Chapter 83: Arrival at the Hot SpringsThe Pixie was used to this M.O. I"m sure there have been other victims besides us. When I asked about it, the Pixie answered unapologetically.
「So what if I trick and attack humans? I was tricked and almost sold by a human I trusted a long time ago. I"m just returning the favor.」
「I understand what you feel. But attacking innocent humans is just inexcusable.」
「Hmp. I don"t give a c.r.a.p about what a human says.」
Good grief. It seemed like its hatred for humans run deep.
「N-N-Noir! Over here!」
Emma was panicking behind me. I came over to her while playing close attention to the Pixie so it doesn"t escape. One look and I knew why she was fl.u.s.tered. A decomposed body of a woman lay in the stream. Judging by the clothes, she was on her way to enjoy the hot springs.
「You did this, didn"t you?」
「Hmm~? I don"t know anything. Besides, there are bodies everywhere.」
There were a number of corpses sprawled about. I didn"t notice before since I was too focused on chasing after the Pixie. I"ve had enough of its flippant att.i.tude and gripped tighter.
「Ugh?! H-Hey… what…」
「I can just crush you right this instant, you know.」
「I-I"m sorry. I… apologize.」
「Some things just can"t be forgiven even if you apologize.」
「Noir, let"s meet up with the others for now.」
「…Yeah.」
I put just enough strength in my grip to not crush the creature and returned to my cla.s.smates. They rushed over as soon as they saw us and I gave them the gist of what happened. My cla.s.smates were shocked, but that wasn"t the case for Elnsensei.
「I figured it was something like that. True, there are harmless Pixies but they"re rare.」
「What should we do with this one?」
「I can dispose of it if you want.」
「…Please do.」
I had no qualms whatsoever about taking down monsters that hurt people. But the Pixie resembled a human too much. Considering the mental states of my cla.s.smates, leaving it to Elnsensei would be best.
「d.a.m.n it. When I"m reborn, I"m gonna get my revenge on you, Noir!」
「You can come at me anytime you want. But I"ll keep on protecting those precious to me till the very end.」
「Now that"s my student. Very well said. All right, let"s go, Pixie.」
Elnsensei went somewhere out of our sights and came back after ten minutes.
「Do you see now? There are monsters with smooth tongues and adorable appearances. There are even types that pretend they"re harmless and lead people into a trap. I hope you learned your lesson.」
We certainly did. The sun was starting to go down so we hurried to our original destination. We made it safely to our inn before it got dark. It was an imposing structure with a gate and stood on a level area of the mountain. We approached the well-equipped guards stationed at the gate and they addressed us amiably.
「Guests, I presume?」
「Yes. We want to stay for the night.」
「Elnsan and company, right? Please come inside.」
Elnsensei already made a reservation beforehand. When we got to the entrance, a middle-aged hostess came to greet us. Apparently there were three sort of rules here. The accommodation comes with meals. Boys and girls sleep in separate rooms. As for the hot springs, different hours are set for boys and girls to get in separately as well.
We set down our belongings in our rooms and had dinner first. The mountain vegetables and bear meat were quite delectable. I had some stewed bear"s palm as well which actually was quite good. It was pretty much a bizarre delicacy so I got LP too. The vegetables were splendid and I was very impressed by the inn, considering it was located in the mountains. They probably valued hospitality very highly.
「Well then, shall I show you to the hot springs? Right now, it should be for girls only.」the hostess said when we were done eating, our stomachs full.
「Yay! It"s hot springs time!」
Emma and the other girls were getting excited.
「All right, guys. Let"s go back to our rooms. 」
That"s weird. The boys were heading back to our room, seemingly uninterested. Maybe they didn"t feel like it anymore after the whole case with the Pixie. It would be great if that were the case.
—Boy, was I wrong.
「Psych! Are you maggots ready?!」
「Yeeeaaahhh!」
They all turned into beasts as soon as they stepped into the room. Some were swinging their hips back and forth, some took off their clothes, and some were tapping their crotch.
It"s like a gathering of perverts in here!
「Ahem. May I have everyone"s attention? I"m Allen of the Milanos family, the planner and leader of this “The Boys" Health Improvement Project”.」
「And as you may know, I"m Yolt the deputy leader.」
I wasn"t expecting the son of an influential family and Yolt to be the mastermind behind this. They came fully prepared, with masks and black garbs for every one of the boys.
「Why did we go through all the hards.h.i.+p just to get here? The answer is simple. To see naked girls! Am I right?!」
「Yeeaaahhh!」
Everyone was getting hot-blooded except me. Allen-kun raised his hand suddenly and shook his head anxiously.
「I want you all to calm down. We"re still members of the prestigious S cla.s.s. I would like to avoid the dishonour of being known as a pervert who peeped into the girls" bath. That"s where this garb and mask come in!」
「Please wait a sec. That"s a really bad idea. They could also be on alert.」
I tried to warn them in the hopes that they would change their mind.
「Non, non, non. No problem at all. If someone gets in the way, we"ll just beat them down!」
「Noir, it wouldn"t even matter if they had complex traps. You know about my ability, don"t you?」
Simple traps won"t work on Yolt and I doubted anyone would care to plant elaborate traps in the vicinity of the inn. At best, there would only be pitfall traps that even Yolt can see through.
「Once again, we"re inviting partic.i.p.ants for this project. If you support us, then wear your costumes and masks!」
The sound of people changing filled the room. They were quick in doing so. It looked like everyone except me wanted to partic.i.p.ate. I would"ve loved to have at least one comrade…
「What"s wrong, Noir? Go on and change.」
「I…」
Amidst the risky atmosphere, I eyed the exit and made a run for it.
「I can"t betray Emma!」
「Ah, he"s betraying us! Get him! Don"t let him leave the room!」
They all came at me at once. I dropped my body low and slid across to room so they won"t catch me. Countless l.u.s.tful arms were reaching for me. Terrifying. Even more so than monsters.
「Your eyes are all bloodshot!」
「No s.h.i.+t! We"re about to burn the image of a girl"s secrets and mysteries into our own eyes! You"re not gonna stop us— gwehhh…
「Sorry, but I"m gonna do just that.」
I kicked them out of the way and found an opportunity to get out of the room. I looked back as I was running through the corridor, but saw no one chasing me. They probably figured it wasn"t in their best interests to make a lot of racket.
「Oh, man. This will be rough.」
They might"ve gone crazy after being consumed by their carnal desires, but they were still S cla.s.s students. I could take one or two of them, but more than ten would be reckless. But I have to do it. So I could protect Emma"s chast.i.ty!
It was still quite a ways from the famous open-air bath. From the back of the inn, you had to walk about 400 meters to get there. I went out through the back door alone. There was an easy path made from people coming and going. Though if you veered away from the path, you could see shrubs and boulders.
There"s plenty of places to hide. It"ll be over if a large group comes through.
「Sigh… My chances of winning are slim…」
I might even get injured. Still I trudged onward. After some walking, I saw someone blocking the way, with a stern expression on their face like they were in the middle of a scene of carnage.
「I didn"t expect you to be the first to arrive.」
「Elnsensei… I thought you went to the hot spring.」
「I a.s.sumed something like this would happen so I"m here standing guard. I"ll protect the girls" bodies. That"s all.」
Elnsensei immediately readied herself, an aura of bloodl.u.s.t emitting from her being.
「No, it"s not what you think! I"m on your side! I escaped all the way here to protect the girls while they"re taking a bath.」
「Escaped?」
「You could say I"m a traitor. It took me all I had to escape from the boys" evil clutches.」
「…Oh so that"s what you mean. I"m guessing you don"t want them seeing Emma naked?」
「Exactly. But I don"t have a chance against them alone so I was stumped.」
Our trust for each other ran deep. After all, I would ma.s.sage her stiff shoulders and in return she would give me a hug.
「How many are there?」
「Everyone except me.」
「That many?! So I was actually in charge of a bunch of perverts. I have to properly educate them. 」
「Sensei, how about we team up? With the two of us, we might be able to beat them.」
「I wouldn"t have it any other way. Let"s pulverize those peeping worms.」
「Yes, Ma"am!」
With Elnsensei as an ally, we pretty much had the force of a battalion. I"ll give it my all to crush the boys" ambitions.