Sure enough, Selian’s plan had worked, and as we stepped out from the tent, no one seemed to recognize us.
Every so often, someone would glance our way and turn their head, but during the brief moments they hesitated, looking puzzled, Selian and I had already moved far away.
“Huff, we barely managed to get out.”
Looking behind, I could see the crowds still gathered, the closing ceremony’s energy lingering after dozens of minutes.
Catching my breath and seeking a respite from the crowd’s noise, we temporarily retreated into an alley where fewer people were present.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Of course, I didn’t really think that Selian, a Sword Master, could get injured just by weaving through a crowd, but worry sometimes overrides logic. Instinctively, I examined her condition.
She appeared unharmed, though her clothes were slightly disheveled, and her hair was tousled—clear signs that she had been through some effort.
Still, even amidst her discomfort, Selian held the bag containing my clothes tightly to her chest, protecting it.
“Could you stay still for a moment?”
Regretting putting her through this inconvenience, I took the opportunity to smooth her unruly hair strands and adjust her sleeves.
“It’s unnecessary… but please wait a moment. We’ll tidy up your appearance before we leave too, El.”
Given her state, it was obvious that I, who had been navigating ahead of her through the crowd, was in an even worse condition. This prompted me to begin by combing my own hair.
“Tsk!”
Suddenly, my hand froze mid-motion. Her tongue clicking sound triggered something.
Hadn’t I seen this scene, this situation, somewhere else before?
“Since there’s no mirror, let me help you. El, just stay still.”
Indeed, that was fair. If someone like Selian could help, there was no reason for me to fuss over my own appearance when I couldn’t even see myself properly.
After handing me the package of clothes she had been carrying, Selian began smoothing my hair with her hands, repeatedly doing so as my hair seemed more disheveled than hers.
Finally, after several attempts, Selian’s hands paused over my head.
As her hands moved down, they brushed my shoulder lightly a few times before traveling further down.
“Huh?”
I noticed instantly when Selian’s hand moved to my chest, and my sensitive senses tingled.
“Err… Sel…?”
“Just a moment. There seems to be a stain here. I think it can be wiped off with my fingers, but please endure it for a bit.”
Looking down, I realized someone must have been carrying an ice cream, and in the crowd’s jostling, melted ice cream had splattered across my chest.
“But… huff!”
Attempting to prevent her from helping while I dabbed it away myself, I tried saying something, but as her thumb grazed my chest lightly, an embarrassing sound slipped out of my mouth.
Surprised by my involuntary sound, I quickly scanned the alley, but thankfully, we were alone, with no one else in sight.
Selian remained focused on removing the stain, seemingly oblivious to my discomfort.
After all, this was originally her clothing that I was wearing. I assumed she was concerned about any lasting damage given the possibility that stains might not come out in the wash. As a borrower of her clothes, I didn’t feel justified to stop her.
Oddly, it wasn’t just one side of my chest; her hands soon began rubbing both.
“Hah… uh…”
As hard as I tried to resist, the escaping moans from my mouth were difficult to control. Each time her fingers lightly pinched or pressed into my chest, sticky breaths slipped past my tightly clenched lips.
Selian was too focused on removing the stain to notice me. And while I might have gotten used to the female body, in my case, Selian still gave off the aura of someone of the opposite gender more than of a friend of the same gender.
But Selian hadn’t switched genders like I had. If she discovered that I was feeling sensations due to her innocent, purely helpful touch, she’d surely think of me as a pervert.
To continue seeing Selian’s face in the future, I must avoid creating such a situation.
Thus, I raised my hand—not the one holding the package—and covered my mouth.
Though the moans continued, my hand helped muffle the sounds, making them quieter.
Relieved by the smaller sounds for a moment—
“Uh…!”
Selian’s fingers pinched even harder on my sensitive area. Perhaps borrowing her bra, which was a little large for me, had left a gap, causing her fingers to press through the thin fabric of her shirt.
A tingling sensation, like a surge of electricity, ran through my spine, nearly making me cry out. Luckily, my assassin training kicked in, and I managed to suppress the sound.
Thump.
As muffling the sound with one hand became increasingly difficult, I dropped the package I was holding onto the ground and covered my mouth with both hands.
Opening my eyes slightly and glancing down, I saw Selian still focused on removing the stain, completely unaware of my dropped package or my covered mouth.
However, the stain seemed to fall on one of the most sensitive areas of my chest, as Selian showed no sign of releasing her pinching fingers.
“Errg…!”
Selian increased the pressure, determined to clean the stain, and began rubbing it. Even attempting to bite my finger to ease the sensation couldn’t stop my heightened sensitivity from reacting even more intensely to the smallest pain.
I barely managed to keep standing despite experiencing sensations I had never encountered before.
Just as suddenly, Selian’s hand pulled away from my chest.
Though I should have felt relieved escaping such a dangerous situation, why did I feel slightly disappointed?
Thankfully, Selian, unlike me, seemed untouched by the scene, showing no signs of noticing my unnatural behavior.
“Alright, let’s go?”
After picking up the package I had dropped, Selian smiled and spoke to me.
Her radiant smile pricked at my conscience.
“Hmph… yeah.”
Attempting to reply normally to Selian, my voice still carried a nasal tone from the lingering sensations.
Checking her reaction to my unexpected sound, Selian merely tilted her head, showing no indication of noticing anything unusual.
“Ah, let’s hurry!”
Remaining in the spot any longer felt like I’d be discovered, so I moved ahead, passing by Selian.
“Thump!?”
However, as I passed by her, her hand lightly patted my buttock.
“Sorry, there seemed to be some dust.”
Turning around, Selian’s surprised expression from my sharp exclamation made me feel even guiltier, though it appeared unintentional on her part.
*
“Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for ages!”
“Sorry, sorry. I wanted to come right away, but people who recognized us blocked us from moving.”
Running toward us, Anne immediately pouted and complained the moment she saw me.
Quickly apologizing, I tried to placate her, sensing her irritation.
“Fine, this time I’ll let it go. You seem to understand you’ve done wrong.”
Thankfully, she wasn’t truly upset and promptly accepted my apology.
“Even I was worried. Annie was extremely concerned that something might have happened to El.”
“Me? When did I…!”
As if to contradict her earlier pouting, Anne’s face turned bright red with embarrassment.
“Hehe, thank you for worrying about me, Annie.”
I embraced the adorably flustered Anne to express my thanks. Being of different heights, she fit perfectly into my arms.
“No, I didn’t…”
Attempting to deny it while avoiding showing her red face, she turned her head but lacked any real conviction.
“…Sweat, it smells.”
“Ack! Sorry. I guess I sweat a bit while running here.”
Had I held her too tightly, I wondered, as Anne mentioned the sweat smell, I immediately released her and stepped back slightly.
Though the reason I had sweated was different, I casually manufactured an excuse instead of sharing the truth.
“It’s pretty bad. Sorry.”
“Though I didn’t exactly say I disliked it.”
Relieved that she didn’t appear upset, I turned toward Yuli and apologized to her as well.
“Sorry for making you worry. Thank you for your concern, Yuli.”
“Nah, it’s no big deal. But… isn’t that Selian’s clothing?”
“Oh, this? The clothes I was originally wearing were too noticeable, so Selian went to her room and brought out a change of clothes. That’s why it took a little longer, but thanks to that, we managed to avoid the crowd like this.”
“Still, you didn’t need to wear Selian’s clothes specifically.”
Yuli echoed the same question I had, but midway through her sentence, she turned to look at Selian.
“Selian?”
“Aha… uhm… Yuli, can you come over here for a moment?”
Instead of explaining as she had to me, for some reason, Selian gestured for Yuli to join her further away.
Unable to hear from the distance, they seemed to have a quiet conversation.
Moments later, Selian seemed hesitant but eventually nodded and handed over the bag containing my original clothes to Yuli.
“Selian is fine with keeping this outfit. Got it?”
“Yes….”
They returned to Anne and me after what felt like some undisclosed exchange.
“What’s wrong with the clothes Selian is wearing? Is there a problem?”
“Ah, nothing’s wrong. Anyway, I’ll take El’s clothes back to the room. Selian mentioned she suddenly has an urgent matter to attend to, right, Selian?”
Saying nothing, Selian simply nodded.
But for some reason, her lips were slightly puckered, indicating that this “urgent matter” might not entirely please her.
