Chapter 124

Translator: Tseirp

There was a bath installed in the mansion that Ruti was living in.

Naturally, it was incomparably larger than the bath I had in my home.

“Onii-chan, you can enter first.”

“Hn, no, Ruti should go in first. You probably feel uncomfortable from the dirt.”

Ruti tilted her head.

“It wasn’t unusual to be dirty when I was traveling.”

That was true. There was even a time when we gave up brushing off the dirt from our hairs as we had to continue wading through a filthy swamp.

“I will take some time so it is more efficient if Onii-chan enters first.”

“All right, then I’ll enter the bath first.”

Since Ruti insisted, I took her up on her offer.

I nodded toward Ruti and stood up to head over to the bath.

☆☆

“Wow, a stone bathtub?”

The mansion Ruti lived in originally belonged to Zoltan nobility.

For Zoltan’s nobility, the land they have in their territory ... or more aptly their villages or settlements, were mostly modestly-sized almost pristine wetlands so they choose not to live there but here in the town of Zoltan.

They would station either their relatives or hire someone to be the magistrate and would entrust that person with the authority to manage the territory.

As for the all-important tax collection, the trustworthy Church collects it using their Church Ledger so Zoltan’s nobility practice the laissez-faire style of management. (TL: Laissez-faire is an economic system in which transactions between private parties are free from any form of government intervention.)

I sat on the chair, scooped out hot water from the tub and washed off the sweat and dirt from my body.

Then, I lathered soap with a towel and washed my body.

“Fuu.”

It felt great washing a dirty body after work.

Especially during a cold winter month such as now.

“Fuunfu~n”

I couldn’t help but hum to myself.

『Garan』

I heard the sliding door open.

“Eh?”

Ruti, without a single thread on her body, openly stood there without trying to cover herself.

“Ru-Ruti? What’s wrong?”

“?”

Ruti tilted her head after seeing my flustered expression

“I said I’ll be entering the bath.”

Thinking back, Ruti certainly did not mention that we would be entering the bath separately.

While I was still feeling flustered, Ruti poured hot water over her head and shook her body to shake off the water.

If a normal person did it, it wouldn’t have much of an effect but Ruti shook her body at a speed that her figure blurred so most of the moisture was shaken off.

That gesture reminded me of cats so I managed to relax a little.

Hn, is it okay to enter the bath together like this?

It’s all right since we’re siblings, right?

Ruti spoke to me just as I stopped worrying and started accepting the current situation.

“Onii-chan.”

“Hm? Ah, soap?”

“No.”

Ruti stared at me with strong will in her crimson pupils.

Wha-what was it? I’ve been happy knowing that Ruti has been asserting herself more lately but today Ruti was a little different.

“Onii-chan.”

“Ye-yeah?”

“Do you remember that time when we entered the bath together in the past?”

“Of course. Ruti was so small at that time.”

It was about the bell bath in our home village.

The village smithy repaired the broken bell of the village Church and opened it to the public as a common bath. That said, the bell wasn’t large enough for an adult to enter comfortably so it became a bath exclusively for children.

Normally parents would accompany their children but since young, our parents felt that Ruti was strange due to the peculiarities of the 『Hero』 divine protection so I entered the bath while carrying the two-year-old Ruti.

Ruti enjoyed the bath while clinging onto my shoulder.

Well, I had contacted my 『Guide』 divine protection since birth so I believe I wasn’t looked upon as a child either.

Ruti was so cute at that time. Of course, she was cutest now.

“I have done so many things that I want to do since coming to Zoltan ... am I being selfish?”

Ruti’s words interrupted my thoughts on Ruti’s appearance in the past.

Selfish huh ...

“It is a good thing. Humans, no matter who, have the right to fulfill their own wants and desires. Ruti’s desire to live normally is only a tiny matter, nothing selfish at all. You can ask for anything you wish.”

“I see ... thank you. Then, I have one more selfish request.”

In the bath?

“In the past I was too young so I couldn’t do it well. But I think I will be able to do it properly now.”

“Do what?”

I tilted my head this time.

Ruti came closer to my face. Ruti’s crimson pupils expanded in my vision.

“I think I am able to wash Onii-chan’s body now?”

“Hn?”

“At that time, I didn’t have much strength and no matter how much I washed, I didn’t know how clean I was able to wash you. I could only wash the wide part of your back too so it wasn’t enough.”

Ah, now I do recall something of that sort.

At that time, I washed Ruti’s body for her so she imitated me and washed my body in return.

It was true that it was hard to say that she washed my body well. I ended up washing the remaining parts myself. But Ruti’s appearance of doing her best to wash with her tiny hands was so cute that it was a precious healing session for our childhood which was filled with many hardships.

“So I want to challenge it once again.”

So Ruti felt a sense of regret for not doing it well.

I felt a little embarrassed but,

“All right, I leave it to you then.”

I said.

That said ...

I felt a little uneasy even while I smiled as I saw Ruti struggling to lather the soap.

Due to the resistances from Ruti’s 『Hero』 divine protection, her physical body was maintained at the best condition at all times. That applied to her skin condition as well. During the journey, even if Ruti’s clothes were dirty, a simple wipe of her body would suffice to clean it.

It was somewhat reminded me of when a peddler blows hard on his tableware and wipes it to reveal clean tableware but naturally, I did not say that out loud.

As such, I could imagine that Ruti had a lot less experience in washing her body compared to most people. Moreover, she probably never washed another person’s body apart from when she washed mine when she was young.

“Look that way.”

“Ah, okay.”

I faced my back to Ruti.

Ruti touched my back with her thin finger as though to verify her touch before she picked up the towel with both her hands and started washing my body.

“Hn .... ”

Getting your body washed by another person gives an indescribable comfort.

Of course, it was a little awkward but Ruti did her best to wash my body even including my armpits and fingertips.

“Kufu.”

When Ruti’s finger touched my side, I involuntarily leaked a sound as it felt ticklish.

Ruti was a little flustered and pulled her hand away.

“Was it ticklish?”

“Ah, it’s okay.”

“Mu.”

Ruti stared at her own hand and tilted her head.

She touched her side and seemed to be thinking about how best to wash it. That gesture was cute as well.

After a couple of checks, she nodded lightly and returned to the task of washing my body once again.

She continued her careful task and she pretty much finished washing my back and arms.

“Thank you, I guess you’ve washed most of my body.”

“Nowhere near. I’m continuing.”

Ruti said and approached me while holding the towel.

Then, she stretched her arms around me as if hugging me from behind.

“Eh?”

The soft sensation touching my back was Ruti’s breast? It was completely different from Lit, small but well-shaped and lovely breasts.

I could feel the warmth transmitted from close skin contact. I wonder why was it so relaxing to feel human skin? So much so that I almost stopped thinking about my hectic day due to Mistome-shi’s case.

But why was Ruti hugging me?

“Hn.”

Ruti touched around my chest and started washing with the towel in her hand.

Ruti looked over my shoulder at her hands as she washed my body with a serious expression without any indication that she was fooling around.

... I see.

I recalled Ruti’s act just now of checking how to wash her own side.

Ruti practiced the way by washing her own body. She was trying to reproduce the same force as much as possible.

That’s why when washing the front of the body, she did not wash while facing me but wrapped her hands around me from behind to achieve the same angle as when she washed her own body.

Ruti was serious but her style of washing tickled my heart.

The gap between her usual superhuman acts and her slightly lacking parts tickled my brotherly heart.

In other words, she was cute.

“Fu, fufu ... ”

“?”

I couldn’t resist laughing so Ruti once again stopped her hands thinking that it felt ticklish.

However, when she saw my expression, it probably told her that the laughter came from joy. Ruti smiled as well and she continued washing my body with the lathered towel as she hugged me from behind.