of the moment. To her, four to five years was a fleeting moment in eternity, but since it was anywhere from a tenth to a twentieth of Will's total lifespan, Leshien felt compelled to cherish what little time they had together. One day, much too soon, she would eventually be greeted by a version of him with grey hair and countless wrinkles. Thus, while it was a bit shameless of her, she hoped he would mature quickly and, even if only briefly, ease the burden of her cursed existence...

...

"What the fuck was that...?" asked Ohta, waiting until after Leshien had unceremoniously excused herself, stating that since she had confirmed there was nothing amiss with Will's body, she had no reason to stay and further disrupt their holiday.

"That was my Master, Leshien," answered Will, raising his right brow as he reminded, "We've definitely talked about her."

"Don't play stupid..." said Ohta, narrowing her eyes as she asserted, "I'm obviously referring to the fact you just took an hour-long bath together..."

"Oh, that?" asked Will, resisting the urge to chuckle as he explained, "She was one of my primary caretakers growing up, so she assisted with what the Nobility refers to as exposure training. It was only around a year ago that I was allowed to start bathing alone, so while it's definitely odd, you shouldn't read too deeply into it."

Though she narrowed her eyes in suspicion, Ohta didn't press the matter further. It wasn't her first time hearing about Will's bizarre upbringing, and since communal bathing and bathhouses were common, even back in the Academy, she didn't find it too odd. If anything, it explained why he never had any reaction despite his claims of seeing her as a girl...

"What I find curious is that she barely had a reaction to our fluffy friend here..." said Will, looking to Fionnadh, who, at the present moment, was emulating the dance of one of her favorite characters during the outro of the anime she was watching. He was certain that Leshien had identified her as a Saighba'an, but perhaps because she was presently wearing pink booty shorts and a spaghetti-string top, the immortal Elf had determined she wasn't a threat.

Sensing Will's gaze, Fionnadh tilted her head back, asking, "Hmm? Did you need something...?" before performing a seamless back spring and cartwheel to close the distance and face him.

"Not to scare you or anything, but I kind of expected you to freak out and for Leshien to kill you first and ask questions later..." said Will, sporting a wry smile as he extended his right hand to caress Fionnadh's fluffy mane of hair.

Enjoying the feeling of Will's caress, Fionnadh proactively rubbed her head against his palm as she explained, "Mnn...if I were still connected to my sisters, they would have screamed for me to attack or flee from her on sight. But since you were calm, I concluded that the wisest course was to act as I normally do. Did I do well?"

"You did very well," affirmed Will, nodding. Then, as Ohta was beginning to look jealous, he retracted his hand from Fionnadh's head, returned his focus to the former, and asked, "So, what now? Should we continue where we left off, or should I get started on dinner?"

"Give me your hand..." said Ohta, extending her own. Will was initially confused by this, but he quickly pieced things together as he saw Ohta checking the tips of his fingers. When she confirmed they weren't pruny, she looked up at him and added, "Dinner can wait. You're taking another bath..."

"Okay...?" responded Will, deciding it was better for his mental wellness and peace of mind if he didn't argue or question why. It also wouldn't be the first time he and Ohta had shared a bath, so while things were a little cramped with Fionnadh sitting at the front, her in the middle, and him at the back, Will just repeated his usual mantra, helping her wash her head and back before the three of them relaxed like a trio of toppled dominos...

...

After secretly observing Will's, Ohta's, and Fionnadh's interactions using one of her hair-thin black wires like a fiber optics cable, Leshien produced a black, leather-bound pocketbook from a slit in her tattered black robes. Opening it revealed the faces and profiles of several targets she had been tasked with investigating and eliminating, organized by priority. Pages one and two were the profiles of the people the Saighba'an referred to as their Father and Matron, but page three was dedicated to a person who looked virtually identical to Ohta. The key difference between them was that the person recorded in the ledger was female, while the person taking a bath with Will, despite their choice of attire, was unmistakeably male. That, and there was no way the person in the ledger would fear them...

...