The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary

Proofreader: Xemul

"I see, this view is not easily… experienced indoors."

"It is, isn't it? If I had a glass of chilled wine to go with this, I wouldn't have anything else to say. But it would be too extravagant to ask for that much."

"We do have some not-chilled wine, though?"

"Just as expected, Ange. I'll have some as soon as I get in."

The conversation drifting through the cloth went in one of Loren's ears and out the other.

Of course, Lapis and the other girls were on the other side of the cloth, so there was no way to know what kind of scene was unfolding there, but Loren was in the middle of thinking that he had made a huge mistake in setting up the site.

The reason was, the sun was setting just in the direction of the lake where the girls were about to bathe. That alone might not have mattered, but the cloth that Loren had stretched between the trees to hide them from the camp was not that thick. He had chosen such a thin cloth because a thick cloth would take up too much space to carry, but the result was playing out before his eyes.

"Silhouettes are also… Well, I don't know how to put it."

You couldn't see through to the other side of the cloth. But the shadows of Lapis and the other girls, created by the light of the setting sun, were reflected on the cloth used to block them from view. Moreover, perhaps because of the proximity, the shadows were so sharp that Loren could see every detail of them.

They would be out of sight if they would just quickly get into the lake, but the girls were not so eager to do so, because none of them had experienced bathing outside before and the beautiful scenery.

"But why is it that only the water in this area isn't murky?"

"Perhaps because the clear water is gushing out from some place near here. Because of the flow, that brown water doesn't seem to be coming this way."

"It seems a little warm, doesn't it?"

"If you stay in for a long time, it should be just warm enough."

Loren wondered if they were planning to stay in for a long time as he heard the conversation through the cloth. He was worried that they might be a little too relaxed, but there was no way to tell them at the moment.

"But… If you look at it, Gula is big."

"Wait a minute. What are you looking at when you say that?"

"Mainly your breasts?"

"Yous are quite big, too, aren't they? Have you given them a squeeze yet?"

Gula's question, which was accompanied by a somewhat vulgar laugh, provoked a dramatic reaction from Leila.

"Wh-what are y-y-y-y-ou…"

"Leila, you're too flustered. No one thinks you're an aunty just because you're the oldest one here. Even if it's true."

"Ange! You!"

Some kind of scuffle seemed to have started, but Loren was staring blankly at the shadowy scene with dead eyes.

The silhouettes of the grappling Leila and Ange, who had not yet entered the lake, clearly showed the sizes and the shaking motions of various body parts, making Loren wonder if it was okay to continue watching, even though they were just silhouettes. But since he had not seen the real thing, he decided on his own that there was no reason for them to complain.

"Oh, you two! Don't you think we might attract some attention if you are too rowdy?"

"Shut up, Laure, you flat-chested! I'm busy punishing the girl who taunted this knight!"

"That's right, stay out of it, straight-body girl! Now I'm going to teach this aunty the wonders of youth! Bigger is not always better!"

"Flat-chested… Straight-body girl…"

Loren thought that the silhouette that had just fallen to the ground was probably Laure's. She was devastated by the almost insulting words of her two companions, but as far as Loren could see, her silhouette didn't show any ups and downs either vertically or horizontally, so much so that it might not be surprising if she were to receive such an evaluation. Still, compared to Nim the Elf, a silver ranked adventurer in the city of Kapha, Loren thought that Laure still had some curves, though she completely lost in the waist department, and he prayed for her soul.

"Let's leave that one alone and get ourselves some hot water."

"Lapis-chan ain't budged at all…"

Leaving Ange and Leila, who were still wrestling with each other, Lapis and Gula seemed to be walking into the lake.

Loren unconsciously gasped, seeing their silhouettes.

Gula's silhouette was truly worthy of the saying 'curves in all the right place', with sizable breasts and narrow waist. The curves from her waist to her buttocks, despite being just shadows, were so strangely sexy that Loren instinctively felt carnal desire. And the way things shook with her movements was so shocking that even those with a great deal of self-control could lose their minds, and unintentionally Loren unconsciously swallowed his saliva and cleared his throat.

Next to her, Lapis was a few levels below Gula in terms of sizes, but the allure of her curves didn't lose to Gula's at all. In particular, the curves from her flanks to her hips were so magnificent that Loren believed they could be cut out and presented as works of art on their own. And compared to Gula, there was not much shaking, but it was due to the tautness of youth, which gave it a different charm.

After all these musings, Loren suddenly realized that he had unknowingly been staring at the woman bathing, even though it was silhouettes, and gently averted his gaze. If he had looked away after realizing he could watch their silhouettes, the story would have ended. Even though he told himself that he didn't have any other choices as anything could happen over there and he had to keep watch, it still felt like an excuse, and he felt a sense of mild self-loathing

>"After all, it's not as if I'm not interested."

Loren muttered to himself. Looking down at his feet, he saw Klaus, whom he had left lying on the ground blindfolded, smirking at him, and Loren stepped on him to vent his anger.

After stepping on Klaus, Loren suddenly realized that the girls must have purchased bathrobes when they left Kapha, and if they had worn them, the scene would not have turned into such a sensational shadow play. But at that moment, a scream that did not belong to anyone rang out in the vicinity.

"What the?"

Loren wondered as he reflexively put his hand on the greatsword on his back.

The scream was definitely coming from the direction where the girls were currently bathing, but there was no way to confirm the situation except to rush through the cloth that was blocking his view to the other side. However, as he didn't know how urgent the scream just now was, and whether it was really appropriate to cross the dividing line.

If it was an attack of some kind, for example, it would be an emergency situation, and it would be the right thing to do to rush in before worrying about whether he could see them. On the other hand, if, for example, it was just a matter of a slightly larger insect flying in from nowhere that startled Laure and caused her to scream, Loren's own death would be confirmed the moment he stepped into the area.

While Loren was still hesitating, his worries were untimely interrupted.

Before he could decide whether to step through, the girls on the other side of the partition broke through and fled to the camp side.

"Loren! Loren! Loren!!"

"Wait a minute! Lapis?! What the hell?!"

The first person to jump out of the lake and into the encampment was Lapis. With her body still wet, she lightly wrapped a cloth used as the partition around her body as she broke through and jumped in toward Loren, who was too startled to move.

The deftness of her movements made Loren wonder for a moment if she was aiming for something, but even so, Loren couldn't afford to be rude to someone who had just fled, so he caught her in his arms as Lapis jumped to him.

Gula, who came next, did not seem as panicked as Lapis, and although she was also running, she had pulled off a cloth used as a partition, wrapped it tightly around her entire body, and jogged into the camp. Laure, who had followed at a sluggish pace, also managed to take a cloth and hide herself, but the situation of Leila and Ange was worse. They were in the middle of a scuffle, and were the slowest to notice what the others had noticed, so their panic was the greatest. They literally tumbled and leapt into the camp.

Naturally, there was no way they could afford to take off some cloths to hide their bodies like the other girls, and Leila was in such a hurry that she crashed into a grove of trees at the back of the camp and fell over, completely naked. Ange, forgetting her own state, grabbed shoulders of Klaus, who was lying on the ground, pulled him up, started yelling.

"Klaus! What are you tied up for! Something strange is coming! Something strange is coming! Do you understand?"

"Ange! Even if you tell me that, I can't do anything… Just calm down and take off my blindfold first!"

"How can I possibly do that? We are all naked right now!"

Wondering what to do, Loren held Lapis with his left arm and pulled out the greatsword with his right arm.

The blade shone under the setting sun, and Loren caught sight of something in the lake, which startled the girls. His face grew tense as he saw it emerging from the lake, which was supposed to be filled with hot water, and about to come up from the lakeshore to land.

The first thing he saw was a pair of eyes behind the billowing light blue hair. The hands that were trying to pull the body up to land looked like they belonged to a human being, but the half of the body on the other side, still in the water, looked, for all intents and purposes, like that of a fish.

The tail slapped the surface of the water violently, and with a splash, the creature got on land and began to crawl very slowly towards Loren's group, who were watching the scene.

"What the hell is that?!"

It was understandable that Loren would involuntarily make such an exclaim. At the very least, there was no way that he had ever encountered a being like the one in front of him before. And even Loren would be a little afraid of things he had no understanding of.

Also, the figure was extremely uncanny.

The arms that were gripping the ground might look human, but the lower half of its body, which was wriggling behind it, was that of a fish and covered in scales.

It was unpleasant to see such a thing crawling on the ground, and looking from the direction it was crawling towards, it could even be terrifying.

Loren reflexively put strength into his arm and turned his sword point at the thing crawling toward him as if to keep it in check. However, the thing continued to crawl on the ground and came closer to him, not caring about the sword point.

Loren was not very keen on the idea of using his greatsword to slash at something he did not understand, but just as he raised it, thinking there would be no other way to deal with it, the creature that was crawling toward him stopped moving.

"He…"

"He?"

"Help me… please."

Just as if it had used up all of its strength, the thing stopped moving and lay prone on the ground.

Loren was even more surprised to learn that the thing, with what looked like light blue hair spread out and a fish-like lower body, had spoken. He looked at Lapis, who was staring at it from within his arms, and they both tilted their heads, wondering what the hell was going on.